Back home: Blue Jays starter and Midview grad Eric Lauer to face Guardians on their return from nine-game road trip

School might be out but celebrating homecoming will still be a thing Tuesday at Progressive Field. That's because the Guardians are back home after a nine-game West Coast road trip and because Midview grad Eric Lauer will be the starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. Lauer is having a career rebirth so far this season, coming in with a 3-1 record and a 2.29 ERA in 10 appearances, four of them starts. The 30-year-old left-hander also has 36 strikeouts in 35 1&frasl;3 innings. He struck out eight in five innings in his last outing, an 8-1 win over the Diamondbacks. A first-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2016, Lauer has a 39-38 record and a 4.19 ERA in six-plus seasons with the Padres, Brewers and Blue Jays. He spent last season in the minors and with the Kia Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization, where he went 2-2 with a 4.93 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 34 2&frasl;3 innings over seven appearances. This will be his second time facing Cleveland. Pitching for the Brewers on Sept. 12, 2021, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of an 11-1 win. He allowed one run and had eight strikeouts in 5 1&frasl;3 innings. The Guardians went 4-5 on their road trip, but did win series against the Giants and A's after starting the trip by being swept by the Mariners. Logan Allen (5-4, 4.11 ERA) gets the start for Cleveland.