Dodgers 12, Pirates 3: Lauer keeps pace with Skenes, bats sink Pirates pen with massive barrage

Chad Moriyama 06/09/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

In what was probably the biggest mismatch of the season, things went to expectations early as Eric Lauer looked to be throwing batting practice early, but he settled in and hilariously ended up basically matching Paul Skenes. The offense got enough time to tie the game and then absolutely unload on the Pirates pen, amusingly after they started talking shit about Shohei Ohtani. That resulted in a 12-3 blowout win for the Dodgers.

Good times.

It's been eight runs and one out since this started. Ohtani is 1-1 with a double and bases-loaded walk, lmfao.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) 2026-06-10T01:01:39.480Z

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Eric Lauer started for the Dodgers and things did not go well to start. He got the first two batters but then gave up back-to-back homers to Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn to make it 2-0 Pirates.

At that point, I was ready for River Ryan to enter as his replacement, but Lauer amusingly got serious. He retired 15 of the last 16 he faced following the second homer, including the last 12 he faced. He allowed just a two-out single in the 2nd as his only baserunner.

Mookie Betts did help with great defense…

…but it was mostly Lauer: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 89 Pitches.

For the third time through, it was Will Klein in the pouring rain, and he got the final out of the 6th. He also got a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th … but in different circumstances for reasons you’ll soon see. Anyway, he got three strikeouts in his four outs.

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Of course, it was Paul Skenes on the other side, which made any runs a blessing.

After he got a clean 1st, the Dodgers got a rally going in the 2nd behind a Mookie Betts double and Max Muncy single, as Kyle Tucker hit a sac fly to make it 2-1 Pirates.

Nothing else came of the inning, and then they stranded a lead-off single in the 3rd, left a one-out double in the 4th, and a lead-off walk in the 5th was erased by a double play.

Things were not looking great at that point, but a one-out Freddie Freeman double was advanced to third on a groundout, and Muncy came up with a big two-out single (thanks to the Pirates defense) to tie things at 2-2. A walk followed that, but the rally ended there.

Up until this point, the game was a tightly-contested affair, but that ended very quickly when the Pirates pen entered in the 7th. Alright, stick with me.

Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland led off with back-to-back singles to corner things, at which points the Pirates crowd started chanting “Shohei sucks” and “overrated” at Shohei Ohtani. The Pirates immediately let a run score on a throwing error, then Ohtani doubled to score another and make it 4-2.

Andy Pages immediately followed with his 15th homer of the year to make it 6-2 just like that.

They restarted the rally with a Freddie Freeman walk and Mookie single, then Max Muncy walked to load the bases and Kyle Tucker tried his best to hit into a double play but instead it was another Pirates error that led to a run.

Ryan Ward then singled to make it 8-2 and kept the bases loaded before the Pirates finally got an out via Dalton Rushing whiffing.

That didn’t provide much relief, as Freeland and Ohtani drew bases-loaded walks to score two more, and Pages hit a sac fly for the second out that plated another to make it 11-2.

Freddie then followed with a milestone single for his 2500th career hit to make it 12-2, and after the Pirates mercifully got the final out of the inning on a Mookie lineout, Freddie was removed to a dugout greeting.

They tried to rally again in the 8th with a single and walk to start, then got a two-out walk as well to load things up, but nothing was pushed across. Their position player was arguably their most effective reliever in the 9th, giving up just a single and a walk.

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On the other side, the Pirates got a bit of a reprieve with Blake Treinen entered in the 8th … well, at least in terms of getting on base again. He issued a pair of one-out walks but also struck out the side.

Tanner Scott needed work so he got the 9th, giving up a lead-off double and then a one-out Marcell Ozuna single to plate a run before getting the final two outs for a final score of 12-3.

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43-24 and a comfortable division lead.

The series resumes tomorrow at 12:40 PM HT/3:40 PM PT/6:40 PM ET with Shohei Ohtani looking to continue his pitching dominance against Jared Jones.

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