Emmet Sheehan’s night started with a PitchCom issue.
There weren’t many hiccups for the Dodgers starter after that.
But, somehow, Los Angeles still lost.
The 26-year-old right-hander dominated the red-hot Cubs on Friday, but a Dodgers bullpen implosion saddled Los Angeles with a stunning 6-4 defeat at Dodger Stadium.
“He did a great job,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his starter. “It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get him a win. Because he pitched his tail off.”
Sheehan, who entered with a 5.85 ERA, struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced and appeared to have control of all his pitches.
His fastball velocity — the subject of much consternation earlier this year — dipped from 95-96 mph to 92-93 mph in the fourth inning, though it came back up later.
Sheehan ultimately went 6 1/3 innings and tied his career high with 10 strikeouts. He allowed four hits and one walk.
His pristine line, however, was scuffed up in the seventh, when Alex Vesia replaced him following a Moises Ballesteros base hit. Vesia gave up two knocks, hanging one earned run on Sheehan while adding two to his own ledger.
Blake Treinen relieved Vesia an inning later and surrendered a solo shot to Alex Bregman — who was booed throughout the game — that tied the game at four.
Tanner Scott ultimately yielded the game-winning runs in the top of the ninth after Dansby Swanson took him deep to left.
Asked about his bullpen usage after the game, Roberts said, “I wouldn’t do anything different.”
“We all gotta do our parts,” he added. “Just tonight, we didn’t get it done.”
Offensively, the Dodgers started sleepily against Chicago righty Jameson Taillon, but after Hyeseong Kim recorded the team’s first hit in the third inning, they briefly woke up.
Alex Freeland worked a walk following the Kim hit, and two batters later, Will Smith plated Freeland and Kim with a three-run home run to right field.
The Dodgers tacked on another run in the fourth via a Kim single, but that’s all they’d score the rest of the night.
What it means
Baseball fans everywhere know the Dodgers are almost certainly the real deal, but they’ve sure been scuffling. They’re now losers of five of their last eight — and have some real bullpen questions.
Who’s hot
Hyeseong Kim. After a two-hit afternoon against the Giants on Thursday, the shortstop logged two more hits in the series opener against the Cubs. He scored a run, plated another and stole a bag, too. He had another hit taken away in the seventh thanks to a wild defensive play by the Cubs.
In his last four games, Kim has five hits, three RBIs and two steals.
Who’s not
Shohei Ohtani. The four-time MVP has found himself in quite the rut at the plate. After going 0-for-9 in the final two games of LA’s road series with San Francisco, he’s 0-for-3 to start things off vs. Chicago.
During one of his at-bats early in the contest, he didn’t look comfortable at all, with his helmet falling off his head on a bad swing and a miss.
Roberts, though, told reporters he thought “there was a better effort” from his star slugger.
“Obviously,” the manager said, “the results aren’t what we would hope for. But, yeah, I thought today was better.”
Up next
The Cubs and Dodgers will square off again at Dodger Stadium on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
