Shohei Ohtani hits 45th home run, but Teoscar Hernandez is injured in Dodgers’ loss to Guardians – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — The focus should have been on the two pitchers, both of whom had something to prove.

And that might have been the case for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who hit his 45th home run and league-high 100th RBI of the season as he nears MLB’s first 50-50 season.

But the excitement that the Dodger Stadium crowd of 45,318 might have expected never quite materialized as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Dodgers, 3-1, on Friday night in the series opener in a clash of division leaders.

The Dodgers (84-57) saw their lead in the NL West cut to four games over the second-place San Diego Padres (81-62), who beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-1.

Making matters worse for the Dodgers, cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández is likely to be placed on the injured list after being hit in the left foot by a pitch, manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers said Hernandez suffered a bruised left foot, with Roberts saying after the game the injury was “not terrible.”

After taking a 80 mph slider from left-hander Matthew Boyd to the leg, Hernandez was visited by the Dodgers’ home-plate staff before deciding to take first base. He left the field before Boyd threw his next pitch and was replaced at first by Chris Taylor.

In his first season with the Dodgers, Hernandez had a .266 batting average with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs. A career .262 hitter with 187 home runs and 560 RBIs, he won the All-Star Home Run Derby in July in Arlington, Texas.

The Dodgers managed to find just two runners in five innings Friday, but they had a chance to tie the score in the eighth.

Trailing 3-1 and with one out, Ohtani (2 for 4) singled to right and Mookie Betts followed with a double to left, sending Ohtani to third base. Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis intentionally walked Freddie Freeman to load the bases, giving the crowd another reason to cheer.

But all the excitement was short-lived when Gaddis got Chris Taylor to hit into a double play, ending the inning.

The game quickly turned into a pitching duel between the Dodgers’ Landon Knack and the Guardians’ Matthew Boyd.

Knack, one of several young pitchers who have been in and out of the locker room as a result of the team’s pitching woes this season, had a one-hit shutout until Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez hit a two-run home run, his eighth of the season, in the sixth inning. Knack (2-3) was tagged with the loss.

The American League Central-leading Guardians added another run when Brayan Rocchio hit his eighth home run of the season off reliever Anthony Banda in the eighth inning. Rocchio went 2 for 3 with two runs scored.

Meanwhile, Boyd, a midseason acquisition for the Guardians, was working on his own shutout when Ohtani launched an 88-mph sinker into the humid night air in the sixth to cut the deficit, 2-1.

Boyd has been called an X-factor for the Guardians in their quest to win the American League Central. The left-hander came into the game having made four starts for Cleveland since Aug. 13, working at least 5⅓ innings in each game.

Boyd (2-1) earned his second victory, holding the Dodgers to one run and three hits in six innings, striking out six batters.

Knack isn’t widely known outside the walls of Dodger Stadium, but his performance Friday could keep him in the team’s postseason conversation after allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out a career-high eight batters in six innings.

Seventeen pitchers have started a game for the Dodgers this season, and 11 of them have spent time on the injured list, with Gavin Stone the latest to do so Friday because of a sore right shoulder.

“On one hand, this year has been marked by extreme pitching injuries, but we’ve been able to come through,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations. “And it’s given us opportunities. A lot of our young players have come in and been able to stay in the position we’re in right now.”

Knack got another turn Friday night, replacing Stone in the rotation. He was called up from Triple-A, where he had allowed just two runs and 12 walks in nine innings in two games for Oklahoma City since being last optioned on Aug. 14.

Over his last five stints with the Dodgers, Knack has proven himself to be a reliable player. He entered Friday’s game with a 2-2 record, a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts). He allowed just one earned run on three hits in four innings in his last appearance for the Dodgers on Aug. 13.

More information to come on this story.

Originally published: September 6, 2024 at 10:05 p.m.