It only took Mookie Betts one swing to solidify turnaround in worst Dodgers season yet

The Padres must've come into their series against the Dodgers feeling very good about themselves, but they didn't play like it. San Diego had just overtaken LA for first place in the NL West and entered the series 8-2 over their last 10 to the Dodgers' 4-6. The Dodgers continued to be beaten down by injuries — this time, to position players more than pitchers — while the Padres lost Michael King right before the series opener, but were otherwise at full strength.

There was a world in which the Padres left the series with a four-game division lead, but instead they fell back to second place, two games behind, after suffering a sweep. The Dodgers enjoyed their best weekend of baseball in a long time.

In the finale, the clincher came off the bat of a player who, against all odds, has become something of an afterthought in the Dodgers' lineup. With the game tied at four in the bottom of the eighth, Mookie Betts came up after going hitless with one walk. He's gone back to being a more potent lineup presence as of late, but he had the opportunity to hit perhaps his most clutch homer of the season, and he took it.

Mookie Betts' game-winning homer in Dodgers-Padres finale was another encouraging sign of life

Betts initially started showing signs of life on Aug. 5, when he had a three-hit game and the first in what would become an eight-game hitting streak. During that span, he batted .400 with a .990 OPS. Although he calmed down during the first two games of the Padres series and went hitless, all he really needed was that homer in the finale.

He's batting .296 with a .782 OPS in his last seven games. His power is still flagging, and that's a problem that's persisted all season. He's still making contact at a relatively normal clip, but he's not barreling up the ball. He has a career-lowest 34% hard hit rate this season.

The homer on Sunday was crushed, though, leaving the bat at 102.5 MPH and traveling 394 feet.

The Dodgers move on to a four-game set against the Rockies in Colorado, where they'll hope to put even more distance between themselves and the Padres by bullying those poor guys at Coors before they have to see the Padres for a fourth and final series immediately afterwards.

Betts has already been waking up, but that homer against the Dodgers' fiercest division rival had to have given him another jolt.