Lauer Blanks Minnesota on Zero Hits, Freeman Seals It

Eric Lauer threw six innings of no-hit ball and Freddie Freeman's 423-foot shot to center in the sixth proved to be the difference as the Dodgers edged the Twins 2-1 on June 22. Three home runs — one from each of the game's three biggest names — decided every run scored.

The first inning set the tone for everything that followed. Shohei Ohtani homered to right, 414 feet, to put Los Angeles up 1-0. Byron Buxton answered immediately, going the other way to left center, 394 feet, to knot it at 1-1. Two swings, two home runs, and the game was already telling you it wasn't going to be decided by anything subtle. What neither team could have known was that those would be the only two runs scored for the next four innings — and that the next ball to leave the yard would end the game.

That ball came off Freddie Freeman's bat in the sixth. He drove it 423 feet to center, and the win probability swung from 46% to 30% for Minnesota the moment it landed. That's the game, right there — one swing that turned a coin flip into a Dodgers advantage they never surrendered. Meanwhile, Lauer was doing something remarkable on the other side of the ledger: six full innings, zero hits, zero earned runs. He walked three, which kept it from being a perfect outing, but no Twins batter reached on a hit against him all night. Kyle Hurt handled one inning of relief, allowing one hit and no runs, to help close it out. The Dodgers' pitching staff, top to bottom, appears to have been the story of this game.

Minnesota's Zebby Matthews was no slouch — six innings, five strikeouts, two walks — but he allowed six hits and both of the Dodgers' earned runs, including the Freeman blast. The Twins' offense, outside of Buxton's first-inning answer, couldn't generate anything against Lauer's no-hit stuff. Alex Call went 2-for-3 and Tommy Edman went 2-for-4 to pace the Dodgers' hit column, though neither factored into the scoring. Worth noting: Kyle Tucker exited the game in the second inning with low back spasms, per ESPN, which looks like a subplot that could matter going forward depending on his availability. Los Angeles won this one 2-1 without needing much offense — just enough, delivered by two of the most dangerous hitters in the sport, at exactly the right moments.