The Los Angeles Dodgers bats went quiet on Tuesday night at Petco Park, managing just one run in a 4-1 loss to the division-rival San Diego Padres.
The reason the Dodgers could not muster many runs was because Padres rookie starter Eric Lauer brought his ‘A’ game, nearly tossing a complete game shutout as he gave up just one solo home run to Max Muncy with two outs in the ninth inning before being removed from the game.
Lauer had never gone more than six innings in a Major League game, but on Tuesday night he gave up just four hits and the one run in 8.2 innings while striking out eight and walking two.
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was complimentary of the rookie after the game, although he is looking forward to getting back out on the field on Wednesday, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“He pitched pretty good against us,” said Matt Kemp, who was 2 for 3 against Lauer during the Mexico Series in May but struck out four times Tuesday (three against Lauer). “He did his job. We didn’t do ours. That’s pretty simple.
“But you know what – there’s another game tomorrow.”
Cody Bellinger also had high praise for Lauer, saying that he could not figure out how to hit his fastball:
“He has a (expletive) weird heater,” Bellinger said of Lauer’s fastball. “It’s hard to hit. You see it. Then you swing and it’s by you.
“I think it’s a slow delivery and then it just jumps on you. He was also hitting his spots. There weren’t a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate.”
Lauer’s two best Major League outings have now come against Los Angeles, with him tossing six shutout innings against them in May. So the Dodgers have to be hoping that they don’t have to face him against this season.
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