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FORGET JACKIE BRADLEY JR.'S breakout, Xander Bogaerts' hitting streak or David Ortiz's yearlong lovefest: Mookie Betts, the Red Sox's 23-year-old outfielder, is the team's most indispensable player, and a legitimate MVP candidate.
Betts is among the AL leaders in runs, hits and RBIs, but you could argue that his biggest strength has been coming through in the clutch. Betts has five of the Sox's top 16 games in win probability added (WPA), a measure of how much one player affects his team's chances to win. Here are the stories behind some of his best games.
1 DOWN WITH THE BIRDS
AUG. 16 AT BALTIMORE
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 3
BETTS' WPA: 0.505
THE SCENE Let it be said, with little hyperbole, that Betts defeated the Orioles single-handedly. Batting cleanup, he broke a scoreless stalemate in the fifth inning with a two-out, three-run homer off Baltimore starter Yovani Gallardo. And after the Orioles rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh, Betts bashed a two-run homer in the next inning against setup man Brad Brach, against whom right-handed hitters had been 8-for-102 (.078). Betts drove in all five Red Sox runs. About the only thing he didn't do was pitch.
BETTS' TAKE "I knew it was going to be tough [facing Brach]. I tried to swing early and be aggressive, because I know he's going to be in the zone. Once you get two strikes, it's pretty much over at that point with him. ... Batting cleanup can be tough, but I was just trying to put a good swing on a good pitch, trying to drive the ball like I always do, with my same approach. [Being a power hitter] is definitely weird. I've never been that in my life. I'm just going to try to enjoy it while it's here."
2 HOUSTON HAS A PROBLEM
MAY 15 AT BOSTON
RED SOX 10, ASTROS 9
BETTS' WPA: 0.330
THE SCENE By the time Betts stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, this game had seen three lead changes. The Red Sox had just watched an 8-6 edge disappear after the Astros' three-run rally in the top of the sixth. After Ryan Hanigan tied the score with a two-out single off Houston right-hander Scott Feldman, Betts fell behind in the count 0-2. No worries. He laid off two pitches, then lined a sinker to the gap in right-center field for a go-ahead triple.
BETTS' TAKE "From the outside, [games like these, when the entire offense clicks] look ridiculous, but from the inside, they're just the product of us grinding out at-bats and grinding through games. It was a tough day, man. The wind blowing, the sun there, it made it that much tougher. Fortunately, we were able to get an extra out [on Hanigan's hit] and take advantage of it."
3 RANGE FACTOR
JUNE 24 AT TEXAS
RED SOX 8, RANGERS 7
BETTS' WPA: 0.329
THE SCENE Good luck finding a more improbable Red Sox victory. Trailing 7-4 in the top of the ninth, the Sox got two quick outs, then proceeded to score four runs. After Sandy Leon worked an 11-pitch at-bat for an RBI double, the Rangers called on hard-throwing righty Matt Bush. Betts passed on a couple of sliders in anticipation of high heat. Sure enough, he got a belt-high 97 mph fastball and crushed it to the center-field berm. Three batters later, Dustin Pedroia scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
BETTS' TAKE "There are three righties behind Sandy, so I know [Bush] is coming in, and I kind of prepared for that. Seeing velocity doesn't change anything. It's all got to come across the plate at some point. That's my mindset. In the AL East, you see it every day. A lot of times, you see it from the starter for the whole game. That ball was one of the ones I figured was going to go out. If it didn't, I would have probably cried."
4 BRINGING THE RAIN
AUG. 1 AT SEATTLE
RED SOX 2, MARINERS 1
BETTS' WPA: 0.328
THE SCENE It doesn't get much more clutch than a leadoff homer in the ninth inning of a tie game. Betts' longball was off a hanging sinker from Mariners reliever Steve Cishek, all the way into the left-field bullpen. It was also one of the hardest balls Betts hit all season, with an exit velocity of 103.54 mph, according to Statcast.
BETTS' TAKE "I was just going up there knowing [Cishek] is a tough at-bat. Any sidearm guy is going to be tough. I was just trying to get a fastball up so I could at least put it in play. I know anything down, I'm going to beat into the ground, so just got something elevated and put a good swing on it."
5 TWO BIRDS, THREE HOMERS
MAY 31 AT BALTIMORE
RED SOX 6, ORIOLES 2
BETTS' WPA: 0.325
THE SCENE Talk about doing it all. Betts led off the game with a homer to straightaway center field, then added a three-run shot to left in the second inning. In the seventh, just for good measure, Betts' capped his first three-homer game by going to right field for a solo shot against reliever Dylan Bundy. (His diving catch to steal a hit from Paul Janish in the bottom of that inning was just a bonus.)
BETTS' TAKE "I think I surprised myself, definitely, with the center-field and the right-field ones. [Pulling the ball to] left field is my forte. First time I've ever done that, three home runs. I was able to make a play behind [pitcher] Robbie Ross, too, so, you know, put the whole game together. That's why, I think, it ranks among my best games."
Stats courtesy Baseball-Reference.com; through Sept. 6.
