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After Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts helped the team sweep the San Diego Padres, due to a go-ahead home run that gave the team a 5-4 win on Sunday night, the ball club is back at the top of the NL West. With the Dodgers also clinching the season series against the Padres, manager Dave Roberts would speak more about the team's mindset following the recent series sweep.
Going into the series, San Diego took control at the top of the division after Los Angeles was in a slump, but the latter would take the reins right back. Roberts would say after the contest Sunday that no one on the team “doubted” their abilities, but mentioned how “honestly,” it was great to see them play a complete series, according to ESPN.
“I don't think anyone in that clubhouse doubted our abilities and how good we can be,” Roberts said. “Honestly, it was just good to play a really good series start to finish. I think we respect those guys, I think they respect us, and now we've got to turn the page and move on.”
Reliever Alex Vesia would cement the win in closing out San Diego with the top of the order up in the ninth inning. Still, he would talk about how Los Angeles has the “dawg” to overcome any obstacles.
“We still have that. That doesn't just go away,” Vesia said. “Every single one of us, we're leaning on each other. And we know as a group how good we are. The last three games, it's shown, and that's from one guy picking up the next. We kind of call it passing the torch. You get kicked down in this game from time to time, right? We put our heads down and keep going.”
Huge outing for Dodgers' Mookie Betts in series sweep of Padres
It would be a dominant series for the Dodgers over the Padres, though the latter were at least wanting to leave the slate of games with a win on Sunday night. There's no denying that Betts has been having a frustrating season, as, besides moving to shortstop, he has a .242 batting average to go along with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs, but he isn't trying to make each at-bat complicated.
“Every at-bat is the same at this point — just trying to do something productive,” Betts said. “It definitely helps to not carry burdens from previous at-bats.”
Center fielder Andy Pages would also have a solo home run, which gave Los Angeles a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Freddie Freeman had a three-run shot. With the way Los Angeles is playing, it looks like they're back in their usual form.
“People who really know this team know that's still in there,” Pages said. “We're that type of team. Maybe we went through a rough stretch, but the season's really long.”
The Dodgers now start a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
