BOSTON — Scrutiny comes with the job. Security does not.
As the front office trolls the trade waters for high-leverage relievers, the Dodgers forge on with what Manager Dave Roberts recently called lovingly “the guys we have right now.”
Those guys made a one-run lead stand up over the final four innings as the Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2, on Friday night.
The replacement parts – or potentially soon-to-be-replaced parts as the trade deadline nears – combined to allow just two hits over four scoreless innings and the Dodgers have back-to-back wins for the first time since the All-Star break.
It was somewhat of an inside job for Red Sox Nation. Emmet Sheehan (a Boston College product) started and got the win. Ben Casparius (a Connecticut native) closed it out and got his first career save. The two might have half-filled ‘America’s Most Beloved Ballpark’ with friends and family alone.
“Yeah, it was awesome. Been dreaming about pitching here for a long time,” said Sheehan who actually grew up more than two hours away in New York state as a San Francisco Giants fan (Tim Lincecum was “my guy,” he said).
“I’ve been with Ben since we got drafted (in the fifth and sixth rounds in 2021). So it was really cool. I think he was an actual Red Sox fan growing up, so it might have been a little cooler for him. But it was really cool to see him go out there and do his thing, too.”
Sheehan got through five ragged innings, allowing just two runs, in his first career start at Fenway Park.
He walked two of the first three batters he faced then course-corrected and struck out Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida to strand them. That took 32 pitches but he retired the side on just six in the second inning (and again in the fifth).
But he gave up three consecutive hits to start the third inning, including doubles off the Green Monster by Connor Wong and Alex Bregman. That produced two runs for the Red Sox but Sheehan course-corrected again and retired the final nine batters he faced, including striking out the side in the fourth.
The Dodgers built their lead with a run in the second inning on an Andy Pages double and Tommy Edman’s two-out bloop single and two runs in the third. Three consecutive singles (Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman) loaded the bases. One run scored when Teoscar Hernandez drew a walk and another on Pages’ sacrifice fly.
But the Dodgers inexplicably ran their way out of any more by trying a double steal with Hernandez and Freeman. Freeman was out easily several feet short of home plate.
“That was a miscommunication on my part. So I’ll wear that,” Roberts said. “That was a situation where I didn’t want him (Freeman) running but I didn’t communicate that well enough.”
The Dodgers stranded another runner in scoring position after Michael Conforto doubled with one out in the sixth and moved up on a wild pitch. But Edman grounded out and Hyeseong Kim struck out for the third of four times in the game.
That left the slimmest of margins for the Dodgers’ depleted relief crew to protect.
Anthony Banda was first up and retired five of the six batters he faced, handing the lead to Edgardo Henriquez in the bottom of the seventh. He got Wong to fly out to the warning track in front of the left field wall.
A bullpen’s best friend – tack-on runs – showed up just before “Sweet Caroline” in the form of a two-run home run by Hernandez to the deepest part of Fenway Park’s asymmetrical outfield. It was Hernandez’s first homer since June 21.
With the lead swelled to three, 5-2, Alex Vesia – perhaps Roberts’ most reliable relief option – struck out two of three in the eighth.
“He’s a guy that I feel that he trusts me in the sense that whatever role we put him in, he’s up to the task,” Roberts said. “He gets lefties, righties. He’s done up-downs (finishing one inning and going back out for the next). He’s come into big spots to be the fireman.
“Just to have a guy who’s been through it and solidify some things that we’ve had going on in the ’pen has been big. But I just think for Alex it’s a lot of unselfishness, preparedness and certainly the performance is there.”
Roberts chose Casparius (recovered from the calf cramp that forced him from Tuesday’s game) to handle the ninth. Casparius gave up a leadoff double to Trevor Story and brought the tying run to the plate after he hit a batter, but he got Rob Refsnyder to ground out to end the game.
“I just think with how fluid our bullpen is, and guys doing different roles, it could be anybody. So I wasn’t too surprised. But it was special,” said Casparius, who played at Fenway Park in high school as an infielder – he hadn’t started pitching yet.
“The expectation is to be ready when your name is called. And at this point, a lot of guys have done a lot of different things. So we’re pretty much ready for anything.”