Mookie Betts stays hot as Dodgers hammer Giants

LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts is showing that the view from the top offers a wide range of possibilities.

Hitting in Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot for the second consecutive game, Betts’ four-hit performance Saturday topped his three-hit output from Friday and started some serious downhill momentum toward a 10-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The victory kept the Dodgers two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in the National League with seven games remaining. That includes four games against the Giants, who continue to limp toward the finish line of a miserable, injury-riddled season.

Betts couldn’t be feeling better, with his past two games part of a run of 10 hits over the last three games he has played. After more than two months of looking for an offensive leader, Betts has charged into the role, while reaching base five times Saturday.

The Dodgers also have been transformed by the emergence of Will Smith, who returned at the start of September after three months away because of neck inflammation. He had a home run among his three hits to give him homers in consecutive games, with three over his past eight contests.

There is also 21-year-old rookie Josue De Paula, who has continued to operate with ease since arriving in the major leagues last week. De Paula had a two-run single Saturday and walked twice while scoring two runs.

All of it overshadowed Tarik Skubal’s ninth start for the Dodgers. The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner was far from his best, allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings. His three strikeouts were his fewest in an outing with his new club.

And yet the offense allowed Skubal (11-7) to pick up the win, while improving to 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA for the Dodgers.

The offense was not only productive, it was steady. The Dodgers scored runs in each of the first six innings and when they were held scoreless in the seventh, Betts still reached base with a walk.

Betts opened the game for the Dodgers with a leadoff double and scored on a Max Muncy double. Betts brought home his own run with an RBI single in the second.

The Dodgers received Smith’s home run in the third and got an RBI double from Betts in the fourth but were still tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the fifth. They blew the game open from there, getting a go-ahead two-run single from Tommy Edman and an RBI pinch-hit single from Miguel Rojas for a 7-4 lead.

They scored three more times in the sixth, getting a Smith RBI single followed by a two-run single from De Paula.

The Dodgers now have a 5-4 lead in the Giants in the season series and are in line for a sweep Sunday, which would be their first against their longtime rival since April of 2024.

More to come on this story.