emmet sheehan

It was picture day at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, one of those quaint baseball traditions that has endured long past its usefulness.

So the team set up three rows of aluminum risers in shallow center field and the players, wearing impossibly white uniforms, filed out of the clubhouse just before 3 p.m., passing up batting practice to pose for the cameras. For a sport that thrives on routine, the afternoon had a unique last-day-of-school vibe.

“It’s a weird day,” manager Dave Roberts agreed.

But picture day also serves to bring the end of the season into tighter focus since it usually happens in the final three weeks. And the players who climb those risers are the ones who will decide the team’s postseason fate.

That was especially true for the Dodgers, who rode another splendid pitching performance — this one from Emmet Sheehan — to a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Sheehan, bidding for a spot in the playoff rotation, was backed by four homers, including a pair of solo shots from Teoscar Hernández, who had his first three-hit night in more than a month.

The win, the team’s third in a row, coupled with San Diego’s loss to Cincinnati, expanded the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West to two games over the second-place Padres with just 17 left to play.

“It’s getting down to the wire,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers’ starting pitching is already in postseason form, posting a 1.41 ERA over the past five games. On Tuesday it was Sheehan’s turn on the mound and he set down the first 15 Rockies in order, becoming the third Dodger starter in four games to take a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

He wound up scattering three hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out nine to earn his fourth victory in five decisions. The win was also Sheehan’s fourth victory in as many appearances against Colorado.

Roberts said his team’s starting pitchers are all competing to one-up each other, giving the significance of the games now.

“They’re feeding off one another,” he said. “The pitchers are of the mind that these are very, very important games. It’s kind of the playoff mentality. The catchers are calling games in that vein.

“The defense has been really focused getting off the baseball. There’s a heightened level of focus across the board.”

That even spread to the offense, said Mookie Betts, whose two-run home run in the third extended his streak of reaching base safely to 15 straight games.

Mookie Betts is very happy after his two-run homer in the third inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s really neat being on this side,” Betts, who had multiple RBIs for a fourth straight game, said of watching the Dodger pitchers work. “If you kind of take a step back and look at it, there’s a lot of teams that would ask for something like this. Those guys give us opportunity to win every day.

“It’s really important for us as on the offensive side not to take that for granted.”

Although the Dodgers entered Tuesday second to last in the majors with an average of 3.14 runs a game in September, against Colorado starter Germán Márquez (3-13), whose ERA (6.31) looks more like a mortgage rate, they ran out to a 5-0 lead after five innings. As a result the focus turned to Sheehan, who needed just 59 pitches to cruise through five perfect innings, striking out five.

“I probably knew,” Sheehan, pitching on the 60th anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game, said when asked if he was aware he was more than halfway to matching that. “But I was definitely not thinking about it.”

The right-hander said he tried to cross up the Rockies by moving away from his fastball and going with a slider to the glove side instead.

“I felt like I was executing the slider pretty well,” he said. “The more I throw it, the easier it gets to get it to that spot. It’s an important pitch for me.”

Kyle Karros ended the suspense when he lined Sheehan’s first pitch of the sixth inning over a leaping Max Muncy at third for a single. Two more singles brought Karros around to score, ending the shutout as well.

Still Sheehan (6-3) was more than good enough to win for the fourth time in five decisions, lowering his ERA to 3.32 and forcing his way into the conversation over a role on the postseason roster.

“He’s unflappable,” Roberts said. “He knows he’s talented and he knows how to execute pitches. He’s got good stuff. No moment is too big for him. So I can’t speak to what role, but I know that he’s a viable option for us now and going forward.”

Tuesday’s win also left Sheehan unbeaten on picture day, something he nearly skipped as the scheduled starting pitcher.

“I wasn’t going go out there,” he said. “But I was like, I missed the last two. I gotta be out there.”

After all, it’s a tradition.

The Dodgers continued their season-long celebration of last year’s World Series triumph by handing out championship rings Monday. The 49,702 people who bought tickets got replicas while Gavin Lux, who played for the Dodgers last season and is now with the Cincinnati Reds, got a real one.

