Mookie Betts ties MLB record in first 3-homer game with Dodgers
The Mookie Betts trade appears to be working out in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ newly acquired star entered the MLB record books on Thursday with a three-homer night against the San Diego Padres, again demonstrating why trading him away might not have been a great idea.
NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER. pic.twitter.com/fGOS7Qci0g
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 14, 2020
The three-homer night keyed an 11-2 rout of the Padres, with Betts going 4-for-4 with four runs, four RBIs and a HBP. It was also enough to give Betts a share of history, pushing him into a three-way tie with Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa for the most three-homer games in MLB history.
The only players in @MLB history with SIX career 3-homer games:
1. Johnny Mize
2. Sammy Sosa
3. Mookie Betts— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 14, 2020
With 12 years remaining on the blockbuster extension he signed with the Dodgers before the season, Betts should have plenty of time to take sole possession of the record.
Betts landed in Los Angeles last offseason as part of a massive trade with the Boston Red Sox, joining the Dodgers alongside David Price in exchange for a collection of young talent headlined by outfielder Alex Verdugo. Rare is the day that an MLB franchise, especially a resource-rich franchise like the Red Sox, willingly trades away a player of Betts’ youth and ability, but that was the choice Boston made after it wouldn’t meet Betts’ asking price for an extension. The Dodgers happily obliged, and are already seeing some significant rewards.
Betts is now hitting .319/.380/.694 in 79 plate appearances on the season. His seven homers on the season ranks behind only Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. for the NL lead. If that’s more of what’s to come, it’s going to be a fun decade.
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