The Dodgers lose their first series of the season, thanks to their offense.
The Los Angeles Dodgers offense has been something of a mystery to begin their season campaign.
So much so that it was the ultimate cause of dropping their first series of the season to the Cleveland Guardians, 4-1, on Wednesday night.
It doesn't help that the Dodgers top four hitters in Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman combined for a slash line of .188/.289/.282.
Yes, the Dodgers' offense was non-existent, but it should not discredit the dominant start of Cleveland's right-handed starter, Gavin Williams.
Heading into Wednesday's matchup, Williams had struggled against Los Angeles, going 0-3 and recording a lopsided 13.03 ERA.
It was a different outcome in UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium as he pitched seven scoreless innings, only giving up two hits and striking out 10.
On the other hand, the Dodgers had their ace in Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the mound in hopes of securing the rubber match. In his second consecutive start, he pitched six innings while giving up two earned runs.
The command was spotty from the get-go and it also marks the second straight outing in which the Dodgers' 1-9 hitters do not give Yamamoto any run support.
Make that every single starter thus far for Los Angeles hasn't had that much run support.
The lone Dodger that has been lifting his weight has been center fielder Andy Pages. He recorded three of the five Dodgers hits and is up to a .429 batting average.
Despite the hot start, the same could not be said for his teammates.
The Guardians put the first runs on the board all thanks to a Daniel Schneemann leadoff double in the third inning. That turned into him stealing third and an E3 throwing error by Will Smith allowed Schneemann to trek for home.
Following that spring around the bases, Gabriel Arias homered off a Yamamoto 3-1 curveball at the knees to extend their lead, 2-0.
Cleveland's offense was silent until the eighth inning as José Ramírez put his stamp on a Tanner Scott fastball that added two runs of insurance.
Even when the Dodgers had something brewing in the bottom half of the eight with runners on second and third with one out, they were still unable to produce anything of importance.
It wasn't until the bottom of the ninth with two outs that Freddie freeman launched his first home run of the season to straightaway center to avoid the shutout.
Looking ahead, the Dodgers have a much needed off day Thursday before heading for their first road trip to face off against the Washington Nationals.
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