The Dodgers are now one loss away from losing the World Series after falling to the Blue Jays, 6-1, in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The series now shifts back to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday night where the Blue Jays will have a great chance to win their first title since 1993.
The Dodgers' bats have gone cold at the worst possible time as they were only able to score a combined three runs in Games 4 and 5. While Shohei Ohtani has carried this team on his back, Mookie Betts, an eight-time All-Star and former AL MVP, has been lost at the plate against the Blue Jays as he has just three hits in 23 at-bats with no RBIs.
After Game 5, in which he went 0-for-4, Betts had a brutally honest take on his struggles thus far.
"I donât want to speak on anybody else but for me personally Iâve just been terrible," Betts said. "Iâve been terrible and I wish it was from lack of effort, I really do, but itâs not so I donât have any answers."
David Ortiz, who was teammates with Betts for a few years in Boston, spoke about those comments on Fox's post-game show.
"He hurts. He hurts," Ortiz said. "I know Mookie very well. It hurts to see him answering the question that way because to me he still is one of the best players in the game but it seems like his confidence level is pretty low right now. And of course, I donât blame himâwhen you donât see results, Kevin, you start questioning yourself. When you have already shown superstar status everybody starts questioning you when things are not going well."
Ortiz then offered some simple advice for Betts.
"Now if Iâm Mookie, I would put that all behind," he said. "You remember when we used to prepare for to go to play a Little League game? You wasnât thinking about a scouting report, you wasnât thinking about what people say, you wasnât thinking about what I did yesterday. When you played in Little League all you wanted to do was see the ball and try to hit it and have fun. At the end of the day thatâs what the game is all about, having fun."
Derek Jeter also weighed in Betts' comments.
"I appreciate what he said because itâs the truth," Jeter said. "Weâve all been there. Weâve all sat there in front of our locker and said that weâve been terrible. The best thing about the postseason is who cares what has happened up to a particular point? Heâs going to be up In Game 6 with an opportunity to do something special and if he does something special no one will talk about his postseason prior too, thatâs the way you have to look at it."
Here's that complete conversation:
Betts has a day off before Game 6. It will be interesting to see how he responds because the Dodgers will need him to step up if they want to keep their championship hopes alive.
