Dodgers need veteran sluggers to keep compensating for injured Shohei Ohtani

Welcome to the California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where we review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.Teoscar Hernandez (10-for-19, 1 HR, 10 RBIs this week) and Mookie Betts (8-for-20, 2 HR, 7 RBIs this week)There’s no hotter hitter in baseball right now than Hernández, who has continued his late-season resurgence by batting an MLB-best .514 over the last 10 games.And outside of Hernández, there is no more encouraging player in the Dodgers’ lineup than Betts, who is mounting his own second-half turnaround with a .314 average and six home runs over his last 31 games overall.Both have found consistency with their mechanics.Both have given the Dodgers some much-needed right-handed-hitting pop higher up the lineup.It’s a big reason why, even though Shohei Ohtani missed all but one game last week with his ongoing injury, Freddie Freeman was slumping through his own knee problem, Andy Pages remained out with a broken hand and Kyle Tucker continued his season-long struggles, the Dodgers won a season-high seven straight games. In six of those seven games, Betts or Hernández had the ultimately decisive go-ahead RBI.As long as Ohtani and others remain hampered, the Dodgers will need both to continue their surges.Can Hernández and Betts actually do that?Both players, after all, have had similar flashes in the last two years.But both have also failed to sustain such production over a more extended period.This time, Hernández’s return to form feels, at least, easier to explain.

He was having a fine start to the year before going down with a hamstring strain.He made a mechanical tweak that addressed resulting flaws in his lower-body mechanics.

And he has replaced much of his midsummer frustration with a renewed infusion of confidence every time he steps to the plate.“I never stopped working,” he said.“I knew at some point it was going to click.”Betts has also been buoyed by his recent improve...