Yunobu Yamamoto was sniped by a long fight, and the Rattlesnake swallowed the first game of his career, and Shohei Ohtani knocked out the 11th hit of the season

Just over a month into the tournament, there is only one division in which four teams win more than half of the time and each has at least 20 wins – welcome to the wild National League West.

The Dodgers, who won the World Series last year and continued their strong run through a busy offseason, are widely regarded as not only the top favorites in the division, but also on track to achieve a winning streak not seen in more than two decades. But Thursday night's 3-5 defeat to the Sidewinders proved why baseball has to play 162 games – and the biggest challenge for the Dodgers to defend their title may come in their own division.

It's worth noting that this series in Arizona is only the second time the Dodgers have played against a National League West opponent this season. They swept Rocky three times in a row at Dodger Stadium last month with a 6-31 record, while the Sidewinders didn't even play a team in their league in their first 37 games.

In the first meeting between Los Angeles and the National League West Contenders, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, one of the team's most consistent pitchers, suffered the worst start of his career: conceded five runs in five innings (all self-blamed points) and hit two home runs.

The first was a slam shot by Gabriel Moreno in four innings, a blow that doubled Yamamoto's self-blame points in an instant this season. The second is Ketel Marte's spring bomb under the fifth inning. This is the first time the two have started this season.

The Dodgers showed their vitality as they went out two of the nine innings, and Shohei Ohtani hit his 11th hit of the season to close the game.