LOS ANGELES — Eric Lauer is doing all he can to buy more time.
With a number of roster changes ahead, Lauer remains where his feet are planted, allowing one hit over six scoreless innings as the Dodgers finished off a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
After left-hander Blake Snell and right-hander Tyler Glasnow went down with injuries in May, Lauer was acquired by the Dodgers in what appeared to be a temporary solution. The Toronto Blue Jays moved the left-hander after they had designated him for assignment.
Lauer never blinked. If the stay was going to be a short one, he hadn’t even considered it, calling it a “weird” question asked about handling a potential short stay. He had just arrived after all.
“I mean, it’s something that I was aware of coming over here, that it might be like a rental thing,” Lauer said. “There’s some big guys that have injuries that there was just a need. So (it was) see-a-need, fill-a-need kind of thing. But I mean, I love it here. I think I’m thriving here, as far as I can tell. And I would love to be part of this team.”
The prospect of moving on now seems like the strange scenario, even as Snell is due back in the rotation next week and Glasnow is set to head out on a minor league rehab assignment.
Wednesday’s victory means the Dodgers are now 9-0 (eight starts) in games pitched by Lauer, who has gone 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA while wearing his Dodgers uniform.
“He’s been great,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “He was always good against us with just the makeup, the preparedness. What he’s done for us as far as giving us length – it seems like every time he pitches, we win.”
While the approaching trade deadline could create even more roster upheaval, the knee injury to Shohei Ohtani could keep Lauer in the rotation even longer. The Dodgers expect Ohtani to return as a starting pitcher at some point but as of now, there is no timetable for a return.
Were there mechanical fixes, or has it been the Dodgers’ culture that has Lauer back on track after a rocky start to the season in Toronto?
“Honestly, it’s just kind of like everything,” Lauer said. “It’s everything surrounding the game and surrounding the clubhouse, the players, the staff, everybody. Just everything is geared towards winning the day and winning the pitch. So, all you really have to focus on is going out there and doing your job.
“And it’s a really freeing, (positive) feeling knowing that you know everybody’s prepared, everybody’s done what they need to do to go out there and execute and win the game.”
Change was nearly ahead in the Dodgers’ batting order, with Manager Dave Roberts pondering a move with No. 2 hitter Andy Pages. Roberts held off, though, and his patience was rewarded when Pages hit a first-inning home run and had three hits with two RBIs.
“This is good experience for Andy in the regular season to be at the top of the order,” Roberts said before the game when asked about moving his All-Star outfielder down.
After Ohtani hit a leadoff home run in the first inning on Tuesday, Pages hit a solo shot as the second batter of the first inning Wednesday. It was Pages’ 22nd of the season but just his second of the month.
“I thought the approach tonight was very consistent,” Roberts said. “I thought the at-bat quality was very good. I think for me, it’s not trying to essentially just think about him individually moving him down. It’s more of what is going to be best for our team as we get closer to the playoffs. But I just loved how he took his approach tonight.”
Pages played a role in each of the Dodgers’ first three runs. He followed an Ohtani single in the third inning with one of his own, with Ohtani then scoring on a Freddie Freeman broken-bat single.
“I’ve been working on my swing, today showed the results and it’s just a good moment to turn things around,” Pages said through an interpreter.
In the fourth inning, Pages’ single off the glove of Mariners third baseman Weston Wilson scored Mookie Betts. Ohtani was walked intentionally in front of Pages to load the bases.
In the sixth, Ohtani ripped a double into the left-center field gap to score Dalton Rushing from first base. The sore knee that is keeping Ohtani off the mound, is doing little to slow him at the plate.
The Mariners finally scored a run in the eighth inning but not before left fielder Teoscar Hernandez made a leaping catch against the bullpen gate in left field. Seattle’s Cole Young followed one batter later with an RBI single against Tanner Scott.
Young had two of the Mariners’ five hits.
The late Seattle run created a save situation, and Edwin Diaz moved back into his closer role on the day he was activated from the injured list. Diaz had been out since April after a procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow.
With the trumpets of his entrance song blaring again, Diaz felt good being on a major league mound once more.
Diaz gave up a one-out double to Dominic Canzone and an RBI double to Josh Naylor before finishing off his fifth save and first since April 7.
“The fans were into it, so that’s really good,” Diaz said. “I was trying to calm my emotions. And as soon as I got to the mound, it was, ‘Let’s go. Let’s make pitches. Let’s win the game.’ And that’s what I did.”
Diaz threw as hard as 97.2 mph on Wednesday after his fastball was in the 94-mph range earlier in the season.
“I don’t think anyone expected him to be lights-out, but I think that the pain-free part of it, the velocity, the slider was really good,” Roberts said. “All those things are things you can bet on, given what he’s done throughout his career.”