Padres tagged Sauer for 9 runs and 13 hits as he ate innings Tuesday night, “trying to get as many innings as I could for the bullpen,” he told reporters after the loss.
We talked yesterday about the good bad start, and how goals can change within a game based on circumstances. That ratcheted up to the extreme for the Dodgers on Tuesday night, when the game got out of hand early, and Matt Sauer stayed out on the mound to absorb it all.
Called up earlier in the day to fill the first Tony Gonsolin-sized hole in the rotation, Sauer was going to eat as many innings as possible on the 12th day of 13 game days in a row.
“Matt understood what was his role, based on how the game was going to go,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters at Petco Park after the game, as shown on SportsNet LA.
Following a scoreless inning by opener Lou Trivino, Sauer pitched a scoreless second inning but then the Padres opened the flood gates. Three runs in the third inning were followed by single runs in the fourth and fifth. Trailing 5-0 in the sixth inning, the Dodgers were already down Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia, who each pitched the previous two days, plus Anthony Banda went two innings Monday in his sixth game over a 10-day span.
With limited relief options, Sauer was going to stay in the game in the sixth inning for as long as he could go.
“You just gotta look at where our pen is at, and appreciating what we have the next few days,” Roberts told reporters, as shown on SportsNet LA. “I have to give credit to Matt, to pitch as much as he’s ever pitched, and essentially took one for the team.”
Much like Brent Honeywell, who twice ate innings to save a tired bullpen in lopsided losses last postseason, both directly before series-clinching wins, Sauer saw his personal stat line take a beating on Tuesday, including four more runs in the fifth before Roberts finally pulled the plus with two outs in the sixth.
“I felt like I was pitching my ass off just trying to compete, and trying to get as many innings as I could for the bullpen,” Sauer said after the game, as shown on SportsNet LA.
“I just got to be better at locating the ball.”
Matt Sauer (L (1-1), 4.2 IP, 13 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 111 P) talks to the media after the #Dodgers drop Game 2 to the Padres, losing 11-1. pic.twitter.com/dDCr3NE8HN
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 11, 2025
Sauer allowed nine runs on 13 hits in his 4⅔ innings, and also struck out six, walked three, and hit a batter. To put that in some historical context, Sauer…
- allowed the most hits by a Dodgers reliever since Clyde King for Brooklyn on August 15, 1945 against the Cubs.
- allowed the most runs by a Dodgers reliever since José Núñez on May 5, 2001 at the Cubs.
- allowed the most baserunners by a Dodgers reliever since Tommy Warren allowed 20 for Brooklyn on April 30, 1944 at the Giants.
- allowed the most baserunners by any Dodgers pitcher since Orel Hershiser on June 4, 1988 against the Reds.
- threw the most pitches by a Dodgers reliever since Tom Candiotti threw 127 on July 18, 1994 at the Mets.
- threw the most pitches by any Dodger since starter Lance Lynn on September 12, 2023 against the Padres.
Sauer left the game trailing 9-0, which put the game out of reach enough, by rule, for the Dodgers to use a position player to pitch. So in came Kiké Hernández, in the sixth inning.
Hernández allowed two runs but finished out the game, getting the final seven outs. The only other Dodgers position player to pitch that much in a game was Ben Chapman, an outfielder who pitched semi-regularly — 16 games, including 15 starts — for the Dodgers during World War II in 1944-45.
The only other position player aside from Shohei Ohtani in the last 10 years to get at least seven outs in a game was David Fry, who pitched four innings for the Guardians on September 4, 2023.
It was a very ugly game for the Dodgers on Tuesday night. But we’ll see if the upside of having a relatively well-rested bullpen heading into Wednesday afternoon’s series and road trip finale will pay dividends.