Dodgers lose to Guardians despite solid Roki Sasaki start

At the start of Monday night, all the questions around the Dodgers were focused on Roki Sasaki.

By the end of it, the concern had shifted to their suddenly sluggish offense.

In a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium, Sasaki pitched surprisingly well, allowing just one run and walking only two batters in four-plus innings of solid work –– a stark reversal from the 14.50 ERA he posted in a poor spring training marred by a total lack of consistent command.

Instead, it was the Dodgers’ lineup that had the biggest problems, stumbling to a third-straight disappointing performance following its eight-run outburst on Opening Day.

Early on, they had no answers for young Guardians left-hander Parker Messick, who went six scoreless innings in what was only his eighth career start. With a funky left-handed delivery and unpredictable six-pitch arsenal, he not only struck out five batters, but also allowed just two hard-hit balls.

By the time he was done, the Guardians (3-2) had built a four-run lead, turning things over to their traditionally stout bullpen to close out the final three innings. The Dodgers’ two runs came in a short-lived rally in the ninth.

Over their last three games, the Dodgers (3-1) have now totaled only 10 runs and 19 hits. They’ve struck out 17 times in that span, and drawn only six walks (including none on Monday).

It’s a small sample, of course –– especially for a club that was presented a team-wide Silver Slugger Award pregame for leading the National League in 2025.

But it has raised a few opening-week questions, nonetheless –– creating some eerie similarities to the second-half and postseason slumps the team battled down the stretch last year.

What it means

The Dodgers might have the most talented roster in the majors. But that doesn’t mean they can get away with unsound fundamentals.

Monday was a reminder of that, with the team making a series of uncharacteristic mistakes.

They had two on and no outs in the third inning with Shohei Ohtani at the plate, yet came up empty after Miguel Rojas was picked off at second, Ohtani lined out chasing what would’ve been ball four and Kyle Tucker went down swinging to retire the side.

They struggled to control the running game with backup catcher Dalton Rushing behind the plate, allowing the Guardians to successfully steal a base on all three of their attempts.

And in a three-run seventh inning that allowed the Guardians to put the game away, reliever Justin Wrobleski committed several costly miscues: Failing to cleanly field a bunt to load the bases, losing Rhys Hoskins in an 0-2 count to walk in a run with two outs in the inning, then giving up a two-run double to Daniel Schneemann that put the score out of reach. 

Who’s hot

Against all the odds, at least following his disastrous spring performance, how about Sasaki?

His fastball command was significantly improved, helping him throw strikes on 45 of 78 pitches even with a few wild misses mixed in. His newly added cutter gave him another weapon, accounting for two of his four strikeouts. And his trademark splitter remained unhittable, generating a whiff on three of five swings.

Granted, the Guardians –– the American League’s lowest-scoring offense last year –– let him off the hook a few times, both by chasing outside the zone repeatedly and failing to punish a few mistake pitches in it.

However, the Dodgers will happily take what Sasaki gave them Monday; an outing good enough to keep them in the game early, and save the bullpen from being overworked.

Who’s not

With Will Smith out of the lineup for the first time, Teoscar Hernández was bumped up to the cleanup spot against a left-handed start.

However, it didn’t help the veteran slugger snap out of his opening-week funk.

Hernández did have a hit in the seventh, his first since a swinging-bunt single back on Opening Day. He also successfully overturned two strike calls via an ABS challenge (including one that would’ve resulted in a strikeout during his seventh-inning at-bat).

Still, his 1-for-4 performance left him with a .143 batting average in the early days of this season –– the worst among any Dodgers regular.

Up next

Shohei Ohtani will make his season pitching debut on Tuesday, when the Dodgers and Guardians continue their three-game series. Despite a delayed spring pitching progression while hitting for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Ohtani should be built up to go six innings. The Guardians will counter with right-hander Tanner Bibee, who was 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA last year and gave up three runs in five innings in his first start of this season last week.  

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters