Displaying an attacking mentality and a confidence that was noticeably absent in his previous start, Sheehan blanked the Cincinnati Reds on two hits over five innings, striking out five and walking one, in an eventual 3-2 Dodgers victory before a crowd of 51,015 in Chavez Ravine.
The Dodgers had just two hits, but both were Max Muncy home runs, a two-run shot to right field in the first inning and a tie-breaking, two-out, solo shot to right on a 3-and-0 pitch from Reds starter Luke Weaver in the sixth, giving the slugger 27 homers on the season and 14 multi-homer games in his career.
Muncy also staked Sheehan to an early lead last Sunday in Texas with a first-inning grand slam, but Sheehan pitched tentatively, yielding eight runs and eight hits in 3⅔ innings and walking five, all of whom scored, in an eventual 8-4 loss to the Rangers.
“When I see 92 [mph] on the radar gun, that’s showing me he’s aiming the baseball, and not being free and easy and attacking, and you see a lot of non-competitive pitches,” manager Dave Roberts said after that game. “Big-league hitters, they smell fear, they see blood, and when there’s a weakness, they’re gonna go after you.”
Sheehan was the aggressor Saturday night, from the 96.5-mph fastball he threw on his first pitch to Elly De La Cruz in the first inning to the 96.3-mph fastball he threw on his 82nd and final pitch to Luke Maile in the fifth.
His average fastball velocity of 96.2 mph was up from his season average of 95.5 mph and his 94.6-mph average against the Rangers last weekend. He retired the side in order in the first, fourth and fifth innings and pitched around Maile’s leadoff double in the third.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
But Roberts wouldn’t let Sheehan go through the Reds order for a third time, replacing him with left-hander Caleb Ferguson to start the sixth.
A 2-0 Dodgers lead quickly evaporated in a rally that began with De La Cruz’s double to left center and TJ Friedl’s infield single. Ferguson struck out Matt McLain looking at a 95-mph fastball, but pinch-hitter Kevin Newman lofted a sacrifice fly to medium right field to score De La Cruz and cut the lead to 2-1.
Dodgers right fielder Jason Heyward air-mailed a throw home in an attempt to get the speedy De La Cruz, but he would have been better off throwing to second to keep the potential tying run at first base.
Instead, Friedl took second on the throw and scored on Spencer Steer’s soft single to left center for a 2-2 tie. Ferguson walked Joey Votto on four pitches and was pulled in favor of right-hander Joe Kelly, who got a huge ovation in his return to Los Angeles after Friday’s trade from the Chicago White Sox.
Kelly threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third and walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand to load the bases but struck out pinch-hitter Will Benson looking at a 99-mph fastball to end the inning, eliciting another roar from the home crowd.
Newly acquired Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly delivers against the Reds in the sixth inning Saturday.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol got five outs in the seventh and eighth innings, and Evan Phillips got the last out in the eighth and threw a scoreless ninth for his 13th save, getting the dangerous De La Cruz to fly out to left field with a runner on first to end the game.
The Dodgers (59-44) won for only the second time in six games and maintained their three-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
Clayton Kershaw close
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw, sidelined since late June because of a shoulder injury, threw about 40 pitches to hitters in a three-inning simulated game on Saturday, moving the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner a step closer to a return.
If Kershaw, who is 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 starts, remains asymptomatic over the next few days and confident about his stuff, he will be activated for next weekend’s series in San Diego. If not, he will probably throw another simulated game of four innings before returning.
Short hops
Mookie Betts was scratched because of a sore right ankle, an injury the leadoff man sustained while performing what Roberts called a “matrix move” to avoid a pitch at his head on Friday night. Betts, who started 98 of the team’s first 102 games and is batting .277 with a .942 OPS, 27 homers and 68 RBIs, is listed as day-to-day. … Reliever Phil Bickford, who went 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA in 36 games this season, was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for reliever Joe Kelly, the hard-throwing right-hander who was acquired with starter Lance Lynn from the Chicago White Sox on Friday.