ANAHEIM — In an exhibition game that carried some heft to it, the Dodgers and Angels finished out their spring training schedules on Tuesday night.
The final spring game, which typically provides prospects the chance to play the back half of the game in a major league stadium in front of a large crowd, took on more meaning with Mookie Betts starting at shortstop for the Dodgers.
It was Betts’ first game action since he had two at-bats in a March 9 Cactus League game against the Athletics. He fell ill the following day and had been dealing with a stomach virus that persisted for two weeks.
After playing into the sixth inning and, while going 0 for 3 at the plate, Betts pronounced himself ready to play in the home opener Thursday against the Detroit Tigers.
“Yeah, I played in the game (Tuesday),” Betts said when asked if he will play Thursday. “Once I stepped foot on the dirt, I was ready to go.”
Betts said Sunday that without being able to eat solid foods, he dropped from his 175-pound playing weight to 157 pounds.
He was finally able to hold down a meal on Monday when he went through a workout at Dodger Stadium then saw game action Tuesday.
Before Tuesday’s game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he still wanted to see how Betts got through a workout on Wednesday. Afterward, though, he was on board with Betts’ plan to play in the home opener.
“He’s going to go through a work day as far as grounders and some stuff on the field, and in the cage as well, but he’ll be ready for the home opener,” Roberts said.
Both Betts and Freddie Freeman missed the two regular-season games in Japan last week against the Chicago Cubs, but the Dodgers won both contests anyway.
“Honestly, I think our guys do a great job (of being prepared),” Roberts said. “Case in point, in Tokyo, we lost two of our best players 48 hours apart, and we won two ball games. So it’s kind of what we do.”
Roberts has not come up with a plan of how he will ease his veteran into the flow of the early season, but Betts did not sound like somebody who was looking for special treatment.
“I’m actually stronger than I was before,” Betts said. “My body has been perfectly fine. It’s only been my stomach. Literally only my stomach. I’ve been working out, doing everything perfectly normal. It was just hard to hold down food but I’m fine now.”
Betts’ recovery coincided with a move to a new undisclosed medication, and he has managed to put on at least some of the weight he lost. As far as getting back to 175 pounds, that will be a work in progress.
“I’ve never done this so I have no idea,” said Betts, who also adjusted his diet in recent days but did not go into details about it. “We’ll both find out at the same time.”
The Dodgers were fine with Betts playing on Thursday after he went through strength testing. At the plate, he had a ground out to third base, a foul out to first and a ground out to second.
While Betts was trying to return from some downtime, the Angels were trying to avoid it so close to the start of their season, which will be Thursday in Chicago against the White Sox.
In his last outing before the regular season, Dodgers right-hander Dustin May gave up just one hit in five innings but hit the Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe and Jorge Soler with pitches. Both remained in the game, although Soler was visited by a member of the Angels’ medical staff near home plate.
Soler eventually came around to score the Angels’ lone run in the fourth inning on an O’Hoppe single.
The Dodgers had a 2-0 lead at the time on Will Smith’s second home run of the spring. Miguel Rojas added a sacrifice fly in a two-run ninth inning for the Dodgers.
After a franchise-record 99 losses last season and nine consecutive losing campaigns, the Angels are feeling optimistic for the road ahead, with a young core while hoping three-time American League MVP Mike Trout can remain healthy.
“For the most part, I was enjoying watching those kids get a chance to grow and they have,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “Now (GM) Perry (Minasian) has surrounded us with some players to help them. If what they did last year is their ceiling, we are in trouble, but I don’t believe they’ve reached their ceilings.”