Looking good! Betts goes deep to lead Dodgers in return from IL

MILWAUKEE -- Mookie Betts lost his balance and fell down after whiffing on a Freddy Peralta slider for a strikeout in the first inning on Monday. The Dodgers star was wearing molded cleats, and he promptly switched into metal ones after slipping.

“The dirt was just too hard,” Betts said. “I made a fool of myself, but it was strictly because I couldn’t grip.”

It didn’t take Betts much longer to remind everyone who he is, in his return from a near-two-month stint on the injured list. He crushed a two-run homer off Peralta in the third inning, before adding an RBI single and a stolen base in the seventh, in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Brewers at American Family Field.

“Freddy Peralta is a heck of a pitcher,” manager Dave Roberts said. “To have the night he did against Freddy was huge.”

Betts was activated off the IL on Monday following his near-two-month absence for a fractured left hand -- which he suffered on June 16. In a corresponding move, Los Angeles designated Amed Rosario for assignment.

He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one run in the win. Clayton Kershaw was charged with one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, and Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run homer -- the first of his career on a 3-0 pitch -- in the fifth.

“Being able to pencil his name in the lineup, we certainly got a lot better,” Roberts said of Betts before Monday’s game. “We’re kind of getting to the point where we’re putting guys in their respective spots in the order, which adds length and makes us a better ballclub.”

Monday’s performance was impressive beyond Betts’ lengthy absence. He rejoined the Dodgers without playing in any games on a rehab assignment ahead of his activation. Betts also was slotted into a new spot in the Dodgers’ lineup upon his return, to go along with a position change that moved him from shortstop back to right field.

Monday marked his first start in the No. 2 spot in the order since Aug. 12, 2020, and his first time playing right field since last season. Betts, who moved to shortstop this season, has played 65 games there this season (61 starts) along with 16 appearances at second base (11 starts).

“It's just whatever's best for the team, man. I felt like that's what's best for the team,” Betts said pregame Monday. “I do believe that I can be a good shortstop, but I know there’s a couple guys in our clubhouse that are very, very good -- Gold Glove winners.”

That includes Nick Ahmed (two-time Gold Glover). The Dodgers have him and Miguel Rojas as options at short. And, of course, Betts has 10 seasons of experience playing right field in the Majors, and he’s a six-time Gold Glove Award winner.

“It’s not like I’ve been years away from it,” Betts said. “It hasn’t even been a year. I’ve still got it in me.”

He showed that in the sixth inning, when Jackson Chourio hit a line drive off the wall in right field. Betts quickly retrieved the ball and fired a strike back to the infield, holding Chourio to a single.

“I didn’t think about it,” Betts said of that play. “It was just from being there. That’s the intricacies of playing right that I got to learn over 10 years, that I didn't really get a chance to learn [at shortstop] in two months. … I don’t have to practice that. That just kind of happens, where every other play at short, I had to practice.”

Betts’ return, and his return to the outfield, had a domino effect on the rest of Los Angeles’ roster. Roberts said it was a “difficult conversation” in regards to the move to DFA Rosario. The Dodgers acquired him from the Rays before the Trade Deadline on July 29.

Roberts also said he talked to veteran outfielder Jason Heyward a few days ago, calling it “another difficult conversation.” With Betts moving back to right, Andy Pages and Kevin Kiermaier in center and Teoscar Hernández in left, Heyward’s playing time is likely to be impacted.

But the Dodgers are obviously a better team with Betts back, and they have the best record in the National League (70-49) after Monday despite dealing with a laundry list of injuries.

“It’s remarkable,” Roberts said. “It doesn't feel like it, obviously, with a lot of teams chasing us too. It's fun. It's good for us to get our guys back, and we still got more coming, but it's a credit to those guys in the room -- the coaches -- and everyone's just playing their tails off.”