by Megan Garcia
There are two sides to Emmet Sheehan. One is a good-hearted guy. The other is a lethal competitor.
Emmet Sheehan was dominant against the Giants on Sunday. His seven scoreless innings matched a career best for the right-hander. He kept the Dodgers in the game while battling in a pitcher’s duel.
But the Giants tacked on three runs against Blake Treinen in the eighth to take the lead. The Dodgers eventually lost 3–1 in their final regular-season home game.
Sheehan’s start, however, provided another demonstration of the Dodgers’ starting pitching power.
“He’s certainly gained a lot of confidence,” said manager Dave Roberts. “The pitch making, the quality of stuff has been a great story this year. He’s going to have an impact in the postseason in some capacity.”
Sheehan’s 10 strikeouts also matched a career best. He didn’t issue a walk either. This was his second scoreless seven-inning start with 10 strikeouts this season. Sheehan retired the last 15 batters he faced after he started the third inning with a hit by pitch.
The right-hander has a 1.15 ERA in his last five starts. He’s completed seven innings in three of those outings.
His final regular season start will be against the Mariners on Friday. His approach for the start is set to help carry his momentum into the postseason.
“Just try to refine everything and keep everything where it is right now,” Sheehan said. “Get the execution up a little bit and just try to stay efficient.”
Michael Conforto’s line drive single in the seventh provided the Dodgers’ lone run on Sunday. It was his fourth hit in his last two games against the Giants.
Conforto finished the season batting .378 (14-for-37) in nine games against his former team. He was one of seven hitters to record a hit in the Dodger lineup in the series finale.
The Dodgers finished the regular season with a 52–29 record at home, the third-best mark in the National League. Their lead in the National League fell to three games over the Padres.
Their magic number to clinch the division remains at three games.
The pitching group in OKC
Roki Sasaki pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He finished the frame with eight pitches while recording a strikeout.
Kyle Hurt also pitched a scoreless third inning for the Comets on Sunday. He landed nine strikes in the 12 pitches he threw.
Brock Stewart retired three of the four batters he faced. He recorded one strikeout and gave up one hit in his scoreless inning.
“Roki was really good. The stuff was good. He’ll fly to Arizona to come meet us there,” Roberts said. “We’re going to have a conversation, but he won’t be available to pitch until Wednesday.”
Sheehan shines, but Dodgers end home slate with a loss to Giants was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.