It’s one of those things that makes Dodgers fans smile or even laugh out loud when it happens, and believe me, it happens far more often than it should – a third base coach decides to send a base runner home on a ball hit to Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts.

You think they would have learned by now, especially third base coaches within the same division as the 29-year-old Nashville, TN native and future Hall of Famer. And even though the Philadelphia Phillies are in the NL East and not in the NL West, the Dodgers have, to this point, already faced them six times thus far this season. In other words, Phillies’ third base coach Dusty Wathan should know better than to send runners home on Mookie Betts.

On Saturday night, Wathan sent Phillies’ center fielder Odúbel Herrera home on Mookie Betts at Citizens Bank Park, causing Dodgers fans to smile and/or laugh out loud. Betts threw Herrera out by five feet on an absolutely perfect laser throw to end the bottom of the seventh inning on an F9/9-2 double play with the score tied 4-4 in the eventual 7-4 Dodgers win; a game in which Betts also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run, a single, and a double to drive in three of the Dodgers’ six earned runs on the night.

“He was great, I mean, gosh, that’s why he’s one of the best players in baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame of his (thus far) five-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glover, four-time Silver Slugger, two-time World Series Champion, former AL MVP, former AL Batting Champion, and former MLB Player of the Year; (i.e., future Hall of Famer). “What he did in the box, what he did in right field, he’s just playing elite baseball right now, and we need every bit of it.

“It’s one of those things: ‘As he goes, we go,‘ but it was… it’s really fun to watch,” Roberts added.

When asked about his remarkable night, and as he so often is, Betts was quite humble about it.

“It’s fun. You don’t get the opportunity very often,” Betts answered. “You know, this game is so hard. Everybody’s professionals here. And so, to be able to play well on both sides of the ball is, you know, you just take it when it comes.

“I work hard on offense, defense, everything. And so, just whenever the time comes, I’m always ready,” he added.

But the game wasn’t without a very stressful moment. The extremely popular right fielder gave his teammates – and the entire City of Los Angeles – a scare when he stumbled and fell rounding second base on his two-run double in the fifth inning, bracing himself with his left arm. He immediately grabbed his left shoulder, causing Roberts to come sprinting out of the dugout to check on his right fielder.

“I slipped on the base, and I put my arm down, and it just kind of… I don’t even know what really happened. Maybe it was just like a little stinger or something,” Betts explained. “But, you know, it was fine like a minute or two after.”

You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief throughout Southern California … and beyond.

Have a game, Mookie Betts.

Another one.

Play Ball!

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