The Los Angeles Dodgers headed to the Midwest this week to take on the Cleveland Guardians, and the weather in ‘The Land’ proved to be just as difficult to deal with as the Dodgers lineup has been as of late. Intense rain caused game two to be suspended and it resumed before a final game three on Thursday. The Dodgers would take the last two games after dropping the opener to the home team Guardians, and win the series 2-1.

Game One

Tuesday’s series opener had an interesting matchup scheduled between the Cleveland pitcher and the Los Angeles batting lineup. The Dodgers were finally going to face their failed pitching experiment from earlier in the year, Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard got the start for the Guardians, but the pitching win was picked up by Sam Hentges who relieved Syndergaard in the seventh inning. The Dodgers’ rookie starting pitcher, Bobby Miller, picked up the loss on the mound after giving up four runs in just over six innings.

Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith got the scoring going early against his former teammate by blasting a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. The damage remained limited in the first after a leaping grab by Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan. Los Angeles would increase their lead in the top of the third after Mookie Betts stole second, easily setting him up to score via a Freddie Freeman RBI single. It would remain a one-sided game until the fourth inning.

After a diving catch from David Peralta, who was in left field for the Dodgers, the Guardians were finally able to get on the board with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Guardians designated hitter Oscar Gonzáles sent a solo shot to right and Cleveland kept it going with an RBI single from Gabriel Arias to score Andrés Giménez. The Dodgers’ night of scoring was over, and the Guardians were just beginning.

Kwan knocked in an RBI single for the Guardians in the bottom of the seventh following Caleb Ferguson coming in to relieve Miller. Cleveland’s prize third baseman José Ramírez kept the inning going with an RBI single to give the Guardians the lead, and right afterward, the inning was capped off with a three-run home run by Kole Calhoun. An error in the Dodgers infield during the eighth led to Cleveland scoring their final run before winning the game 8-3.

Game Two

The second game of this interleague series proved to be the longest for the Blue Crew this year. After the game originally started on Wednesday night, it only lasted two full innings before a rain delay would later suspend the contest. Clayton Kershaw also made his return to the mound for the Dodgers, but the pitching win was picked up by reliever Gus Varland who came in during the third inning. The pitching loss was given to Guardians relief pitcher Xzavion Curry in a bullpen game.

Smith got the Dodgers on the board first for the second day in a row with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Utility man Kiké Hernández added on to the opening frame scoring with a two-run RBI double to quickly make the score 3-0. However, Ramírez was able to respond for the Guardians and hit a solo shot to left center in the bottom of the inning. 

The scoring stopped until the game resumed the next morning with a beautiful Cleveland sky as a reward for fan patience. Freeman continued to add to his monster season with another RBI single in the top of the fourth. The Dodgers bullpen was extremely impressive the entire second day of this game as well. After Kershaw got the rainy start, six Dodgers relievers came in to pitch scoreless frames and shut out the Guardians following the Ramírez blast. These relievers include Victor Gonzáles, Varland, Ryan Brasier, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, and Bryan Hudson. 

Relief pitcher Tim Herrin was on the mound for the Guardians in the top of the eighth inning and gave up a single, walk, and successful bunt to load the bases with zero outs. Mookie Betts was set up perfectly to deliver what would be his fifth hit of the night with a two-run RBI double off the wall. After yet another quick weather delay before the ninth inning, the Dodgers wrapped up the game with a 6-1 victory.

Game Three

A few hours following the completion of game two, the series finale was played on time and thankfully with no further delays. The Dodgers set out for another bullpen game which saw Ferguson get the start and relief pitcher Ryan Pepiot get the win in the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Gavin Williams got the start and picked up the pitching loss for the Guardians who only used one other arm (Hunter Gaddis). 

Cleveland got on the board first for the first time in the series after a failed pickoff attempt from Ferguson resulted in Arias stealing home in the second inning. Two pitches later, Guardians catcher Bo Naylor drove in a run with an RBI single to right. Betts was able to drive in the Dodgers’ first run of the night with an RBI single in the top of the third inning. He was then brought home by a fielder’s choice groundout from Peralta to tie the game at 2-2.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Dodgers had rookie Michael Busch in the DH spot, and he delivered his first career home run to give Los Angeles a one-run lead. The lead would later be extended on the fifth inning when Guardians center fielder Ramon Laureano dropped a pop-fly with the bases loaded, scoring Freeman from third. The bases remained loaded for James Outman who hit a two-run RBI single but reached second behind a wild throw. The Dodgers ended their fifth inning scoring with a sacrifice fly from Busch and had blown the game open 7-2.

Pepiot had done an amazing job of shutting down the Guardians’ lineup by only allowing three hits behind six strikeouts. He was able to keep the Guardians scoreless until the eighth inning. after relieving Ferguson. After Hernández had hit his second double of the night to drive in a run in the top of the seventh, Ramírez responded with his bat again for Cleveland and was able to have the Guardians go out fighting with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the eighth. Hernández finished his big night, and his birthday, with another late strike, this time a solo home run to give the Dodgers a 9-3 victory in the series finale along with a road series win. 

Looking Ahead

The Guardians are currently second in the AL Central standings and will head to Toronto for a series with the Blue Jays. They are 5.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins and 11.5 games behind the AL Wild Card. The Dodgers remain at the top of the NL West division and are 12.5 games ahead of both the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks who are tied for second place. They continue their road trip with a three-game weekend series in Boston to face the Red Sox, before coming home to face the D-Backs themselves.