Guardians vs Dodgers Series Recap

Adison Delp dives into the Guardians recent 2-1 series loss to the defending champion Dodgers.

Sometimes the best player in a sport plays like the best. It’s just how it goes sometimes. Shohei Ohtani has been the best player in the majors the last couple years. He was the best player on the World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers last season, and showed why he is the best right from the beginning of their series victory in Cleveland.

Ohtani hit a home run on the first pitch of game 1, immediately making his presence felt. Pitchers definitely have trouble settling in after getting their first pitch blasted into the stands. The 3x MVP may have gotten in the starters’ heads in each of the first two games, as starters Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee uncharacteristically gave up a combined 9 walks, 11 hits, and a total of 8 runs.

Ohtani and the total star power of the Dodgers made the Guardians pitchers timid to throw

strikes, leading to quite a few issued walks. Luckily, this series was not all bad for Cleveland. Game 3 was a nice comeback win that showed the grit and spirit that this Guardians team is known for. Let’s look at the specific games.

Game 1: Dodgers 7, Guardians 2

Ohtani’s home run on the first pitch set the tone of the game and this was just a case of how

much talent the payrolls can buy. LA’s payroll is more than 3 times greater than Cleveland’s,

obviously creating a gap in raw talent the teams can put on the field.

The NL-leading Dodgers scored a run in each of the first two innings as Cleveland starter Gavin Williams struggled with his command. Cleveland scored a run in the third off of an RBI by Steven Kwan, cutting the lead to 1, but the Dodgers took over in the fifth and sixth inning, scoring two runs in each to make it a 6-1 game. The Guardians came out in the bottom of the sixth and scored a run off of an RBI single by Kyle Manzardo, but that was the end of their offensive attack for the night.

To put the nail in the coffin, Will Smith (Not the actor) hit a solo home run in the ninth, creating the final score of 7-2. Cleveland pitching gave up walk after walk, leading to 7 runs scored on only 8 hits. Offensively, Cleveland had little trouble generating baserunners, racking up 6 hits and 3 walks, but ultimately could not get the hits to bring home enough runs to compete with the high-powered Dodgers lineup.

Game 2: Dodgers 9, Guardians 5

After getting strikeouts for all 3 outs in the first inning, Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee struggled to get outs in the second inning. Bibee gave up 2 runs before recording an out, giving LA a 2-0 lead in the second.

After an uneventful third, Bibee struck out the first two batters he faced to start

the fourth inning. After Bibee gave up a single, Ohtani came up for his second at bat and crushed a home run to extend the lead to 4-0. Cleveland responded with Daniel Schneemann hitting a 3-run home run after José Ramírez got aboard with a single and Carlos Santana walked. The lead was cut down to 4-3 but the Dodgers kept hitting though.

Michael Conforto hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to extend the Dodger’s lead. Then LA scored in the eighth inning off of a defensive error to extend their advantage to 6-3. Again, the nail in the coffin came in the ninth inning on a Max Muncy 3-run homer to seal the game. Even though Gabriel Arias hit a 2-RBI double in the bottom of the frame, bringing Ramírez and Santana home for the second time in the game, the Guardians never really threatened. The final score of 9-5 is not a particularly close game and Cleveland needed to regroup in order to not get swept, and would do just that.

Game 3: Guardians 7, Dodgers 4

This time it was Cleveland who came out with an early lead. José Ramírez hit an RBI single in the first inning for an early 1-0 cushion extending his hitting streak to a career-high 21 games and counting. Cleveland starter Kolby Allard began the game with 3 scoreless

innings to keep the score at 1-0 heading into the fourth.

LA put up 2 runs in the top half of the inning to take the lead, adding runs in the sixth and seventh innings to put the Guardians in a 4-1 hole. It looked like it would be another game where the Dodgers simply had too much talent, instead Cleveland scored a run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Santana to cut the lead down

to 2. Then the Guards exploded in the eighth inning.

Nolan Jones hit a 2-RBI single to tie the game, followed by an Angel Martínez 3-run blast that sent Progressive Field into a frenzy. Closer Emmanuel Clase came out in the ninth inning to get the save and kept last season’s world series winner from pulling off the sweep.

This game was a good way to close a tough matchup against the defending World Champions. Ending a series with a win always feels nice, especially a gritty comeback against the most expensive roster in baseball. Steven Kwan exited the game in the 3rd inning and was replaced by Nolan Jones but manager Stephen Vogt said he should be good to go for the Guardians next series against the other team from Los Angeles, the Angels.

Sources:

ESPN

MLB.com