Expected inclement weather that at one point figured to threaten Wednesday’s game at Progressive Field never arrived, but the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t avoid a disappointing finish to their road trip as the bullpen blew the lead in a 7-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
Will Smith, Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman each had an RBI. However, the loss prevented the Dodgers from having a winning road trip that started with dropping two of three to the New York Mets.
The Dodgers fell into a deficit in the first inning — trailing for the first time in the series — but pulled even on Smith’s two-out RBI double in the fourth. Smith’s extra-base hit was followed by Pages beating the shift with a soft single that landed on the edge of the outfield grass to give the Dodgers their first lead.
Freeman’s RBI base hit put them ahead 3-1 in the sixth inning.
The Dodgers coming from behind put Clayton Kershaw in line for a win in his third start of the season. Kershaw was coming off just two innings pitched in his last outing because of a lengthy rain delay.
Ironically, the last time Kershaw pitched at Progressive Field, it also was only two innings before rain suspended the game into the following day.
Cleveland made plenty of hard contact against Kershaw in the first inning, but he managed to limit them to just one run. Kershaw was aided by Andy Pages making a strong throw from left field to cut down José Ramírez on his attempt to stretch a single into a double.
Kershaw stranded a leadoff double in the second inning and again was helped by Pages in the third as he made another strong throw to hold Ramírez to a single. Kershaw did not retire the side in order until the fourth inning. He exited the game with 2,974 career strikeouts.
Since a bumpy opening frame in his 2025 debut, Kershaw has allowed just three earned runs in his last 10 innings pitched.
After Tanner Scott struck out the tying run at the plate to end the seventh inning, he allowed two infield singles and walked he bases loaded in the eighth. Scott got ahead in the count against Nolan Jones but couldn’t put him away and allowed a game-tying, two-run single.
Alex Vesia took over at that point, only to immediately give up a three-run homer that gave the Guardians their decided lead.
The Dodgers are now 28-3 this season when leading after seven innings.
Difficult stretch in Dodgers schedule
The Dodgers are in the midst of playing 30 consecutive games against teams with a winning record, with the stretch dating back to last week’s matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In most cases, the games are coming against a division leader or team sitting atop the Wild Card picture.
Thus far the Dodgers are 5-4 in those matchups.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
