In what was a brutal month of August, Will Smith ended it on a high note, smashing a pinch hit walk-off home run to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“That’s pretty cool,” said Smith, who jumped on a second-pitch fastball from right-hander John Curtiss. “Always be ready to go. Not checking out of the game early or whatever. Just doing what you can, just being ready for that spot.”

Smith cratered to a .159/.326/.304 slash line in the month of August and has just two hits, both home runs, over his last 19 at-bats. Despite his poor output, he still ranks fourth in the National League in batting average, first in on base percentage, and fifth in OPS.

Mookie Betts has made just one appearance this season in right field, and Dylan Hernández of the Los Angeles Times reiterates in his most recent column that Betts will remain the starting shortstop even with poor defense from Teoscar Hernández and the Michael Conforto’s season long slump.

“Mookie,” Roberts said, “will not go to right field… Mookie,” Roberts said again, “will not go to right field.”

Betts ranks in the 89th percentile for outs above average and in the 77th percentile for fielding run value, while his 15 defensive runs saved are the most by any shortstop this season.

After a four home run game on Thursday, Kyle Schwarber now leads both the National League in home runs and RBI, with his OPS ranking just second in the NL behind Shohei Ohtani. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic discusses the NL MVP race this season, noting that if voters choose to pick Schwarber, it won’t be correlated to any voter fatigue.

Former Dodger Walker Buehler has found a new home, this time with a NL East contender. After being released by the Boston Red Sox on Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies announced on Sunday that they signed Buehler to a minor league deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com notes that he will have one start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley before making his Phillies debut on Sept. 12, putting him in line to start the series finale between the Dodgers and Phillies on Sept. 17.