MINNEAPOLIS — It was hours before a random Monday game in June in Minnesota, but a routine is a routine. So Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas took their typical spots in the Los Angeles Dodgers infield and barked out situations ahead of the team’s 50th win of the season. It’s a ritual that began before last spring training, when the three veterans arrived in Arizona early to try to nail down the intricacies of every scenario imaginable. It has since become a part of the everyday regimen.Months before Betts fielded a grounder from Alejandro Kirk to start the double play that clinched the Dodgers’ back-to-back World Series title, the shortstop was running repetitions of the exact play on a practice field.The logic is simple.“If we’re not making this play properly, that could be the play that ends up being the difference between us winning or losing the World Series,” infield coach Chris Woodward said.The Dodgers understand the conventional wisdom in the sport: That a player’s defense declines as he gets older. In many instances, the glove is the first thing to go. Yet the Dodgers, who employ the oldest position player group (with an average age of 30.6) in the big leagues, lead the majors in Defensive Runs Saved and are tied for fourth in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value.Think of the group’s veterans as Old Glovers: Betts is 33; Muncy is 35, Freddie Freeman is 36 and Rojas is 37. Rather than getting worse with a veteran roster, the Dodgers deploy a run-prevention unit that leads the majors with just 3.46 runs allowed per game.“I think it makes a huge difference,” outfield coach Dino Ebel said. “It saves runs. And I don’t even know if our team knows we’re number one (defensively). That’s a good thing. They just go out there every day, and they just want the ball hit to them.”The Dodgers are good at defense, they’ve said, because they emphasize it.“I think each of those guys made a concerted effort to be better,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think now the eye test, also with analytics, the data, they’re seeing where they are relative to themselves, to the field. And they knew they needed to get better. So to their credit, they all got better.”Good enough, even, to make up for the rare mistakes they do make. When Betts booted an Austin Martin grounder in the third inning of Tuesday’s 12-3 win over the Minnesota Twins, he immediately made up for it by contributing to a gem. Byron Buxton scorched a double into the gap that Andy Pages ran down and, without stopping, whipped back to Betts as the cutoff man. Betts fired a perfect throw to nab Martin at the plate.