We've seen it happen before; the struggling superstar gets a standing ovation from their home crowd, and that show of appreciation and affection spurs a positive change from the player. Trea Turner's entire Phillies tenure may have turned around because fans in Philadelphia picked him up while he was down. Tonight, Dodgers fans tried to do the same for Mookie Betts by giving him a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat of the night.
In the ninth inning, Betts stepped up, down one, with Shohei Ohtani on first and nobody out — meaning he was the potential game-winning run. A base hit would have brought Freddie Freeman and Will Smith to the plate with great chances to tie and win the game.
It would have been a wholesome end to a night in which Dodgers fans tried to rally behind their star. Lars Nootbaar ruined it quickly.
Lars Nootbaar makes an UNBELIEVABLE catch in the 9th 😱 pic.twitter.com/7H3QMYGpTX
— MLB (@MLB) August 5, 2025
That's one of the best catches of the year, full stop. Nootbaar was playing deep because of Betts' pop, and sprinted what looked like 300 feet, then fully laid out to snatch a sure base hit from Mookie. Whew.
Instead of Betts being on first and Ohtani being on (at least) second, Nootbaar retired Betts, and the Cardinals went on to win the game in the ninth, 3-2. A literal game-saving play. The situation and score makes this one of — if not the best — defensive plays of the season.
Mookie Betts can't have anything nice right now
When guys are making plays like that, it's gotta feel like nothing is going your way. Betts, on the season, has an OPS under .700 and with each passing game, it looks less like a typical slump and more like something far more serious. Before tonight, he had six hits in his past four games, but an 0-for-4 night tonight makes it hard to get excited about the small flashes of the player we know he can be.