Dodgers drop struggling Mookie Betts in lineup

With the bases loaded in the third inning, Betts put the Dodgers on the board with a bases-clearing double. He doubled again in the fifth to collect his fourth RBI before drawing a pair of walks. The 33-year-old outfielder is slashing .242/.304/.411 with 16 homers, 52 runs scored, and 51 RBI across 428 plate appearances.

Thomas had been the Dodgers’ center fielder against righties since Andy Pages went down, but it seems the team will go with Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernádez out there now. Thomas went 4-for-19 with three RBI in 10 days with the club.

Betts smacked a two-out single off of Sale in the opening inning and was left stranded at first base. He then led off the fourth inning with a double — the Dodgers’ only extra-base hit in the contest — but he never advanced from there. With his two-hit attack, the 33-year-old infielder is now slashing .239/.298/.407 with 16 homers, 47 RBI and just one stolen base (in three attempts) on the season.

Edman drove in three runs for the fourth time in 56 games since returning from ankle surgery. He’s batting 271/.351/.420, and he’d seem to have a better case than Mookie Betts for hitting third for the Dodgers with Andy Pages absent.

Pages had been alternating between hitting second and third of late. Betts, who had mostly been batting fifth recently, has reached six times in his last two games, but that still leaves him with just a .295 OBP on the season. Eventually, it might be Will Smith hitting third to help break up the lefties.

Thomas isn’t the most exciting option from a pure fantasy perspective, but he makes the most sense as a short-term stopgap for the Dodgers with Andy Pages set to miss 4-5 weeks with a fractured hand. The 26-year-old defensive specialist is an excellent defender in center field and is already on the 40-man roster. He’ll split time with Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernández for the next couple weeks. There’s a chance that a top prospect like Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota or James Tibbs III get a look once rosters expand, but that seems unlikely at this juncture.

Pages underwent X-rays that revealed the fracture after being hit by a pitch during the early stages of Friday’s game against the Pirates. Roberts didn’t say how the Dodgers intend to replace Pages, but former Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas, who is already on the 40-man roster, seems like the obvious choice. He could come up and play against most righties, with Tommy Edman moving to center against lefties. That would free up some infield time for Enrique Hernández and Miguel Rojas. There’s an extremely small, but non-zerp possibility that the Dodgers bring up one of their top outfield prospects like Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota, or James Tibbs III.

Edman ended the game with an RBI single off Gregory Soto to give the Dodgers their 77th win of the 2026 campaign. The 31-year-old has appeared in just 52 games this year, but he’s been solid — if unspectacular — in those contests with a slash of .274/.342/.411 with four homers in 175 at-bats. He also gets to be the hero of Friday’s game, which seems pretty fun.

Betts singled in the second run of the 10th after Freddie Freeman singled to knock in the automatic runner. The three-hit game was Betts’ 10th of the year. He’s batting .237/.291/.412 through 91 games.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine night off for the dynamic 33-year-old infielder. Miguel Rojas will start in his place at shortstop and will bat sixth for the Dodgers against Brewers’ left-hander Shane Drohan on Thursday evening in Los Angeles.