Former Central Coast baseball star earns first MLB win with Dodgers

Former Righetti High School pitcher Matt Sauer earned his first career win in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

The right-hander from Santa Maria pitched five innings of relief to secure the victory, as the Dodgers routed the Miami Marlins 15-2 at Chavez Ravine.

Sauer, 26, who played each of his four years of high school baseball at Righetti, gave up five hits and one earned run, while striking out four in the victory.

“It’s surreal,” Sauer said in a postgame interview posted on mlb.com. “I grew up coming to this stadium. I grew up in San Luis Obispo (area). Coming here and getting my first career win is very surreal to me. I’m very blessed to have my family here as well to see it. It’s just an awesome moment.”

As a high school senior in 2017, Sauer recorded a 9–1 record with a 0.98 earned run average and 142 strikeouts. He also led the Warriors in hitting with a .427 batting average.

He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round (54th overall) in 2017. He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Dodgers on April 7 against the Washington Nationals.

“Coming into today, a goal for me was to pitch bulk,” Sauer said in the postgame interview. “The offense jumping out ahead, and getting that big lead, gives me the confidence to just pound the zone and get ahead and throw as many innings as possible.”

Sauer said he knew his immediate family was on hand for the Tuesday game, but he wasn’t sure exactly who else among family and friends: “I know my parents and my wife are here (at Dodger Stadium). My wife has the head count. I’m not even sure who’s here.”

Sauer joins former San Luis Obispo High and Cal Poly star Brooks Lee and former Nipomo High standout Jeff McNeil among local athletes who have risen to play Major League Baseball.

Lee is hitting .267 and hit his second home run of the season for the Minnesota Twins in their 4-2 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday. McNeil, the National League batting champion in 2022, is hitting .333 for the New York Mets.