Dodgers ride Lauer, three homers in win over A's

SACRAMENTO — Eric Lauer continues to make Dave Roberts' decision look easier with every start.

Given the ball as a traditional starter instead of working behind an opener, Lauer rewarded the Dodgers with another quality outing Monday night, helping pave the way for a 9-4 victory over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.

Behind Lauer's resilience, a three-home run attack from Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy and Andy Pages, and a 17-hit offensive explosion, the Dodgers won their third consecutive game and are 10-3 over their last 13. They also improved to 6-0 in games started by Lauer since he joined the team.

Lauer's night hardly began smoothly.

After the Dodgers built an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, the Athletics answered immediately. Colby Thomas cut the deficit in half with a solo home run before a string of softly-hit singles turned into a three-run inning.

Athletics third baseman Max Muncy opened the rally with an infield single before Alika Williams added another base hit. Rookie Josh Kuroda-Grauer, making his major league debut, collected his first career hit with an RBI single to right to tie the game. Moments later, Henry Bolte grounded into a fielder's choice that plated Williams and gave Oakland a 3-2 advantage.

It could have been much worse.

Instead, Lauer settled in.

The left-hander stranded the bases loaded in the third inning and retired 10 of the final 12 hitters he faced, completing six innings while allowing three earned runs on nine hits. He walked one, struck out two and threw 95 pitches, 66 for strikes.

The stat line wasn't dominant on paper, but it was exactly what the Dodgers have consistently received from Lauer, dependable innings that keep the game under control. Once again, he handed the bullpen a lead and gave the offense time to take over.

The Dodgers wasted little time answering.

Teoscar Hernández, activated from the injured list earlier Monday after recovering from a hamstring strain, sparked the offense with an infield single in the second inning, his first hit since May 26. Kyle Tucker followed with another single before Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy lined an RBI single to right for the game's first run.

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Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (13) hits an RBI single against the Athletics in the second inning at Sutter Health Park.

Dalton Rushing added another RBI single later in the inning, giving him runs batted in in consecutive games and extending the Dodgers' lead to 2-0.

After the A’s briefly surged ahead, Muncy erased the deficit himself.

Leading off the fourth inning, Muncy launched a game-tying solo home run into right-center field, his 17th homer of the season. It also marked his 16th RBI during the month of June, continuing one of his hottest stretches of the season.

The blast was another milestone in Muncy's Dodgers career. It was his 226th home run with the organization, leaving him just two behind Ron Cey for second place on the franchise's all-time home run list.

Monday also featured one of baseball's more unusual coincidences.

Both teams started a third baseman named Max Muncy, both batting seventh. The two share the same birthday — Aug. 25 — were both drafted by the Athletics, and now found themselves facing one another on the same diamond.

The Dodgers' Max Muncy is a 35-year-old born in Midland, Texas. The Athletics' Max Muncy is a 23-year-old from Camarillo, California.

Few stories in baseball are as uniquely awkward.

The Dodgers quickly grabbed control for good later in the fourth.

Andy Pages crushed a two-run homer to left-center, snapping a 17-game homerless drought while collecting his 16th long ball of the season. His blast gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.

From there, the game belonged to Shohei Ohtani.

After Miguel Rojas singled and Dalton Rushing worked a walk in the sixth inning, Ohtani unloaded on an 82-mph sweeper from Matt Krook, launching a towering three-run homer into the night to push the Dodgers' lead to 8-3.

Ohtani finished with two hits, including his 18th home run of the season.

He wasn't finished contributing.

In the eighth inning, Rushing singled before Ohtani added another base hit, setting the table for Freddie Freeman, whose RBI single scored Rushing and stretched the lead to 9-3.

Pages and Freeman also collected two hits apiece as the Dodgers pounded out 17 hits. Every starter recorded at least one hit, while eight of the nine starters finished with multiple hits in one of the club's most balanced offensive performances of the season. Betts was the lone Dodger with one hit.

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Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages (44) hits a two-run home run against the Athletics in the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park.

The bullpen backed Lauer with another strong effort.

Kyle Hurt needed only 15 pitches to strike out the side in a dominant seventh inning. Jonathan Hernández followed with 1 1/3 innings before Roberts lifted him after the Athletics put runners on the corners in the ninth.

Kuroda-Grauer continued his memorable debut by leading off the ninth with a double before eventually scoring the A’s fourth run. The 23-year-old finished an impressive 3-for-4 with two singles, a double and his first career RBI.

For the Dodgers, however, the story was another complete team victory.

Lauer once again gave them quality innings. Muncy and Pages supplied timely power. Ohtani delivered the knockout punch. The lineup produced 17 hits, and the Dodgers earned their 55th victory of the season.

Now, another milestone awaits.

Tuesday night, Roberts will look to record 1,000 career victories when the Dodgers send left-hander Justin Wrobleski (9-2, 2.71 ERA) to the mound against Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.52 ERA).