Looking to keep their undefeated season alive, the Dodgers couldn’t get anything going until the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians as the offense fell mostly silent in a 4-2 defeat.
Roki Sasaki made his first big league start since May of last year, looking to turn the page after a rough spring training where he walked 15 hitters and allowed 15 earned runs over 8 2/3 innings. Sasaki couldn’t get an out after tossing 30 pitches in his final spring tune-up against the Angels, but against his first batter of the regular season, he struck out Steven Kwan looking. He eventually allowed just one hit to Jose Ramírez in a scoreless first inning on 21 pitches. Sasaki continued to impress in the top of the second inning, facing the minimum and striking out a hitter on just 13 pitches.
Sasaki faced immediate pressure in the top of the third inning, as he allowed a leadoff double to Austin Hedges. Kwan traded places at second with Hedges, marking the fourth straight game that the Dodgers would have to play from behind. Miguel Rojas started the bottom of the third inning in the same manner as Hedges against left-hander Parker Messick, and the Dodgers had two men on with nobody out with Shohei Ohtani at the plate. On a 3-2 count, Messick picked off Rojas at second base, got Ohtani to line out and then struck out Kyle Tucker to keep the Dodgers scoreless.
Compared to his counterpart, Sasaki’s pitch count was noticeably high, and although he posted good results in his first start, he was pulled after allowing a leadoff single to Angel Martínez in the top of the fifth. Over 4+ innings of work, Sasaki allowed just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Tanner Scott came in relief of Sasaki, and although he put another man on, he was able to leave runners on second and third by striking out pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins. Max Muncy reached on a single to put the tying run on base with one out, but Messick got Miguel Rojas to ground to third and the left-hander got bailed out on a tremendous pick by Ramírez, igniting a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Justin Wrobleski made his season debut, and although he had a quick and easy nine pitch inning in the sixth, he loaded the bases with nobody out to begin the seventh inning. He managed to get two outs, but walked Hoskins to bring in the second run for Cleveland. Daniel Schneeman thanked Wrobleski for keeping the bases loaded by lining a two-run double to left-center field to put Cleveland up by four.
The Dodgers began to rally against Shawn Armstrong in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages both reaching on singles, but Max Muncy failed to give the Dodgers hope as he struck out swinging with to end the inning. The Dodgers were nearly shut out on Monday, but Mookie Betts put the Dodgers on the board in the bottom of the ninth inning with an RBI double. Freddie Freeman knocked in Betts on an RBI groundout to cut the deficit in half, but the comeback attempt ultimately fell flat.
Game particulars
WP— Parker Messick (1-0): 6 IP, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
LP— Roki Sasaki (0-1): 4+ IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers look to bounce back after their first loss of the season as they host the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Shohei Ohtani makes his first start of the season against right-hander Tanner Bibee.
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