The Los Angeles Dodgers ended their losing streak on Wednesday night and followed it by securing a series split against the San Francisco Giants.
It wasn’t the prettiest game for the Dodgers, but they came through when needed to and have now won two straight before heading out on the road. They did so with Shohei Ohtani receiving another night off from being in the lineup and Mookie Betts also not starting.
Dodgers 5, Giants 2: key takeaways
Emmet Sheehan pitches gem
Emmet Sheehan was excellent and turned in what was undoubtedly his best start of the season. He went six innings while allowing two runs on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
Sheehan did not allow a hit until the fourth inning on a soft fly ball to left field. The only runs he allowed came as a result of Teoscar Hernández misplaying a fly ball.
After a walk to put a runner on first base, Jung Hoo Lee dropped a soft fly ball in left field, which stayed fair before ricocheting off the wall in foul territory. Hernández was in a poor position to field the ball and let it get by him to roll to the wall.
That led to an inside-the-park homer for Lee and scored both runs.
But Sheehan still looked unhittable for most of the game, and he maintained his velocity better. Sheehan has seen significant velocity drops in his previous starts, usually beginning in the third or fourth innings. But this time, it wasn’t until the sixth that there was a drop of a few ticks.
The velocity declining from 96.1 mph in the first inning to 93.6 mph in his final frame isn’t ideal, but it was encouraging that the drop came later.
Alex Call, Dodgers offense deliver
For the second straight game, the Dodgers did some of the little things right on offense.
Will Smith, who was leading off for the first time in his career, started the game with a home run to put the Dodgers up 1-0. They scored their next run in the second inning on an RBI single from Hyeseong Kim.
With the game tied in the sixth, the Dodgers rallied, starting with a walk from Andy Pages and double from Hernández. Then, with two outs, Alex Call pinch-hit and singled in both runners to put the Dodgers up 4-2.
Miguel Rojas followed with an RBI base hit to extend the Dodgers’ lead. It marked a second consecutive game Rojas had multiple hits after he was mired in an 0-for-19 drought.
Hernández finished with three hits and a run scored in the game, somewhat making up for his defensive misplay. The team went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Bullpen backs Sheehan
Edgardo Henriquez, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott each contributed one scoreless inning to help close out the Dodgers’ win.
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