Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer adjusted his cap and glanced into the stands as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.
In the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals, completing a sweep at Dodger Stadium, Lauer held the Royals to two runs (one earned) in 6 ⅓ innings.
“It was really nice,” Lauer said, noting how much more enjoyable it was to pitch well at Dodger Stadium for the home team, instead of the opposition. “It always makes you feel good walking off the mound and having people appreciate what you did out there.”
The Dodgers (73-48) got home runs from Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Hunter Feduccia.
The Dodgers, with a short bullpen after playing extra innings twice in four games, needed Lauer to pitch deep into the game.
That plan seemed to be in jeopardy as he labored through the first three innings, his pitch count climbing to 64. But the next three, he only gave up just one walk.
“Wasn’t getting a ton of swing out of zone,” Lauer said. “So mentally I just had to lock in a little bit more in-zone, make sure I was throwing quality pitches in zone, and not try to be so fine. Give myself more plate to work with and try to get some quick soft contact.”
By the time he exited with one out in the seventh, he’d thrown 112 pitches, the most he’d thrown in a game since September 2024 (114 in 6 ⅔ innings against the Mets) and just three shy of his career high (8 ⅔ innings against the Dodgers in 2018).
“Eric’s a smart player, been around,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I say smart in the sense of understanding where our bullpen was at, and we had essentially everybody down. … It didn’t look great early as far as pitch efficiency, but he just recalibrated and kind of righted the ship, and it was really good.”
Right-hander Landon Knack finished the game and got his first save of the season.
Home runs from Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Hunter Feduccia provided all the offense the Dodgers needed to secure the victory.
Lauer, as a pitcher the Dodgers acquired in May to help them weather injuries, has pitched through uncertainty about his future with the team all year. He acknowledged as much as the trade deadline neared.
Still, he’s remained, through the trade deadline and IL activations, and steadied the rotation in the process.
Lauer has given up three or fewer runs in all but one of his 11 outings for the Dodgers And the Dodgers have won every game he’s pitched other than that rare clunker (four innings, six runs, 11 hits) against the Cubs at Wrigley Field last week.
The Dodgers rotation, however, will continue to evolve down the stretch.
In the coming weeks, the Dodgers probably have to clear room for right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s (back) return from the IL. He’s set to make his third minor-league rehab start later in the week.
And Ohtani, who has been hitting but not pitching for over a month, has progressed to long toss, although Roberts said he’s not sure when he’ll move to throwing bullpens.
The Dodgers’ rotation is steadily evolving into its final playoff form. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been a steady presence at the top all season. Then they added left-hander Tarik Skubal before the trade deadline. And fellow two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell returned from the injured list to throw six innings of one-run ball Tuesday.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (back) is set to make his third minor-league rehab start later in the week. And Ohtani has progressed to long toss, although manager Dave Roberts said he’s not sure when he’ll move to throwing bullpens.
The Dodgers still, however, have rotation questions to answer come October. Though they probably will have only four starting spots to fill in the postseason — and Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Glasnow can be penciled in when healthy — Ohtani’s build-up adds an interesting wrinkle.
If he runs out of time to build up to a full starter’s workload, will the Dodgers use him as an opener in the postseason? And if so, who will follow him?
And how do the rest of the Dodgers’ starters — Roki Sasaki, who has put together an impressive last month, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, a 2026 All-Star who has gone through a recent rough patch, and Lauer, who turned around his season with a change in scenery — fit into their plans?
In the coming weeks, the Dodgers will have to clear room for Glasnow’s return from the IL. If they don’t move a starter to the bullpen, or decide Wrobleski could use some time to work through the issues that have sprung up in his last three starts, Lauer’s lack of minor-league options could make him a DFA candidate.
If Lauer eventually does end up as the odd man out in a roster crunch, he’s done plenty in 11 appearances with the Dodgers to prove he can be an asset to a contending team looking to reinforce its pitching staff. So, he’d draw attention from other teams on the waiver wire or as a free agent.
But he’s appeared to be on the bubble before. And he’s still here, providing consistency every week.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman fell down the visiting dugout stairs while chasing a foul ball in the eighth inning. He remained in the game for the top of the eighth, but Tommy Edman hit for him in the bottom of the eighth and he was replaced in the ninth at first base by Kiké Hernández.
