Shohei Ohtani gave up one hit over six scoreless innings in his season pitching debut and Max Muncy hit a home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 4-1 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.
Andy Pages collected two hits and two RBIs and Teoscar Hernandez drove in his first run of the season as the two-time defending champion Dodgers improved to 4-1.
Ohtani (1-0), who was placed in the No. 5 spot of the rotation to start the season as the Dodgers look to manage his pitching workload, walked three batters and struck out six. The only hit he allowed was a double from Rhys Hoskins with two outs in the fourth inning.
Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (0-1) gave up one run on four hits over four innings after his start was in doubt because of shoulder inflammation that developed during his Opening Day outing at Seattle. He fanned four and walked two.
Brayan Rocchio broke up the Dodgers’ shutout bid with an RBI single in the ninth. Cleveland took its second loss in the past three games.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Will Smith and Hernandez reached base on singles and Pages brought home Smith with a two-out single.
Los Angeles made it 2-0 in the sixth when Muncy hit a towering home run into the Guardians’ bullpen, his first of the season. Hernandez and Pages added insurance runs on RBI singles in the eighth.
Los Angeles left-handers Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer each followed Ohtani with a hitless inning before right-hander Edwin Diaz gave up a run in the ninth in a non-save situation.
At the plate, Ohtani was 1-for-3 with two walks, and he is now 3-for-15 on the season with a .455 on-base percentage. Ohtani made his first appearance on the mound in the opening month of the season since 2023, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
The Dodgers are finding early success even though Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all hitting .200 or less through five games.
