The positive vibes generated by Tyler Glasnow’s dominating seventh inning start and Shohei Ohtani’s two home runs were dashed in the seventh inning Sunday when a 98 mph fastball struck Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts on the back of his left hand. Betts slumped on the field for several minutes before leaving the game.
The Dodgers beat the Kansas City Royals. 3-0 Betts was the loss to the starting rotation in a game played in front of a sellout crowd of 52,789 at Dodger Stadium, and X-rays showed he suffered a fractured left hand that will not require surgery but will sideline him for several weeks.
“It’s a really big blow,” coach Dave Roberts said. “I feel really bad for Mookie. He was having an MVP season. It’s disappointing, but we’ve got to move on. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll be OK. We have really good players.”
Mookie Betts was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Royals at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.
(Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
![Mookie Betts (left) was hit by a pitch and fell to the ground while manager Dave Roberts and team trainers treated him.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ef87256/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6202x4135+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2F41%2F44a073374ea8bbd0358f45c20586%2Froyals-dodgers-baseball-09443.jpg)
Mookie Betts (left) was hit by a pitch in the top of the seventh inning on Sunday and fell to the ground, writhing around as manager Dave Roberts and team trainers tended to him.
(Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
With runners on first and second, Betts, who was batting .304 with an on-base/slugging percentage of .893, 10 homers, 16 doubles, 40 RBIs and 50 runs scored, couldn’t avoid a fastball from Royals relief pitcher Dan Altavilla. The ball struck Betts on the back of his left hand, and he fell to the ground, clutching his left hand.
“I had no feeling, I had pain,” Betts said. “Unfortunately, I broke a bone. [nothing] What can I really do now? … I honestly don’t know what’s next. Of course, I’ll watch the players and cheer them on, but other than that, it’s just a rest. I’ll use it as a mental rest and be ready to go whenever I’m healed.”
Betts is due to see hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin on Monday.
Betts was moved from right field to second base over the winter, then from second base to shortstop after Gavin Lux’s pitching slump in early March.
The Dodgers have Miguel Rojas, a skilled shortstop, but he’s not as good a hitter as Betts and has been in poor form this season with a foot injury that has limited him to everyday play.
![Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run off Royals pitcher Brady Singer in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6d04f6c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4619x3080+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2F7d%2F996337554cdda8f63b6e036500e1%2Froyals-dodgers-baseball-40348.jpg)
Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run off Royals pitcher Brady Singer in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.
(Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
Roberts said utility player Kiké Hernández will also play shortstop. The team is recalling left fielder Miguel Vargas from Triple-A Oklahoma City to replace Betts. Ohtani will likely move to lead off the order.
“It’s very tough to watch as a teammate,” Ohtani said through an interpreter about Betts. “He’s obviously very important to the team. If he’s going to be out for a while, it’s the responsibility of the rest of the team to cover for him so we can continue to play.”
Betts’ injury, which came on the same day the Dodgers placed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the 15-day disabled list with a torn rotator cuff, put a damper on an otherwise successful afternoon for the Dodgers.
Glasnow allowed no runs in seven innings, allowing just three hits, striking out nine and walking one, while Ohtani and Freddie Freeman led the offense with solo home runs.
Setup man Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless eighth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced, and closer Evan Phillips tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 10th save.
The Dodgers employed a bullpen approach in Thursday night’s game against the Texas Rangers and were forced to do so again Saturday night against the Royals when Yamamoto left the game after two innings with an injury, but Glasnow gave the Dodgers some much-needed pitching time.
Glasnow got three straight outs in the first two innings, but in the third inning, he gave up a single to leadoff hitter MJ Melendez, who eventually got out on Kyle Isbell’s inning-ending grounder for a double play.
![Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow pitched well in the first inning on Sunday.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0cb39d4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5215x3477+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff3%2F83%2F129a14224233bccc53bb06275518%2Froyals-dodgers-baseball-95865.jpg)
Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow pitched well in the first inning on Sunday.
(Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
His only real struggles came in the fourth inning, when Bobby Witt Jr. hit an infield single with one out and Vinny Pasquantino walked, but he got out of a jam by striking out Salvador Pérez with an 83 mph curveball and getting Adam Frazier to ground out to Betts, who hit Frazier’s grounder to second base.
Glasnow started five consecutive games from May 10 through June 4, and did not allow his teammates to score while he was pitching, until the streak was ended on June 9, when his teammates were given three runs by Glasnow in a 6–4 loss to the New York Yankees.
Glasnow’s scoring support wasn’t as strong Sunday, but it was enough to help him improve to 7-5 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 starts this season.
Ohtani, who “used most of the field,” in Roberts’ preferred phrase, blasted a 451-foot solo homer to left-center field off Royals right-hander Brady Singer in the third inning, his second of the season, to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Roberts said Ohtani’s swing had been “a little too swivelling” over the past week, which led him to miss pitches early and hit more grounders to the right side, but Ohtani caught Singer’s 93 mph sinker for his 18th home run of the season, a laser-like pitch that left the bat at 114.3 mph.
Then, as leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning, Ohtani smashed Singer’s first pitch, an 80 mph slider, over the right field fence for his 19th home run of the season and his 18th multiple home run overall.
Freeman then hit his 10th home run of the season.