Matthew Boyd delivered another strong outing and Andres Gimenez hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning as the visiting Cleveland Guardians earned a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday in the opener of a three-game series between division leaders.
In his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, Boyd (2-1) held the Dodgers to one run on three hits over six innings with no walks and six strikeouts. In four of his five outings, Boyd has held the opposing lineup to one run in four of them.
Brayan Rocchio added a home run in the eighth for Cleveland (81-60). Jose Ramirez stole his 35th base and moved closer to becoming the second player this season to join the 40-40 club. He also has 34 home runs. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani joined the 40-40 club last month.
Cleveland remained 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Kansas City Royals and now has a five-game lead on the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.
Ohtani hit a home run for the Dodgers (84-57), his 45th to go along with 46 steals. No player has ever delivered a 50-50 season.
Dodgers rookie right-hander Landon Knack (2-3) gave up two runs on three hits over six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.
Los Angeles’ National League West lead on the San Diego Padres fell to four games, but the Dodgers remained 5 1/2 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Gimenez broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the sixth, his eighth of the season. Gimenez now has hits in nine of his past 11 games and home runs in three of his past seven.
Ohtani got the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth with a home run to center field.
Rocchio’s home run in the eighth inning, which gave the Guardians a 3-1 lead, was his eighth of the season. He also singled and scored on Gimenez’s home run in the sixth. Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth inning for his 42nd save.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning before right-hander Hunter Gaddis got Chris Taylor to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Taylor entered the game in the first inning when Teoscar Hernandez departed with a left foot contusion after he was hit by a Boyd pitch.
