Ike Davis’ return to playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers since returning from the 2017 World Baseball Classic led to a pair of errors, and the Cleveland Indians never trailed after taking a lead in the opening frame.
The Dodgers did manage to get to Trevor Bauer early, with Justin Turner cashing in on Chase Utley’s one-out double in the first inning by pulling an RBI single into left field. Davis’ failure to catch a pop-up in foul territory cost Brandon McCarthy, as Brandon Guyer wound up reaching on a base hit.
Davis then booted a Michael Brantley grounder, which left runners on first and second with nobody out. Lonnie Chisenhall and Yandy Diaz connected for RBI singles, and Chris Colabello’s RBI double extended the Indians’ lead to 3-1.
Richie Shaffer plated another run on a sacrifice fly before McCarthy could end a laborious first inning. Trayce Thompson and Andrew Toles hit back-to-back singles in the second, but any possible momentum was stalled when O’Koyea Dickson grounded into a double play.
Erik Gonzalez led off the bottom of the second with a single, then moved into scoring position on a slow groundout to third base. Brantley’s RBI base hit gave the Indians a 4-1 lead. Utley connected for a solo home run in the third inning, improving to 2-for-2 on the day.
After allowing at least one run in each of the first two frames, McCarthy set the Indians down in order in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. Joc Pederson slugged his team-leading fifth home run of the spring in the fifth to pull the Dodgers within two runs of the Indians.
Utley’s hot day at the plate continued as he followed with a single. Turner’s drive to left field fell a few feet shy of tying the game, and Yasmani Grandal and Davis also weren’t able to drive Utley in.
McCarthy retired the lone batter faced in the bottom of the fifth before giving way to Adam Liberatore. McCarthy threw 4.1 innings, allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits, and had two strikeouts. He retired the final eight batters faced.
Liberatore immediately ran into trouble, allowing a single to Brantley, walking Chisenhall, then getting tagged for a three-run homer by Diaz. The run(s) were the first Liberatore, who was pitching in his sixth game, allowed this spring.
Adam Moore’s solo home run in the bottom of the sixth extended the Indians’ lead to 9-3. Abraham Almonte hit a three-run homer in the seventh, and Bradley Zimmer and Daniel Robertson hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth.
Former Dodgers reliever Carlos Frias allowed a solo home run to Willie Calhoun and RBI groundout before recording the game’s final three outs of the Indians’ 14-5 win. Utley, who grounded out in his last at-bat, finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
