Eric

Lauer

In every October run, there’s a swing that becomes shorthand for everything else. This one will be remembered forever — especially if the Dodgers go on to win their second straight title. Freeman put the exclamation point on the longest game in World Series history, ending a nearly seven-hour extra-inning marathon with a majestic fly ball that barely cleared the center-field fence. This game had everything: spectacular defense on both sides, heroic relief outings from unheralded arms like Toronto lefty Eric Lauer — who fired 4 2/3 shutout frames — and Dodgers righty Will Klein, who delivered four scoreless innings on a career-high 72 pitches. And, as the 19th inning loomed, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was warming up in the bullpen — just two days removed from throwing a 105-pitch complete game. The two clubs will meet again in just a few hours for Game 4 of the Fall Classic at Dodger Stadium with Shohei Ohtani taking the mound opposite Shane Bieber. Are you not entertained?

Schneider added that Scherzer likely would’ve been included on the roster for a matchup against the Red Sox, but they wanted to include some additional left-handed relief depth to combat New York’s plethora of lefty sluggers. It’ll likely be some combination of Eric Lauer and the bullpen working a potential Game 4 matchup with Kevin Gausman looming for a winner-take-all Game 5.

Lauer came on after Louis Varland set down the first six Red Sox’ hitters in order. Lauer recorded a pair of strikeouts in the ballgame. He then passed the combined bid for a perfect game onto Yariel Rodriguez and then Braydon Fisher who ultimately gave up a leadoff double to Jarren Duran to open the seventh inning. Lauer has done a very nice job for the Jays this season, compiling a 9-2 record, 3.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 101/26 K/BB ratio over 103 2/3 innings in 27 appearances (15 starts).

The Jays must not be worried much about Max Scherzer’s back, as he’s scheduled to start Saturday. Lauer has been terrific for the Jays this season, but he did give up eight runs — six earned — in 4 2/3 innings last time out against the Twins. He’s 8-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 15 starts and six relief appearances this season.

Ouch. Lauer returned to the Blue Jays staff to make a six-man rotation since they are in the midst of a stretch with 14 games in 15 days. This was supposed to be a soft landing spot against a Twins lineup that only has a handful of major league-caliber hitters in it, but he got crushed. Byron Buxton took him deep twice and the Twins had four total homers plus 11 hard-hit balls among just 19 total balls in play. It’s unknown when his next turn in the rotation will be.

Shane Bieber is slotting into Lauer’s spot on Friday, but it sounds like the Jays will use six starters at times the rest of the season. Lauer has been the team’s most effective stater in going 6-1 with a 3.05 ERA since getting a spot in mid-June. The Jays are 11-3 when he starts this season.

Lauer surrendered just one run to the Rangers on a walk and a base hit in the third inning. He’d start the sixth inning and walked the leadoff man before his day was done at 102 pitches with four strikeouts. The 30-year-old left-hander now holds a 2.76 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and an 87/25 K/BB ratio across 88 innings. He’ll take on the Marlins in Miami next Saturday.

The 30-year-old southpaw also issued four walks on the day while recording four strikeouts. He gave up a pair of runs in the opening inning on solo home runs by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. He then walked Freeman with the bases loaded in the second inning to force in another run. Lauer got just six swings and misses on 71 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll look to put this one behind him and bounce back as he carries a 2.82 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and an 83/22 K/BB ratio (83 innings) into Saturday’s battle against the Rangers.

Lauer came into this one 0-6 with a 12.43 ERA in seven career starts at Coors. He’d allowed 40 runs — 33 earned — over 23 1/3 innings. This, however, seems to be an improved version of the old Lauer, largely thanks to the gains he’s made with his cutter. Of course, it’s also a hideous Rockies offense that he was facing. Lauer is now 7-2 with a 2.59 ERA, which is one reason the Jays are in no big hurry to activate Shane Bieber. He’ll face the Dodgers next.

Lauer departed a tie game after a fairly typical performance for him this year. Since joining the Jays rotation on June 6, he’s made nine starts and allowed two runs five times, one run three times and three runs once. He’ll pitch in Coors Field next week, but that’s not so scary, given the state of the Rockies lineup.