Angel Martinez belted a three-run homer to cap a five-run eighth inning, lifting the Cleveland Guardians to a 7-4 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon.
Cleveland pulled within 4-2 in the seventh inning on Carlos Santana’s single that scored Jose Ramirez, then erupted against relievers Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia in the eighth.
Nolan Jones had a two-run double off Scott (0-1) to tie the score. Martinez greeted Vesia with the go-ahead blast, allowing the Guardians to avoid a three-game sweep against the reigning World Series champions.
Cleveland collected a season-high 15 hits and stopped its interleague losing streak at six, one shy of its franchise record.
Matt Festa (1-0) picked up the win and Emmanuel Clase tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save.
The Guardians used six pitchers with Kolby Allard opening in place of the injured Slade Cecconi. The left-hander pitched four innings and gave up two runs on four hits in his first start since Sept. 14 with the New York Mets.
Scott allowed four runs on three hits, retiring two batters, after Lou Trivino gave up one run and five hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Los Angeles has won five of its last eight games and went 3-3 on a six-game road trip.
Three-time National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw was in line for the win until his bullpen collapsed. The left-hander, who was on the injured list until May 17 following two left leg surgeries, gave up one run on six hits in his longest start of the season.
Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith and Andy Pages each had an RBI for the Dodgers.
Ramírez had three hits and extended his career-long hitting streak to 21 games with an RBI single. Santana singled three times and Jones had a season-high three hits.
Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan experienced right wrist inflammation and exited in the fourth inning.
–Field Level Media
