Coming off a game in which they scored eight runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to continue that hot hitting into Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres.
They were not able to do that though as Padres left-hander Eric Lauer tossed a gem, resulting in a 4-1 loss for the Dodgers at Petco Park.
In the first six innings against Lauer, the Dodgers could only manage three baserunners, none of which advanced past first base. One of those three was a walk by Max Muncy, who was promptly picked off first base. Lauer has picked off nine runners this season, which is the most in all of baseball.
The Dodgers best scoring chance against Lauer came in the seventh inning when Muncy singled and Cody Bellinger hit a two-out double. Logan Forsythe followed by striking out on three pitches though to strand both runners in scoring position.
The Padres offense struggled for a while too against Dodgers starter Rich Hill, but they were finally able to break through in the fifth inning.
Jose Pirela walked to start off the inning, followed by a single by Freddy Galvis to put two on with no one out. Hill then threw one right down the middle to Padres catcher Austin Hedges, and he drove it into the seats for a three-run home run.
They then tacked on another run later in the inning on a solo home run by Wil Myers, his sixth long ball in his past four games.
Hill did a nice job of getting through seven innings to preserve the Dodgers bullpen, but the four runs the Padres scored against him proved to be more than enough.
The Dodgers only run of the game came on a ninth-inning solo home run by Muncy as Lauer wound up striking out eight Dodgers, giving up just four hits and two walks while tossing the best outing of his young career.
Lauer was removed from the game after that home run as Kirby Yates came in and got the final out of the game to complete the victory.
As part of our efforts to help you understand how we handle the personal information you share with us, and in preparation for the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we’ve updated our Privacy & Cookies Policy. The updated Privacy & Cookies Policy will take effect on May 22, 2018. By using our services on or after that date, you’ll be agreeing to our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy. We recommend that you read our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy in full.