Ohtani throws 6 scoreless innings in a drizzly debut on mound as Dodgers beat Guardians 4-1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dominant Shohei Ohtani pitched shutout ball for six innings in his first start on the mound this season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night in drizzly conditions.

Ohtani (1-0) allowed only a two-out double to Rhys Hoskins in the fourth. The two-way superstar struck out six and walked three on 87 pitches, 54 for strikes, in his first outing in 150 days since he started Game 7 of the World Series against Toronto.

His Japanese countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, won that game in relief as the Dodgers clinched their second consecutive championship.

Max Muncy hit his first home run of the season for Los Angeles. Edwin Díaz pitched the ninth in a non-save situation and gave up an RBI single to Brayan Rocchio.

Dodgers pitchers retired the leadoff hitter in each of the first eight innings before Díaz plunked Kyle Manzardo with a pitch to open the ninth.

After dropping the series opener 4-2, the Dodgers needed a win to avoid their first series loss in March since 2018.

Muncy made it 2-0 with a 410-foot solo drive to the right-field pavilion off reliever Kolby Allard in the sixth. Los Angeles added two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages.

Pages’ two-out RBI single off starter Tanner Bibee (0-1) in the fourth gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, the first time this season they scored first.

At the plate, Ohtani went 1 for 3 with a strikeout and two walks, extending his on-base streak to 36 games dating to Aug. 24, 2025.

A fresh rosin bag was brought to the mound in the fifth when light rain began falling. Ohtani wiped the damp ball between his pants legs.

The grounds crew was called out to groom the front slope of the mound, specifically Ohtani's landing spot, after he issued his third walk with two outs in the sixth. He used a metal tool to dig dirt lodged in the bottom of his spikes. Ohtani then retired Hoskins with one pitch to end the inning.

Ohtani hit Angel Martinez on his left kneecap with a 96 mph fastball with two outs in the fifth.

Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (0-1, 5.40 ERA) starts the series finale Wednesday against Yamamoto (1-0, 3.00), the third consecutive Japan-born pitcher to start for the Dodgers in a major league first.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani runs during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

DETROIT (AP) — After nearly two decades, and stretches of futility, the Detroit Pistons have won the Central Division again.

The Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors 127-116 on Tuesday to finish a long climb back up the NBA ladder and clinch their first division title since the 2007-08 season.

“You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do these things in this league,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. "You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young men who have grown and achieved certain milestones.

“It's a part of the process, and we expect more.”

Two years after going 14-68 and losing a league-record tying 28 straight games, the Pistons are 55-21 with two All-Stars in Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. With Cunningham sidelined by a lung injury, Duren had 31 points on 12-of-13 shooting and added nine rebounds against the Raptors.

“He's so talented,” Bickerstaff said. “He's a different kind of big that you see in the NBA. You have space-up bigs and post-up bigs, but when you have somebody who can do both, he's a problem for people.”

Daniss Jenkins, who started the season on a two-way contract, had 21 points and five assists. He's averaging 18.6 points and 6.9 assists since replacing Cunningham as the starting point guard.

“We knew we were trying to do something special this year,” he said. “It's great to accomplish something like this, but we have our eyes on the playoffs and doing some damage there. We'll celebrate this tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”

They've helped end one of the worst periods in franchise history.

In 2007-08, the Pistons were still running out most of the same players that had led them to the 2004 championship and a seven-game Finals loss to San Antonio a year later. They went 59-23 under coach Flip Saunders, then knocked out Philadelphia and Orlando on their way to the last of their six straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances.

They didn't know it, but they were about to go off a cliff.

The following offseason, team president Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson and replaced Saunders with Michael Curry.

The Pistons went 39-43 and spent the next 10 seasons cycling through eight coaches and resulting in zero postseason victories.

That was followed by one of the worst five-year stretches in NBA history as the Pistons went 94-290 (.245) and hit rock bottom in 2023-24, when they lost a franchise-record 68 games.

Last season, Cunningham and Duren led the Pistons to a 30-win improvement before the fell in six games to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Detroit Pistons guard Caris LeVert (8) takes a shot while being defended by Toronto Raptors guard Ja'kobe Walter (14) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren, left, shoot the ball against Toronto Raptors forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) celebrates with center Jalen Duren (0) after a win over the Toronto Raptors in an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)