Mookie Betts’ Heroics Highlight Dodgers’ Emotional Victory
LOS ANGELES — Picture this: It’s late Friday night at Dodger Stadium, and the air is electric. Mookie Betts steps up to the plate, and with one powerful swing, he sends the ball soaring over the left-field fence. The crowd erupts, and Betts, overcome with emotion, raises a triumphant finger, follows it with a forceful fist bump, and then tosses his helmet with a roar that echoes through the stadium. It felt like a walk-off in October, but it was only March.
Betts’ home run didn’t just secure an 8-5 come-from-behind victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Detroit Tigers. It marked the Dodgers’ first 4-0 start to a season since 1981, on the same day they received their World Series rings. But for Betts, it was a personal triumph, coming after a debilitating illness that caused him to lose almost 20 pounds.
“That was super special,” Betts shared. “I know it sounds super selfish, but more for me. I was really proud of myself for coming in and playing underweight. Not that it’s a big deal playing underweight, but just the fight that I’ve kind of been through — the ups and downs, and the nights I’m just crying because I’m sick, and my wife’s there holding me. That’s where the emotion comes from.”
As the Dodgers were gearing up to fly to Japan to kick off their season, Betts was battling to keep food down. He missed the first two regular-season games against the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome and was sent home early. Scheduled to play in the Dodgers’ exhibition opener against the Los Angeles Angels, he was a late scratch due to persistent vomiting. His weight plummeted from 175 pounds to 157.
But then, a turning point. Betts began to recover, playing 5½ innings in the Dodgers’ exhibition finale and facing live pitching during the off day. By the home opener, he was feeling more like himself. And on Friday, he made his presence known.
In the sixth inning, Betts recorded just the second hit off former Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty and scored on Freddie Freeman‘s tying two-run homer. In the eighth, he hit what could have been the game-winning home run, had the Tigers not tied the score in the ninth.
Then came the 10th inning. With runners on second and third and the score tied, Betts worked the count full against Beau Brieske and turned on a low changeup, sending it 376 feet to cap a five-run inning.
“Just given what he’s been under the last couple weeks and still to go out there and be ready, and not be 100 percent and still give us everything he has, coming up huge — I can’t say enough about Mookie,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised.
Betts is now just the second player to hit multiple go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later since the franchise moved to Los Angeles 67 years ago, according to ESPN Research. The other was Andre Ethier, who achieved the feat on Aug. 2, 2015.
“I didn’t lose much strength, relative for my weight,” Betts noted, having regained eight pounds with hopes of adding eight more. “I’m still pretty strong. But obviously as you add on more weight, you can add on more strength. Right now I’m just having fun hitting 160-pound homers.”
Betts’ homer was the cherry on top of an epic two-day stretch for the Dodgers, who opened their season over 5,000 miles away and are still riding high from their first full-season championship since 1988.
- On Thursday, iconic rapper Ice Cube drove a Dodger Blue Chevy Bel-Air along Dodger Stadium’s foul territory with the World Series trophy in tow.
- He then brought it onto the field with the team lined up along the third-base line.
- On Friday, each of the Dodgers’ coaches and players received championship rings adorned with 343 diamonds and 129 sapphires.
Amid all the pomp and circumstance, the 2025 Dodgers, hailed as one of the most talented teams ever assembled, continued their winning ways. They dominated the Cubs in Japan without Betts and Freeman, then returned to the U.S. to edge past the Tigers, thanks in large part to a pitching staff that stranded 11 baserunners. On Friday, they fell behind twice but kept fighting back.
“It kind of feels like we’re just picking up where we left off last year,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “There’s still a whole lot of fight on this team. There’s no give up.”
Originally Written by: Alden Gonzalez
