Andy Pages hit a two-run homer to cap a six-run first inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Saturday night in an interleague matchup of division leaders.
Mookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who extended their lead in the NL West to five games over San Diego, which lost 6-3 to San Francisco.
Lane Thomas launched a two-run homer for the Guardians in the second. The AL Central leaders fell to 3-2 on their nine-game trip and have a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Kansas City, which beat Minnesota 4-2.
Tommy Edman had two hits, including a two-run double in the first as Los Angeles sent 10 batters to the plate. Gavin Williams (3-8) became the first Cleveland starter who wasn’t an opener to fail to get out of the first inning since 2021.
Shohei Ohtani grounded out in both his first-inning at-bats and went 0 for 4 to remain at 45 home runs and 46 stolen bases.
Williams allowed five runs on two hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning.
Brent Honeywell (1-1), the last of seven Dodgers pitchers, got the win.
Williams walked three straight before Edman’s ground-rule double over the short wall in the left-field corner drove in a pair. Gavin Lux’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0 and Miguel Rojas chased Williams with an RBI single down the right-field line.
Pedro Avila replaced Williams and gave up a two-run shot to Pages on a fastball he drove 432 feet into the left-center stands. It was the rookie outfielder’s 10th homer of the season.
The Guardians answered with a pair of runs in the second when Thomas lined a sinker from Michael Grove just over the wall in left-center. Thomas has 10 homers, including two since being acquired from Washington.
Betts extended his hitting streak to seven games and continued his strong September with a solo shot in the fourth. He is batting .450 this month (9 for 20) with two homers and eight RBIs.
