Eric Lauer hopes to force his way to the majors inside a year.
That lofty goal looks more and more attainable with each passing start.
Rebounding from a rocky start, the 21 year-old left-hander turned in five more shutout innings in short-season Tri-City’s 5-3 win over Salem-Keizer on Sunday in the Northwest League.
The 25th overall selection in the 2016 draft, Lauer struck out three and scattered two hits and a walk to win his first game for the Dust Devils (28-34). In 21 innings at Tri-City, he has a 1.29 ERA, 25 strikeouts and a 1.