LOS ANGELES — The buzz could have been about the two pitchers, both of whom had something to prove. Or it could have been for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who hit his league-leading 45th home run and collected his 100th RBI of the season as he inches closer to MLB’s first 50-50 season. But not even a matchup of division leaders generated enough energy to lift the Dodgers as the Cleveland Guardians won, 3-1, on a warm Friday night in the series opener at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers (84-57) saw their lead in the NL West trimmed to four games over the second-place San Diego Padres (81-62), who defeated the San Francisco Giants, 5-1. Making matters worse for the Dodgers, cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández is likely to land on the injured list after he was hit on the left foot by a pitch, Manager Dave Roberts said. The Dodgers said Hernandez suffered a left foot contusion, with Roberts saying after the game that the injury is “not great’ and that it was concerning. After taking an 80-mph slider from left-hander Matthew Boyd to the foot, Hernandez was visited at home plate by the Dodgers’ training staff before deciding to take first base. He walked off the field before Boyd threw his next pitch and was replaced at first base by Chris Taylor. In his first season with the Dodgers, Hernandez is batting .266 with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs. A career .262 hitter with 187 home runs and 560 RBIs, he won the All-Star Home Run Derby in July in Arlington, Texas. The Dodgers managed just two baserunners through five innings, but they did have a chance to tie the score in the eighth. Trailing, 3-1, and with one out, Ohtani (2 for 4) singled to right and Mookie Betts followed with a double to left, sending Ohtani to third. Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis intentionally walked Freddie Freeman to load the bases, giving the crowd something else to cheer about. But any excitement was short-lived when Gaddis got Taylor to hit into a double play, ending the inning. The game quickly settled into a pitching duel between the Dodgers’ Landon Knack and the Guardians’ Boyd. Knack, one of the many young pitchers who have bounced in and out of the clubhouse in the wake of the team’s pitching woes this season, had a one-hit shutout going until Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez blasted a two-run home run, his eighth of the season, in the sixth inning. Knack (2-3), who was recalled before the game to make his ninth start of the season for the Dodgers, gave up two runs and three hits in his six innings. He struck out a career-high eight and walked one. “Landon was a star tonight,” Roberts said of his starter. “He did everything more than we hoped for. He’s done it all year for us. “Six innings, eight punches, one walk, two runs. He gave us a chance to win, a good chance to win. I’m looking forward to him making his next start, which I think is Friday. He’s going to keep getting opportunities as long as he keeps performing like he has.” The AL Central-leading Guardians added another run when Brayan Rocchio hit his eighth home run of the season off of reliever Anthony Banda in the eighth. Rocchio went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Meanwhile, Boyd, a midseason acquisition for the Guardians, was working on his own shutout when Ohtani lofted an 88-mph sinker into the muggy night air in the sixth to trim the lead, 2-1. Boyd has been called an X-factor for the Guardians in their push to win their division. The left-hander came into the game having made four starts for Cleveland since Aug. 13, working at least 5⅓ innings in each game. Boyd (2-1) picked up his second victory by limiting the Dodgers to one run and three hits over six innings, striking out six. Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase retired the side in the ninth to earn his 42nd save. Knack isn’t well known outside the walls of Dodger Stadium, but his performance Friday could keep him in the team’s postseason conversations. Seventeen pitchers have started a game for the Dodgers this season, and 11 of them have spent time on the injured list, with Gavin Stone the latest to do so on Friday because of a sore right shoulder. “On one hand, this year feels like it’s been extreme in terms of pitching injuries, but we’ve gotten through,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “And with that has come opportunity. A lot of our young guys have come up and been keeping in the position we are in right now.” Knack got another turn Friday night, replacing Stone in the rotation. He had allowed just two runs and 12 walks over nine innings in his past two games for Triple-A Oklahoma City since last getting optioned on Aug. 14. 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He gave up just one earned run on three hits in four innings in his last appearance for the Dodgers on Aug. 13. “It’s really about taking it a day at a time,” Knack said. “It’s hard as you go up and down to not think about the future and where you are and trying to go. (But) like the cliché says, ‘Stay where your feet are’ and continue to work.” Although he didn’t get the victory, Knack said he was encouraged by his performance against one of the best teams in the league. “It gives me confidence to go out there and see how I can play against some of the best teams and some of the best players in the world. So yeah, the way I’ve been able to come out here and make pitches and play against these guys makes me know I belong.”