Cleveland beat Kershaw and the Dodgers 2-1 in Series Opener

Los Angeles Dodgers #22 Clayton Kershaw only allowed one run to score against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodgers Stadium. Photo by Larry Salazar.

LOS ANGELES, CA - It was a pitchers' duel between Clayton Kershaw, who pitched five innings and gave up five hits, and one run, and Zach Plesac pitched six innings and gave up five hits and one run as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1.

Kershaw making his second start for the Dodgers since being out for five weeks on the injured reserve list with (lower back soreness), had only four strikeouts against the Guardians, and Plesac one strikeout against the Dodgers, both of them were able to get out of jams with men in scoring position all night.

Mookie Betts was scratched from the lineup at the last minute due to soreness in his ribs from colliding with Cody Bellinger in their final game against the Los Angeles Angels.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Cody Bellinger went for (2-4) and hit a solo home run over the right-field fence.

Cleveland tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning after Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly ball that allowed Jose Ramirez to tag up from the third base to score.

The Dodgers blew many chances during the game to score more runs but left many men on base in scoring position.

"We barreled a lot of baseballs in the first four innings and didn't have anything to show for it," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "After that, we just couldn't string anything together. There were some situational at-bats where we weren't productive. That was the difference in the game."

Cleveland Guardians #26 Anthony Gose (LHP) didn't allow a run in the bottom of the tenth inning with the Dodgers having men on first and third base with one out. Photo by Marvin Jimenez.

Things got tight for Cleveland in the bottom of the ninth inning when Oscar Gonzales dropped a routine fly-ball in right field, allowing the Dodgers to have men in scoring position on first and third base with one out.

Anthony Gose was able to kill the scoring threat by the Dodgers on the corners by striking out Gavin Lux and Trea Turner to fly out to right field to pick up his third save of the season.

Cleveland scored the winning run in the top of the tenth inning on a sacrifice fly ball by Richie Palacios off of Dodgers pitcher Even Phillips to center-field, and Owen Miller came home to make the final score 2-1.

With the loss, the Dodgers remain in second place in the NL West behind the San Diego Padres (39-24) and Cleveland second in the AL Central (33-27)