Michael Conforto’s tiebreaking RBI single is a ray of hope in his gloomy season with the Dodgers

LOS ANGELES AP Michael Conforto smacked a sharp drive to left with two outs in the eighth inning Thursday and he celebrated at first base while Andy Pages scored the tiebreaking run for the Los Angeles Dodgers The big hit ended up deciding the Dodgers - conquest over the New York Mets Yet it was much bigger than that to Conforto who had done almost nothing worth celebrating in his dismal first season with the defending World Series champions It s been a grind up to this point and all I want to do is go up there and help us win Conforto reported In a lot of those situations I ve come up short To be able to come through in the current era was everything Up until that big moment Conforto s first season with the Dodgers had largely been a accident The left fielder is batting with a OPS producing just three homers and RBIs in plate appearances Before he drove in Pages Conforto hadn t had a hit with runners in scoring position since March going for It s not even close to what the Dodgers and their fans expected from Conforto the longtime Mets outfielder who got a million contract as a free agent last December following two solid seasons with the San Francisco Giants Los Angeles signed Conforto before Teoscar Hern ndez agreed to return and Hern ndez subsequently moved from left field to right to replace Mookie Betts who moved to the infield permanently The Dodgers handed an everyday spot in their star-studded lineup to Conforto and they expected him to provide the same steady offense he has produced throughout his career But since a six-game hitting streak to start the season his production has plummeted Conforto went days between RBIs in May repeatedly failing to deliver when the Dodgers needed him He was in a -for- slump with straight hitless at-bats before his eighth-inning RBI single Thursday and that was after a -for- skid that consumed nearly a month of play Conforto has been playing long enough to know that not even the loaded Dodgers will wait forever for him to get going His teammates and coaches have praised his work ethic but the veteran knows he has to end this season-long slump It s frustrating Conforto disclosed It s part of the tournament it s part of baseball but there comes a time when you ve got to start performing and you ve got to start doing something for your squad Sometimes that makes it a little bit harder to stomach the bad at-bats but you ve just got to keep moving forward and keep working That s what I ve been trying to keep my mind focused on Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has kept Conforto in his everyday lineup despite his ineffectiveness Conforto has played in of their games with Roberts and the front office resisting the urge to try anyone else consistently He s feeling the love and the promotion Roberts announced after Conforto s big hit He s been going through it so I think that it s a huge exhale for him hopefully You get on the road and have a little bit of confidence expect a few good things to happen when he s at bat Hopefully we can look back and say this is the turning point for him The Dodgers have kept chugging along atop the NL West despite Conforto s struggles and despite pitchers on the injured list making more than million combined Los Angeles won four of seven over the past week against New York s two powerhouse teams The Dodgers still have the majors top offense in several categories despite the conspicuous lack of production from left field with their three former MVPs all delivering along with Will Smith and a revitalized Max Muncy While Conforto has been mired in his slump Pages has improved dramatically in his second big league season posting a OPS with RBIs And when Conforto absolutely got the job done Thursday his teammates made sure to enjoy the moment with him It doesn t matter who it is what you re going through for the guys in here you re a teammate you re a brother Betts declared So whatever you re going through we re all going through I think it was huge and I think he felt the love in that situation AP MLB https apnews com MLB Source