In the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, the Dodgers pitched as well as they could have hoped. Eric Lauer followed up the first bout on Monday, in part to avoid a three-way bout with Byron Buxton. Buxton proved why by hitting his 25th home run of the season in the first inning against starter Will Klein.
Lauer entered the game tied 1–1 in the second inning and went through the entire seventh inning without a run or hit in his book for a 2–1 lead.
The only time a Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher went at least six innings without allowing a hit was Dave Stewart on August 9, 1982, pitching the final six frames of a 13-inning win over the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium.
Stewart’s performance was part of a chaotic pennant race for the Dodgers, who as recently as July 28 trailed the Atlanta Braves by 10 games. Stewart’s game was their seventh straight win, moving them within a half game of Atlanta. The Dodgers moved into first place the next day, just 13 days after a 10-game deficit.
The longest of these unbeaten substitute appearances was made by Bob Milliken in 1953. He relieved rookie Johnny Podres with two outs in the first inning—it looked like some kind of injury, as Podres didn’t pitch again for 13 days—and then finished the game by recording the final 25 strikeouts.