Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run, Jack Flaherty continued to establish himself as the lead of the rotation with 7 1/3 scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 4-0 victory Sunday over the visiting Cleveland Guardians.
Max Muncy added a home run and Will Smith had a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning as the Dodgers won for the eighth time in their past 11 games and have not dropped a series in their last nine attempts.
In addition to his 46 home runs, to match his career high, Ohtani also has 46 stolen bases, with 19 games remaining to become the first 50-50 player in MLB history.
The Dodgers (86-57) started the day with a five-game lead on the San Diego Padres in the National League West and a 6 1/2-game advantage on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (11-7) gave up two runs on four hits in five innings, while the Cleveland offense was held to six hits. Cleveland is 3-3 to start a nine-game road trip with three more games remaining against the 111-loss Chicago White Sox.
The Guardians (81-62) saw their American League Central lead cut to 2 1/2 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals, while the Minnesota Twins remained five games back.
The Dodgers broke through in the fourth inning, when Mookie Betts led off with a triple and Smith brought him home with his RBI single three batters later.
The Dodgers made it 2-0 in the fifth inning on Ohtani’s 450-foot homer just past the right field foul pole. Ohtani has two home runs and three steals in seven September games.
Muncy’s 12th homer of the season came in the eighth inning, when the Dodgers also received an RBI single from Chris Taylor for their final run.
Flaherty (12-6) gave up four hits with six strikeouts and no walks as he continues to look like the Dodgers’ No. 1 starter in a potential upcoming playoff series. Los Angeles expects right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder) to return from the injured list this week to face the Chicago Cubs.
Right-hander Michael Kopech recorded two outs in the eighth inning and Evan Phillips pitched the ninth to finish off the shutout.
