Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — We all know that Emmet Sheehan‘s debut last week was great big bummer for everyone involved, especially him. The dude absolutely shoved for six innings of hitless ball, only to see his lead evaporate at the hands of a scuffling bullpen. The Dodgers would end up losing the game in extra innings by a score of 7-5. It was not pretty. However, a better fate beheld the rookie righty on Friday night, as he pitched another six innings en route to his first career victory, a 3-2 win over the (still) hated Astros*.
In fact, after Sheehan pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, Mookie Betts made darn sure that he would be pitching with a lead the rest of the night by clubbing his 7th lead-off homerun of the season. In this one, Betts got a center-cut four-seamer on a 2-0 count and walloped the pitch into the left field seats. Betts would add on in the very next inning when he hit a warning track fly ball with the base loaded for a sacrifice fly that gave the Dodgers a 2-0.
However, in his first evidence of humanity, Sheehan gave that lead back in the top of the fourth inning, when he gave up back-to-back solo homers to Mauricio Dubon and Kyle Tucker. But after the two jacks, Sheehan gathered himself quickly and got out of the inning with the game still tied.
The game’s decisive run would come in the bottom of the 4th inning, when the Dodgers would put together a nice little rally at the bottom of the batting order. With one out, James Outman got things started with a single and a steal of second base. Outman, who went 3-for-4 in this one has really been showing signs of coming out of his funk of late. After Miguel Rojas walked to put two runners on base, rookie Michael Busch dug in with an RBI chance. Busch hasn’t been great at the plate, but he’s had a habit of coming through with runners on the bases. This time, he ripped a double down the third base line that easily scored Outman from second. Dino Ebel maybe got a little overaggressive with the send and Rojas was gunned down at home, but the Dodgers were back in the lead, and it was a lead that they’d hold onto for the rest of the night.
After the two homers, Sheehan was pretty much untouched for the rest of this outing, and the numbers for the night were almost as impressive as they were in his no-hit debut: 6.0 IP, 3 H 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Michael Grove took down two impressive innings out of the pen, and Brusdar Graterol came on to finish off the Astros* in the 9th inning.
After the game, Sheehan beamed with low-key confidence. “I felt great,” he said. “I felt like my stuff was definitely a little bit better, getting comfortable with a big league ball. And yeah, I gave us a chance to win, which is what I was trying to do.”
Dodger skipper Dave Roberts was especially impressed with Sheehan’s ability to get back on track after the back-to-back homers in the fourth. “It’s impressive,” he said. “With a guy like Emmet, you learn some information with some adversity and for him to give up a couple homers, but for him to not run from it was pretty telling.”
It was the third straight impressive outing from the pitching staff, and not coincidentally the third straight win for the Dodgers. And with San Francisco’s win over Arizona, the Dodgers inch back to three games out of first place in the division. All things considered, they’re in pretty good shape going into the last week of June. The other rookie sensation, Bobby Miller, gets the ball in game on Fox on Saturday, and then ESPN will carry the series finale on Sunday with Tony Gonsolin on the bump. Game times for both national broadcasts will be 4:00 pm.
