Shohei Ohtani hits 45th homer, but Teoscar Hernández is injured in Dodgers’ loss to Guardians

LOS ANGELES The buzz should have been about the two pitchers, both of whom had something to prove.

And it could have been for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who hit his league-leading 45th home run and 100th RBI of the season as he inches closer to MLBs first 50-50 season.

But any excitement the Dodger Stadium crowd of 45,318 might have been looking for never really materialized as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Dodgers, 3-1, on Friday night in the series opener in a matchup of division leaders.

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

Making matters worse for the Dodgers, cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernandez is likely to land on the injured list after he was hit on the left foot by a pitch, Manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers said Hernandez suffered a left foot contusion, with Roberts saying after the game that the injury is not great.

After taking an 80-mph slider from left-hander Matthew Boyd to the lower leg, Hernandez was visited at home plate by the Dodgers training staff before deciding to take first base.

He walked off the field before Boyd threw his next pitch and was replaced at first base by Chris Taylor.

In his first season with the Dodgers, Hernandez is batting .266 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 just two baserunners through five innings on Friday, but they did have 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.

Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis intentionally walked Freddie Freeman to load the bases, giving the crowd something else to cheer about.

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

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

Knack, one of the many young pitchers who have bounced in and out of the clubhouse in the wake of the teams pitching woes this season, had a one-hit shutout going until Cleveland second baseman Andres Gimenez blasted a two-run home run, his eighth of the season, in the sixth inning.

Knack (2-3) was tagged with the loss.

The AL Central-leading Guardians added another run when Brayan Rocchio hit his eighth home run of the season off of reliever Anthony Banda in the eighth.

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 lofted an 88-mph sinker into the muggy night air in the sixth to trim the lead, 2-1.

Boyd has been called an X-factor for the Guardians in their push 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 513 innings in each game.

Boyd (2-1) picked up his second victory by limiting the Dodgers to one run and three hits over six innings, striking out six.

Knack isnt well known outside the walls of Dodger Stadium, but his performance Friday could keep him in the teams postseason conversations after giving up just two runs on three hits and striking out a career-high eight 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 on Friday because of a sore right shoulder.

On one hand, this year feels like its been extreme in terms of pitching injuries, but weve gotten through, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

And with that has come opportunity.

A lot of our young guys have come up and been keeping in the position we are 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 over nine innings in two games for Oklahoma City since last getting optioned on Aug.

14.

In his previous five stints with the Dodgers, Knack has proven to be a reliable arm.

He came into Fridays game with a 2-2 record, a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts).

He gave up just one earned run on three hits in four innings in his last appearance for the Dodgers on Aug.

13.

More to come on this story..

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