The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2, on Wednesday evening and improved to 73-48 on the year as they completed the three-game sweep.Left-hander Eric Lauer pitched 6.1 innings, throwing 112 pitches and ending his marathon outing with his sixth strikeout of the night. The offense started with a towering Mookie Betts solo home run to tie things up in the second inning. During the bottom of the fourth inning, now down one run, superstar Shohei Ohtani sent a two-run shot into the stands to retake the lead.The fireworks weren't over yet as newly-acquired former Dodger Hunter Feduccia cranked a solo shot 402 feet away to add to the lead and earn his first home run as a Dodger.During the eighth inning, though, there was a scary moment as Freddie Freeman tried to catch a foul ball and ended up falling directly into the dugout. He was able to stay in the game on defense, but was removed in the bottom of the eighth inning when his spot came up in the lineup.After the game, manager Dave Roberts provided an update on his first baseman, saying he's "day-to-day" but that the team "really dodged a bullet."“He’s sore. Hand, knee, foot, shoulder a little bit," Roberts said, via the SportsNet LA broadcast. "But I think that we really dodged a bullet. It looked very scary visually."Ahead of the eventual victory, the Dodgers demoted a reliever whose average fastball velocity is a little over 100 mph. In a corresponding move, right-hander Landon Knack was called up and got back to a major league mound for the first time in almost a month, recording the final eight outs of the game to earn the save.In other news, the Dodgers officially released a catcher after a strong showing with the organization. The 24-year-old backstop was hitting .295 at the Double-A level with an OPS of .948. Finally, a decision was reached as to if young catcher Dalton Rushing will need surgery on his elbow or not. This season has not been kind to those behind the dish wearing a Dodgers uniform as All-Star Will Smith has been out with an inflamed disc in his neck since early June, and Rushing more recently from suffering from a slightly torn UCL.Here’s all the latest Dodgers news and stories (click the headline for the full article): Dodgers Suddenly Release Catcher After 2 Strong Months With Organization Dodgers Surprisingly Demote Hard-Throwing Reliever, Call Up Landon Knack Dalton Rushing Reveals Dodgers' Decision on Elbow Surgery Tarik Skubal Addresses Impending Free Agency, Dodgers Potentially Having Advantage Dodgers Will Reduce Teoscar Hernandez's Playing Time Amid Struggles What Mark Walter's Lakers Sale Means for the Dodgers Dodgers Lineup vs Royals: Tommy Edman Out, Kyle Tucker Hitting CleanupDodgers Tweets of the DayDodgers star Freddie Freeman fell directly into the Royals dugout in a scary moment in the 8th inning of Wednesday's game.He stayed in for defense, but was removed in the bottom half of the inning when his spot in the lineup came up.Hopefully he's OK. pic.twitter.com/hroqCxO76W— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) August 13, 2026Shohei Ohtani jumps on the first pitch and puts the @Dodgers in front 💥 pic.twitter.com/LLKi1VrzfE— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2026First career homer in #Dodgers blue for Hunter 🥹 pic.twitter.com/pYxYz3I80N— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 13, 2026Opening blind boxes with Roki and a surprise guest for @hellokitty Night. 😂 pic.twitter.com/S4U7qqCky5— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 13, 2026Eric Lauer finished his outing with a strikeout, but he had himself a unbelievable outing! — 6.1 IP— 4 H— 2 R || 1 ER— 6 K— 2 BB pic.twitter.com/9zCCcuLnhf— DodgersMuse (@LADodgersMuse) August 13, 2026😛😛 pic.twitter.com/EJ49YaM9Tu— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 13, 2026This dude is absolutely hilarious 😭 pic.twitter.com/d01xRml5Eb— Jacob Brownson (@brownsonjacob2) August 12, 2026The Dodgers have DEMOTED Seth Halvorsen one day after his DOMINANT debut for LA🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨Read below for the full roster move, and why LA did it⬇⬇ pic.twitter.com/U0FvCygPqW— Dodgers On SI (@DodgersOnSI) August 12, 2026Shohei Ohtani gets the Dodger Stadium crowd HYPED ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/QyZcaTjFU1— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2026ITFDB.What are Kyle and Shohei's celly? Steering wheel? 😂 pic.twitter.com/GaOk7W1qr6— James¹⁷¹⁸🎌 (@ShotimeLAD) August 13, 2026— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 12, 2026Keith Law on how the Dodgers keep their pipeline so strong year after year:“They develop talent as well as any team in the game, and their pro scouting department is exceptional.” pic.twitter.com/Y38DKpK2yh— SleeperDodgers (@SleeperDodgers) August 12, 2026Hello Kitty ceremonial first pitch with Roki Sasaki doing the catching! 🎀 pic.twitter.com/K9O13eMXj3— James¹⁷¹⁸🎌 (@ShotimeLAD) August 13, 2026Shohei Ohtani hit his 147th home run as a Dodger tonight.The only players in MLB history with more HR through their first 3 seasons with a team are Mark McGwire (159 w/STL), Alex Rodriguez (156 w/TEX) and Babe Ruth (149 w/NYY). pic.twitter.com/1BRhDeHph0— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 13, 2026Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow