It's been a habit for the Los Angeles Dodgers to play — and somehow manage to win — one-run games. Monday was no different as they took the series opener against the Minnesota Twins by a 2-1 final to kick off their nine-game road trip. 

Eric Lauer set the tone early for Los Angeles.  

The last time Lauer faced Minnesota was back on April 11, when he was still a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was tagged with seven runs through 5.1 innings and walked five Twins in the eventual loss. 

Fast forward to Monday and, in a new shade of blue uniform, Lauer got his revenge on the mound, tossing six no-hit innings and striking out two in the process. 

The last Dodgers reliever to throw six no-hit innings was Dave Stewart, who did it in the 1982 season for Los Angeles. 

Even though it was Lauer's turn on the mound, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had Will Klein as the opener for Lauer. 

The plan was simple. 

"I think it was just more of giving Eric the best chance to take down more outs in the game," Roberts said in the pregame scrum. 

He added that the Twins' top of the order was right-handed heavy (with guys like Byron Buxton and switch-hitter Josh Bell at the helm), so having Klein flat out the surface at the top of the order was the intention. 

It took Klein 32 pitches but he only gave up one run to Buxton as he tied the game 1-1 with a solo home run. 

Lauer took care of the rest. 

"I don't think he had his best stuff, but I think that he did a good job of changing speeds, executing pitches and letting those guys put the ball in play. He controlled the pace of the game and took down a lot of hitters," Roberts said on Lauer's performance. 

The Dodgers relied heavily on the long ball for their series-opening win as Shohei Ohtani (16th of the season) and Freddie Freeman (13th of the season) hit solo home runs, respectively. 

Despite the win, Los Angeles had to endure the game with the absence of two key pieces. 

For one, Kyle Tucker was pinch-run for by Alex Call in the second inning. Tucker suffered lower back spasms rounding second base after a Tommy Edman single. 

Roberts said that Tucker intially felt his back beginning to spasm in between the first and second innings. He added that he noticed it more throughout Tucker's at-bat and more so when he was rounding the bases. 

He does not believe that this is a trip to the Injury List, stating that he is not "overly concerned." 

Following that, catcher Dalton Rushing was replaced behind the dish by Chuckie Robinson. The Dodgers announced that he left the game to rule out a concussion and avoid protocol. 

Roberts said Rushing passed the initial protocol test, but has to undergo another test in 24 hours before any decisions on playing could be made. It is unlikely that Rushing starts at catcher tomorrow, and in anticipation of that, Roberts said that the Dodgers will call up someone to "guard against" Rushing's absence. 

Los Angeles improves to 50-29 and becomes the first team in baseball to reach the 50-win mark. 

Justin Wrobleski takes the mound on Tuesday in hopes of securing the series win. 

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