Betts leads Dodgers' offensive power in win over Giants

LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts has been swinging the bat with the kind of authority the Dodgers have been waiting to see, and Saturday night he made sure the Giants felt it.

Betts reached base in all five of his plate appearances, collecting three doubles, a single and a walk as the Dodgers’ offense erupted late in a 10-4 victory over the Giants at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

After hitting two home runs Friday night, Betts followed with a four-hit performance and two RBIs, raising his batting average to .261. More importantly, he continued a stretch of offensive production that has helped the Dodgers pull away from the Giants and move another step closer to securing a first-round bye.

Stay hot, Mookie! 🔥#Dodgerspic.twitter.com/vZqKgcbA0k

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— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 20, 2026

The Dodgers are now 95-60, with their magic number to clinch the bye down to four.

Betts got started early, lining an RBI single to right in the second inning to score Josue De Paula and give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. He struck again in the fourth, slicing an RBI double to left to put the Dodgers back in front, 4-3.

And every time the Giants threatened to wrestle control of the game away, the Dodgers’ lineup had another answer.

Will Smith provided one of the biggest swings, homering for the second consecutive game. Smith reached base three times and drove in two runs, matching De Paula’s three-times-on-base, two-RBI night.

      

But the defining inning came in the fifth.

The Dodgers appeared to be letting an opportunity slip away when Max Muncy grounded into a double play. Instead, with two outs and the bases empty, the lineup came alive.

Teoscar Hernández singled to right. Kyle Tucker followed with a walk. De Paula then walked to load the bases.

That brought up Tommy Edman, who delivered the biggest hit of the inning.

Edman lined a single to left, scoring Hernández and Tucker and breaking a 4-4 tie. Suddenly, the Dodgers were ahead 6-4.

Miguel Rojas then pinch-hit for Alex Freeland and kept the rally alive, slapping a single to left that scored De Paula. Edman tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate, ending the inning.

The Dodgers had scored three runs with two outs and took a 7-4 lead into the sixth.

The offense never let up from there.

Muncy had already extended his streak of consecutive games with an RBI to three, driving in a run with a first-inning double to right. It was his 75th RBI of the season.

Betts added his fourth hit of the night later, finishing 4-for-4 with three doubles, a single and two RBIs before drawing a walk in his final plate appearance.

It was exactly the type of night the Dodgers needed behind Tarik Skubal, who did not have his best command but managed to keep the game within reach long enough for the offense and bullpen to take over.

      

Skubal entered Saturday coming off his best start since joining the Dodgers. Against Cincinnati in his previous outing, he threw seven shutout innings, allowing only three hits while striking out nine.

Saturday was a different story.

Skubal gave up a two-run home run to Victor Bericoto in the third inning, with Bericoto crushing a full-count pitch over the center-field wall to tie the game at 2-2.

An inning later, Jonah Cox scored another Giants run on a squeeze bunt, and the Giants continued to put pressure on Skubal.

In the fifth, Jung Hoo Lee doubled home a run to tie the game at 4-4.

Skubal’s night ended after five innings, having allowed four runs on eight hits while walking two and throwing 86 pitches.

Two scoreless innings for Tarik Skubal! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nY1buxObsX

— Hyeseong Kim Muse 김혜성 (Fan account) (@HyeseongKimMuse) September 20, 2026

His command, particularly with his fastball, simply wasn’t there.

“Fastball command wasn’t great,” Skubal said. “You know, not driving it up and in. Kind of pulling the ball down at times, pushing it up at times. I think almost all pitching is fastball command, and mine wasn’t great today.”

But Skubal also understood that a start like this can become easier to swallow when the rest of the roster responds.

“Yeah, no doubt. Obviously, I wasn’t very good today, but the offense and defense and bullpen picked me up big time, and that’s what good teams do,” Skubal said. “You know, they pick each other up and win series and win baseball games. So, hats off to them.”

The Dodgers bullpen did exactly that.

Over the final four innings, the Dodgers’ relievers didn’t allow a hit, shutting down the Giants. .

Edwin Díaz handled the eighth inning, striking out two while walking one over 22 pitches. He entered with the Dodgers holding a 10-4 lead, a low-leverage opportunity as he continues to work his way toward the end of the regular season.

  

Roberts said earlier this week that he wanted to see more from Díaz and wanted the right-hander to build on each outing. Díaz knows the closer role remains unsettled and that he still has something to prove.

For now, he’s focused on finishing the season well.

“I just want to keep climbing the ladder and finish the season strong,” Díaz said.

The outing was another step toward finding the fastball command and overall feel that Díaz has been searching for.

Kyle Tucker, who went 1-for-3, has also found a productive groove offensively this month. Asked afterward whether the calendar or the pressure of the season’s final weeks had helped him figure something out, Tucker wasn’t sure there was a specific explanation.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily the schedule,” Tucker said. “I try and play well from game one until the end of the year, so I just feel good at where I’m at with my swing and everything else. So it’s just kind of where I’m at.”

  

That has become the theme for the Dodgers as October approaches: different players finding their rhythm at different times, with the lineup increasingly capable of covering for a night when the pitching isn’t at its sharpest.

Skubal’s first nine starts as a Dodger have included six at home, and Saturday’s crowd gave him another reminder of what awaits in October.

He said he’s looking forward to seeing the same environment when the postseason arrives.

“I’m excited to play home games and home playoff games,” Skubal said. “You know, in front of these guys, in front of these people. I mean, the fans are incredible. The energy tonight was great, and I’m excited to kind of see what they’re capable of in the postseason. So, I’m super excited for that.”

The Dodgers are four wins away from securing the first-round bye.

And with Betts swinging like this, the rest of the lineup providing timely damage and a bullpen that held the Giants without a hit for four innings, the Dodgers continue to look increasingly dangerous as the calendar moves toward October.

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