LOS ANGELES -- After taking a hit-by-pitch and exiting in the first inning on Friday, it looked as if Teoscar Hernández was going to be sidelined for an extended period of time with a left foot injury.

But both an MRI and CT scan came back negative on Saturday, meaning Hern¨¢ndez won¡¯t need a stint on the IL after all -- and he feels he can be back on the field as early as Monday against the Cubs. The Dodgers are officially listing him as day to day.

¡°Very relieved,¡± manager Dave Roberts said. ¡°Obviously, if it was a fracture, that was probably going to be the end of the season for him, and it would have been a huge loss. But with the imaging that we received, information we received, we feel good about the day to day and getting him back sometime early next week. I hope it just continues to get better each day.¡±

Hern¨¢ndez will go through on-field work on Sunday in order to fully determine exactly when he¡¯ll be ready to return to the field. Regardless, Saturday¡¯s news regarding Hern¨¢ndez was as good as the Dodgers would have hoped for.

For one game, however, the Dodgers¡¯ offense functioned just fine without their All-Star outfielder, using a six-run first inning to beat the Guardians, 7-2, on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. The win padded L.A.'s lead in the NL West standings over the Padres and D-backs, both of whom lost, to five and 6 1/2 games, respectively.

¡°Fortunately, that first inning was the difference in the ballgame,¡± Roberts said. ¡°We got to the starter, saw a lot of different arms in the 'pen and have a good chance to win tomorrow."

The Dodgers were patient, drawing three consecutive one-out walks against right-handed starter Gavin Williams. Then Tommy Edman was able to pounce, hitting a two-RBI ground-rule double to get the Dodgers on the board. Three batters later, Andy Pages, who was filling in for Hern¨¢ndez in left field, smacked a two-run homer to cap off the rally.

In the fourth, Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers some more breathing room with a solo homer, his 16th of the season. Since returning from a fractured left wrist, Betts has hit six homers in 24 games.

¡°As long as we win, that¡¯s all I care about,¡± Betts said. ¡°Again, like I¡¯ve always said, I got to do it when it matters.¡±

With the uncertainty around the Dodgers¡¯ starting rotation, it¡¯ll once again fall on the high-powered offense to carry the heavy workload the rest of the season. Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Betts will be responsible for the majority of it. That¡¯s what comes with being superstars.

Behind the Big Three, however, the Dodgers believe they have as much talent as they¡¯ve had in recent seasons. Avoiding a serious injury to Hern¨¢ndez was significant, but they also have Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Will Smith and Edman, who have lengthened the lineup.

On Saturday, six of the nine starters reached base safely at least once. It¡¯ll have to be an all-out attack from the Dodgers¡¯ offense through October. They continue to show how capable they are of that.

¡°I don¡¯t want to put it solely on the offense, because the guys that we are running out there have still go to do their jobs, as far as on the pitching side,¡± Roberts said. ¡°But I do know that the offense is aware of the fact that, what we¡¯ve been going through as a staff, they can¡¯t take nights off, at-bats off. When we need to add on or fight to get back into a game to give it to guys in the ¡®pen, they need to do that. I¡¯m seeing a concerted effort, which has been great.¡±