The Los Angeles Dodgers were held without a hit through four innings, then exploded late and cruised to an 8-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Yasmani Grandal, Matt Kemp, Alex Verdugo and DJ Peters each slugged a home run in the victory.
Grandal’s blast pulled the Dodgers even in the bottom of the fifth and broke up the Indian’s no-hit bid. Kemp’s shot off Ryan Merritt in the seventh pushed them ahead for good, and sparked an onslaught.
Joc Pederson, Kiké Hernandez and Jake Peter all hit an RBI double before Merritt could get out of the inning. Then in the eighth, Verdugo and Peters hit their home runs.
Prior to that point, the Indians pitching staff had kept L.A. quiet. Mike Clevinger had six strikeouts and no-hit the Dodgers through his three innings of work.
Clevinger retired eight consecutive batters before walking Trayce Thompson with two outs in the bottom of the third. Thompson was stranded when Chase Utley flied out to left.
A pitching change didn’t bring any reprieve for the Dodgers, as vaunted lefty Andrew Miller struck out Corey Seager and Justin Turner, and induced Matt Kemp into a force out after walking Cody Bellinger.
Cody Allen then took over for Miller in the fifth, which was when Grandal broke up the combined no-hitter with a leadoff home run. The homer was Grandal’s second in as many days, with one each coming as a right- and left-handed batter.
Having previously been limited to a simulated game, Rich Hill went three innings in his spring debut. The lone run he allowed was a result of a hit by pitch in the first inning that was cashed in by Yonder Alonso on a two-out double.
Hill recorded four strikeouts and ended his outing by retiring seven batters in a row. He was backed by strong pitching out of the bullpen, namely Adam Liberatore and Ross Stripling combining for three strikeouts across three hitless innings.
For Liberatore, he’s now retired all nine batters faced this spring, including four by strikeout. Edward Paredes encountered some trouble in the seventh as he allowed a one-out double to Alonso, then walked Melvin Upton Jr.
Corey Copping inherited two on with two outs and promptly walked the bases loaded. He escaped the jam by striking out Erik Gonzalez. Scott Alexander struck out a pair en route to stranding a leadoff double in the eighth.
Playing in his first game since Feb. 27, though still limited to duty as a designated hitter, Seager had three strikeouts in as many at-bats. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said there is not a timetable on when Seager will play the field.
