Shohei Ohtani starts his year on the mound with 6 shutout frames

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Dodgers continued their slow offensive start but scratched across just enough to support a dominant start from Shohei Ohtani and the pen continuing to lock things down in a 4-1 victory.

just put a camera on shohei ohtani and leave it pic.twitter.com/Zp0EpIchdd

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 1, 2026

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Let’s start things off with Shohei Ohtani because he definitely starred today in his season debut on the mound. Things began ideally for him with six up and six down through his first two frames. While he then issued a pair of walks as the Guardians got more selective in the 3rd, there wasn’t any damage from them there either.

The 4th saw Ohtani give up his first hit, a two-out double that he then stranded to keep his shutout going. He then hit a batter in the 5th and walked a batter in the 6th, but there was barely any threat against him for the whole start.

Ohtani strikes out two more to complete six shutout in his season debut. pic.twitter.com/cmPKDQd5P9

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

His defense didn’t hurt.

Mookie takes a hit away. pic.twitter.com/ENyTEyN9Rk

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

Ohtani mostly cruised through six shutout to start his season and give the offense time to get going: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 87 Pitches.

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The offense … well, they needed that time to get going. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee got through three scoreless to start, giving up just a single in the 1st and a walk in each of the 2nd and 3rd (all came with one out).

They finally broke through in the 4th, as a one-out single from Will Smith led to a two-out single from Teoscar Hernandez, and then Andy Pages had a great at-bat that he ended with a nice piece of hitting for an RBI single and 1-0 Dodgers lead.

Start it off, Andy! pic.twitter.com/Mdsi4vTQmm

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 1, 2026

That was Bibee’s last inning, and after the pen stranded a lead-off walk in the 5th, the 6th saw Max Muncy added to the lead with a no-doubter to right that made it 2-0.

MAX POWER. pic.twitter.com/WXbMF0kyGm

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 1, 2026

After getting just a single in the 7th, the Dodgers added insurance in the 8th behind singles from Freddie Freeman, Muncy, Teoscar, and Pages for two runs to push the lead to 4-0.

Singles from Freddie, Muncy, and Teoscar leads to another run. pic.twitter.com/zSYTz2eQjC

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

Pages with his second RBI single of the game to make it 4-0. pic.twitter.com/orob3YqFLN

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

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For the Dodgers pen, it was Alex Vesia starting it off in the 7th. He cruised through a 1-2-3 frame but the drama was in him narrowly avoiding a broken bat.

Alex Vesia almost gets hit with a broken bat. Could’ve been real bad. pic.twitter.com/5fM4obDD7p

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

Jack Dreyer took over in the 8th, issuing just a walk in the inning thanks to Mookie Betts picking up an infield hit deflecting off a foot and then making the good play going into the hole for an out to start things.

Mookie is locked the fuck in. Picked up the ball hitting the foot and then made a good play. Let ’em know. pic.twitter.com/W0dGEmnTyD

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

The 9th belonged to Edwin Diaz, of course, save situation or not. He started by slipping on a wet mound and hitting a batter, uncorking a wild pitch, and then issuing a walk. After a flyout cornered the runners, a single gave the Guardians their first run, but back-to-back strikeouts slammed the door. The win for them was getting Diaz over 30 pitches, likely keeping him out tomorrow.

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Will Smith is solving his framing deficiencies with ABS challenge proficiency.

It’s happening. pic.twitter.com/faZ9jPA8aF

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 1, 2026

The broadcast highlighted Alex Freeland‘s subtle setup change.

Alex Freeland’s end of Spring Training adjustment to free up his hands.

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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) March 31, 2026 at 4:57 PM

Miguel Rojas was having fun.