David Ortiz Offered Mookie Betts Advice Before Slump-Breaking Playoff Homer

Mookie Betts hadn’t been himself entering Tuesday night’s Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres postseason contest and in the midst of a daunting slump at the plate, the eight-time All-Star received a piece of much-needed advice from legend David Ortiz.

Ortiz, a former Boston Red Sox teammate of Betts and postseason icon, didn’t lose an ounce of faith in the two-time World Series champ. Betts took the field for Game 3 accompanied by an ice-cold 3-for-44 stretch with 11 strikeouts in the postseason. During Los Angeles’ Game 2 loss at Dodger Stadium, Betts went 0-for-4 at the plate. Granted, Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar robbed Betts of a sure-thing home run with an unbelievable web gem, but the 32-year-old still needed some words of encouragement nonetheless.

“It’s not mechanically, it might be mentally. So now, Mook-dawg, listen to your boy right here,” Ortiz said on FOX Sports’ pregame show. “If I’m your hitting coach right now, I would not worry about anything mechanically. I would worry about putting the smile that you put on your face. That smile that pisses people off, the opposition. The smile that you use to beat people up because that smile means that you are having fun. And when you are having fun playing the game, everything comes natural to you. You know why? Because this kid is one of the hardest-working kids in baseball. That’s why he’s so good. Let’s go, man! I’m cheering for you. My dawg, let’s go!”

Perhaps Betts caught wind of Big Papi’s words of affirmation from the locker room because, in the top of the first inning, Betts broke open the score with a solo home run to get the Dodgers on the board early. Profar leaped and nearly robbed Betts again, but the 342-foot blast was just enough to give the right-handed hitter his first trip around the bases in the postseason in three years — Betts last homered in the 2021 postseason against the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

Betts went 2-for-4 at the plate, but the Dodgers fell to the Padres, 6-5, giving San Diego a 2-1 series advantage in the division series, putting Los Angeles a loss away from playoff elimination. The Dodgers have reached desperation mode, meaning Betts, Shohei Ohtani and the rest of Los Angeles’ expensive roster will need to be on its A-game, otherwise, the Dodgers are doomed for an embarrassing first-round exit.

Game 4 from Petco Park on Wednesday night is set to begin at 9:08 p.m. ET.