Mookie

Betts

Smith told reporters he’s available off the bench to pinch-hit and catch but Los Angeles is clearly going to limit his workload for the moment as he returns to game action for the first time since early September due to a hairline fracture in his right hand. Here’s the full lineup that will face Phillies lefty ace Cristopher Sánchez on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park: Shohei Ohtani (DH/P), Mookie Betts (SS), Teoscar Hernández (RF), Freddie Freeman (1B), Tommy Edman (2B), Enrique Hernández (3B), Alex Call (LF), Andy Pages (CF) and Ben Rortvedt (C).

The biggest Wild Card mismatch was the one to produce a 2-0 result. Betts wound up 6-for-9 with three doubles in the series, which saw the Dodgers rack up 28 hits and 18 runs in the two games. The Dodgers will move on to play the Phillies in a five-game NLDS beginning on Saturday.

Enrique Hernández is in the lineup after exiting Tuesday’s Game 1 showdown with a minor back issue. There was some speculation that Smith could be an option to return behind the plate at some point in this series but the Dodgers will continue to roll with defensive specialist Ben Rortvedt handling the catching duties. The 30-year-old backstop hasn’t appeared in a game since September 9 while recovering from a hairline fracture in his throwing hand. Here’s the full lineup: Shohei Ohtani (DH), Mookie Betts (SS), Freddie Freeman (1B), Teoscar Hernández (RF), Max Muncy (3B), Andy Pages (CF), Hernández (LF), Miguel Rojas (2B) and Rortvedt (C).

No real surprises here as Los Angeles kicks off its title defense against Cincinnati at Dodger Stadium. Muncy returns to the cleanup spot to face Reds ace Hunter Greene in the opening contest of the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series after missing a couple games at the end of the regular season with a lower body issue. The other notable development here is Will Smith (hand) being available off the bench for his first game action since September 9. Here’s the full lineup Shohei Ohtani (DH), Mookie Betts (SS), Freddie Freeman (1B), Muncy (3B), Teoscar Hernández (RF), Tommy Edman (2B), Andy Pages (CF), Enrique Hernández (LF) and Ben Rortvedt (C).

The Dodgers will get a few of their key regulars a night off after clinching the National League West on Thursday night. Expect others to get the same treatment on Saturday. Dalton Rushing will start at first base in place of Freeman while Hyeseong Kim will man shortstop and Enrique Hernandez will cover the hot corner for the Dodgers.

Betts continues to scorch the baseball in September, and he hit one of three homers for the Dodgers on Friday off Robbie Ray. It gives him 20 on the season, and six of those have come since the start of the month. No one was hoping for a .260/.328/.413 slash from Betts, but when you consider just how bad he was for the majority of the season? It’s a little more impressive. Disappointing, to be sure, but a little more impressive.

Betts led off the third inning with a single and scored on a ground out off the bat of Tommy Edman. He also worked Robbie Ray for a walk to open the fifth inning and scored on an RBI double by Freddie Freeman. Betts then started the sixth inning with single and scored on a two-run knock by Miguel Rojas. The 32-year-old infielder has been sizzling at the plate over the past five weeks and is now slashing .263/.332/.410 with 18 homers, 75 RBI and eight stolen bases over 611 plate appearances on the season.

Betts had five RBI in all, reaching that mark for the first time this year and 14th time as a major leaguer. He’s hitting .385/400/.821 with four homers and 15 RBI in nine games this month after already having turned things around by batting .337/.412/.472 in his final 23 games of August.

Betts took Germán Márquez deep for a two-run homer in the third inning, his third homer this month. He later doubled in the sixth for his second hit of the game. The 32-year-old is hitting .255/.324/.397 with 17 homers, 85 runs scored, 69 RBI, and eight steals across 590 plate appearances.

Betts came up huge in the seventh inning to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead with his two-run single, and it also meant that Tyler Glasnow was able to get a win after throwing seven no-hit innings in his return to the bump. Betts has looked oh-so-much better over the past few weeks, and the fact that his slash is still just .253/.323/.389 tells you just how bad the former MVP was prior to the start of August.