Even in a loss, Mookie Betts still finds a way to produce.
The Boston Red Sox right fielder went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run thanks to his 14th blast of the season in the 7-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Fenway Park.
“I’m not trying to be a power hitter,” Betts said after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I work hard every day … but being consistent is the main thing.”
Well, the power is most certainly there for the 25-year-old.
He now has 59 hits on the season with 14 home runs and 30 RBI. Betts is tied with O’s shortstop Manny Machado for the most home runs in Major League Baseball, while leading the league in a plethora of categories, including batting average, slugging percentage and extra-base hits.
So what’s No. 50’s secret?
“He’s working hard,” Sox skipper Alex Cora said after the game. “Before batting practice he’s in the cage … during the game he’s in the cage, it’s actually fun to see it. If he stays consistent with his work ethic, he’ll be fine.”
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox vs. Orioles game:
— This was Pomeranz’s fourth start of pitching four innings or fewer, but Cora is confident his starter is healthy.
“Obviously we want more (innings),” the manager said after the game. “It wasn’t great … but he’ll get by, keep making adjustments and hopefully the next (start) he’s better.”
— Pomeranz also knew his start wasn’t his best and voiced his frustrations after the game, but noted he feels great and there’s zero issues with his health.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work trying to clean up things and waiting for things to click for me,” the lefty said. “Similar to the same stuff I went through last year. It just gets extremely frustrating.”
The southpaw noted he already knows what he needs to work on in order to come out stronger for his next start.
“I’ve been having a lot of trouble staying back,” Pomeranz said. “And I saw something that was probably a big factor in that. We’ll get here tomorrow and work on that.”
— Cora noted he would not use Steven Wright as a starter, despite how well he’s pitching out of the bullpen.
“He knows his role,” Cora said. “The two time’s he’s come in in the middle of the game, he’s given us a chance to win the ballgame.”
— Eight of 11 Betts’ stolen bases have come over the span of his last 12 games.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. was benched in the seventh inning after striking out twice in the game.
