For the first six innings of Friday night’s game between the Dodgers and Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park in South Florida, there probably wasn’t a Dodger fan on the planet who didn’t utter words to the effect of ‘Who are these guys?’ … or worse.

To that point, the Dodgers had scored only one run on four hits – three singles and a ground rule double – with their lone run coming on a sacrifice fly by Dodgers second baseman Chris Taylor in the sixth inning to score Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who reached on a leadoff ground rule double and took third on a Justin Turner single.

That’s it.

The Dodgers would add two more in the top of the seventh on a two-run home run by Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, following a leadoff single by Dodgers left fielder Trayce Thompson. But their 3-2 lead would be quickly erased in the bottom of the inning, when Dodgers right-hander Phil Bickford had complete meltdown – his second in as many appearances – allowing two runs on two hits, with a walk and a strikeout in his two-thirds of an inning pitched, to gift the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

But then the NL West first-place Dodgers – with the best record and most runs scored in all of baseball – showed up.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ team would score two additional runs over the next three innings, including yet another home run by Betts – a solo shot in the top of the ninth – to take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

But once again, their lead was short lived, when 37-year-old Dodgers left-hander David Price gave up a solo home run to Marlins left fielder Peyton Burdick in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras.

And then the REAL NL West first-place Dodgers showed up.

With Taylor as the placed runner on second base to begin the inning, the Dodgers sent eight men to the plate, scoring five runs on five hits, that included two singles and three doubles. And even though the Marlins would add a run in their half of the 10th on an RBI double by Marlins center fielder JJ Bleday to score placed runner Joey Wendle from second base, Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol would close out the game for the Dodgers 10-6 win, for their 36th come-from-behind win of the season.

In addition to his two-home-run night, Betts also had a single and a double, to go 4-for-6 with four RBIs on the night – his first four-hit game of the season..

“We just don’t give away outs, we don’t give away at-bats,” Betts told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame. “We usually play pretty good defense and pitch the ball well. I think we pitched the ball decent today, maybe we can clean up a little bit of defense, but it’s all part of it. We’re not perfect, but we turned the page and came out with a W.”

Asked about his record-setting four-hit game, Betts was humble, but clearly proud on his night.

“I felt good today. I don’t think I’ve done anything even remotely close to that all season, so it’s good to know I can do it,” Betts said. “But tomorrow’s a new day, a tough challenge in (Marlins right-hander Sandy (Alcantara), and we’ll see how it goes.”

When told that his two home runs gave him 23 multi-home run games as a leadoff hitter, the most all time for a leadoff hitter, Betts was modest in acknowledging his impressive record-setting feat.

“I’ve been hitting leadoff for a long time, I guess it’s pretty cool, a pretty cool stat, but we got a long time to go,” he replied.

“It was just such a great performance, we needed every bit of it,” Roberts said of Betts’ remarkable night. “That’s why he’s one of the best players in the game and it’s fun to watch. What a great performance.”

Roberts also acknowledged his team’s less-than-stellar defense, with their uncharacteristic three-errors, and his bullpen’s (i.e., Bickford’s) struggles.

“We didn’t play good defense tonight, we gave them extra outs,” said Roberts. “I don’t think some of the guys in the ‘pen, I don’t think we pitched as well as we could have, but ultimately, we won a ballgame.

“I though (Dodgers starting pitcher) Tyler (Anderson) threw the baseball really well tonight, and we got big hits when we needed to,” Roberts added.

…especially by that Betts fellow.

But that’s just Mookie being Mookie – again.

Play Ball!

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