Dodgers defeat Twins, but lose Kyle Tucker and

MINNEAPOLIS — The Dodgers’ latest offensive scuffling fell down the checklist of the crew’s most urgent points Monday, in their 2-1 win against the Twins.

In the first three innings, the Dodgers had two key gamers go away the sport with accidents. Right fielder Kyle Tucker exited in the top of the second because of decrease back spasms, and catcher Dalton Rushing in the underside of the third to rule out a concussion, the crew said.

Tucker drew a stroll in the second inning, superior to second on Tommy Edman’s single, and was changed by pinch-runner Alex Call soon after.

Tucker jogged off the sphere into the dugout, his hand on his proper facet as he talked to hitting coach Aaron Bates.

Tucker, in his first season with the Dodgers after signing a four-year deal price $240 million this winter, entered Monday with a .705 on-base-plus-slugging share, on tempo for his worst offensive yr by that measure since his 2018 rookie season with the Houston Astros.

Tucker just lately went 9 video games with a .303 batting average. But then he went hitless in the Dodgers’ two losses to the Batlimore Orioles last weekend.

“If we can get him back to being who he is, then we’ll bet on the results,” supervisor Dave Roberts said before the sport, noting Tucker’s repute for controlling the strike zone. “It’s not something that we might see tonight. But I think going here forward, that’s something that I think we’re going to see.”

Rushing was changed behind the plate by Chuckie Robinson in the third inning. When the Dodgers announced the explanation for his exit, they didn’t level to an inciting incident. But Rushing did take a foul tip off his masks on opener Will Klein’s first pitch of the sport.

Rushing took a second to compose himself, placing his glove in the grime for stability. But he remained in the sport for two innings.

The Dodgers have been already down one catcher. Rushing took over as the first backstop the last two weeks with Will Smith sidelined by a neck injury. Smith didn’t journey with the crew to Minnesota.

Lauer follows opener

Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer voiced his distaste for pitching behind an opener while with the Blue Jays. But he clarified his earlier feedback in his introductory interview to start his Dodgers tenure.

“If you ask most starters in the league, they would probably have the same response, that they don’t like it,” Lauer said last month. “But it doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to do it. It doesn’t mean that I’m not a team player.”

On Monday, the Dodgers requested him to observe through on that promise, getting into the sport in the second inning, after Klein gave up a run and two hits in the first.

“We’ve been very forthright,” Roberts said before the sport. “I know he’s appreciated that. For me, just telling him the thought behind it and the why and still giving him confidence to know that we expect him to take down the most outs in the game. He’s all-in. He’s all-in on winning. I do think that just getting ahead of it, being honest with him.”

Roberts said he told Lauer the plan after Sunday’s sport, explaining that he thought having Klein face the power-hitting right-handers close to the top of the Twins lineup would give Lauer the best likelihood to go deeper into the sport.

Klein surrendering a tying home run to right-handed hitting Byron Buxton wasn’t precisely half of that plan. But Lauer saved the Twins hitless for six scoreless innings. The three walks he issued accounted for the only baserunners against him.

The Dodgers scored their runs on solo homers from Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.