Dodgers fall short despite Yamamoto’s effort
Fredo Cervantes
Host · Writer
LOS ANGELES — The warning signs aren’t flashing red just yet. But inside Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, they were at least flickering.
A lineup built to overwhelm has instead gone quiet.
The Dodgers dropped their second game to the Cleveland Guardians, falling 4–1 and losing the series at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium as early-season questions begin to surface about an offense still searching for rhythm.
Six games into the season, it’s not panic. But it is something.
Yamamoto steady, but not sharp
For Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the night was more grind than groove. The right-hander cruised early, needing just 27 pitches to clear the first two innings. His command was crisp, his tempo efficient. But the third inning exposed the fine margins.
After a leadoff double by Daniel Schneemann, defensive miscues opened the door. Moments later, Gabriel Arias punished a hanging curveball, sending it over the center field wall. Just like that, the Dodgers were in a 2–0 hole.
That would be all the damage Yamamoto allowed across six innings — four hits, two runs, one walk, two strikeouts on 87 pitches — but it came without the dominance the Dodgers envisioned when they handed him the ball.
“The feel from the split wasn’t there,” Dave Roberts said. “But he competes. Six innings, two runs — he gave us a chance.”
Yamamoto didn’t disagree.
“My stuff wasn’t terrible,” he said. “I was able to attack the zone… just need to clean up certain pitches.”
Guardians’ Williams dominates
While Yamamoto managed, Gavin Williams dealt.
The Guardians’ right-hander carved through the Dodgers’ lineup with authority, striking out 10 over seven shutout innings. He allowed just two hits — both from Andy Pages — and repeatedly overpowered hitters with a mid-90s fastball that never seemed to lose life.
His fifth inning was emblematic: three strikeouts, 11 pitches, no chance. By the time he exited, the Dodgers looked less like a lineup of All-Stars and more like a group still in spring training timing.
Star power, silent bats
This is where the concern lies. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Kyle Tucker — the core of one of baseball’s most feared lineups — went a combined 1-for-18.
That one hit? A ninth-inning solo homer from Freeman that served more as punctuation than comeback.
“It’s a long season,” Freeman said. “We’ll be fine.”
First homer of the year for Freddie!!!#Dodgers pic.twitter.com/nHPoAOamEL
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 2, 2026
Maybe. But through six games, the at-bats haven’t looked fine. The Dodgers are striking out in bunches. They’re expanding the zone. And perhaps most telling, they’re not adjusting within games.
Roberts didn’t hide it.
“The amount of strikeouts is a little concerning,” he said. “We’re trying to find swings, but we’ve got to be more patient.”
Ohtani searching for feel
No slump draws more attention than Ohtani’s.
Now 3-for-17 to start the season, he’s still getting on base — seven walks — but the impact isn’t there. No extra-base hits. No RBIs. And in Wednesday’s biggest moments, no answers. His sixth-inning double play killed a rally. His eighth-inning strikeout ended another.
Earlier in the day, Ohtani took the unusual step of on-field batting practice — a sign he’s actively searching.
“I was a little surprised,” Roberts admitted. “He doesn’t do that very often. But sometimes when he doesn’t feel right, he changes his routine.”
For now, the Dodgers will wait for their biggest star to find his timing. History suggests he will.
The game slipped away for good in the eighth. After back-to-back walks by Will Klein, Roberts turned to Tanner Scott to face José Ramírez — a matchup that backfired instantly.
Ramírez launched a 95 mph fastball into the left-field seats, stretching the lead to 4–0 and effectively ending the night. It was a reminder that against good teams, mistakes don’t linger. They leave the yard.
The Dodgers are 4-2. The sample is small. The talent is undeniable. But the early pattern is clear: when the pitching holds, the offense isn’t matching it. Through six games, that’s the disconnect.
There’s time to fix it — beginning with a road trip to Washington and Toronto — but for a team with championship expectations, the standard isn’t just winning eventually. It’s looking like themselves. Right now, they don’t.