If the team hopes to win more jewelry again this fall, the next five weeks will be key. Because after Monday’s 7-0 win over the Reds, the Dodgers lead San Diego by a game in the National League West with just 30 more left in the regular season for both teams.

However, if the Dodgers (75-57) continue to play as they did Monday, when Andy Pages homered twice, driving in four runs, and Emmet Sheehan threw a career-high seven scoreless innings, they’ll be tough to catch.

“The defense was just engaged, every single guy out there. The at-bats, one through nine, were great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s probably one of the better games, complete games, that we’ve played in months. I’m really, really excited about the way we played.”

Excited, too, because what started as a marathon six months ago is now a different kind of race.

“We’re in a sprint now,” said Michael Conforto, who had two hits and made two outstanding plays in left field. “We’re in a race for the division.”

And they’re a step ahead in that race with the Padres, who, like the Dodgers, have 10 series remaining, five at home and five on the road. But San Diego has the easier schedule, based on the combined winning percentage of its opponents (.474) entering the week. The Dodgers have the fourth-easiest schedule.

For Roberts, his team’s narrow margin for error is something to be embraced since it has the potential to steel his team for the postseason, as opposed to simply coasting into the playoffs.

“Competition should bring out the best in you,” he said. “So where the margins are smaller and everything matters more versus you have a big lead and you’re not playing with urgency because you don’t need to, and then have to kind of flip the switch, that’s tough.”

The Dodgers also are rapidly adding reinforcements for their playoff push. Over the weekend, relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates returned from the injured list and utility player Kiké Hernández was activated Monday. Third baseman Max Muncy and infielder/outfielder Hyeseong Kim could be back by the next road trip, if not before. Utilityman Tommy Edman and pitcher Roki Sasaki likely aren’t far behind.

Then there’s Sheehan (5-2), who was brilliant Monday, pitching a career-best seven innings and matching a career high with 10 strikeouts to win his third straight decision. Sheehan gave up just two hits and walked one.

“I definitely have to build on it. Try to just keep the same progress we’ve been doing, keep that going for the next one,” Sheehan said. “It’s pretty fun. It’s a lot more fun than watching the ball go over the fence, for sure.”

For Roberts, it’s as if his team acquired a half-dozen new players.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, left, celebrates with right fielder Teoscar Hernández after hitting a home run in the seventh inning against the Reds on Monday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

“Those are kind of deadline trades in themselves,” he said. “I do appreciate the guys that have been here, kind of grinding through. But it’s nice looking out on the horizon, seeing the guys that we got coming.”

Pages put the Dodgers in front to stay in the third Monday, driving a 102-mph fastball from Hunter Greene into the bullpen in left field. He hit another in the fifth inning for his 23rd homer of the season, second-most on the team behind Shohei Ohtani’s 45.

In the sixth, a double by Freddie Freeman and walks to Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández loaded the bases for Pages, whose two-out grounder to short got under Elly De La Cruz for a two-run error. A Mookie Betts’ homer, his second hit of the game, with one out in the seventh and a Pages’ sacrifice fly in the eighth closed out the scoring.

Relievers Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda followed Sheehan, pitching an inning each to complete the shutout, the team’s fourth in the last 23 games.

The Dodgers had only three shutouts in the first 109 games.

Now come the reinforcements, although Kiké Hernández said he almost didn’t make it. After going on the injured list July 6 with left elbow inflammation, he tried three injections and non-invasive rehab procedures, but nothing seemed to work.

“I got to a point where I didn’t know if it was going to happen. We were pretty close to it not happening,” he said of his return. “There are some procedures that I went through that didn’t do anything. I went through four shots in a month, and [the] first three didn’t do anything, and luckily the fourth one was the answer.

“After the last shot, I was pain free.”

Hernández said he expected to start in left field Tuesday. He joins the Dodgers just in time for their sprint to the finish.

“It’s playoff-atmosphere games from here on out,” he said. “Hopefully it brings out the best in people and also teaches the younger guys that when the time comes and we’re in October, the moment doesn’t get too big for them.”

When the Dodgers left Los Angeles for their final road trip before the All-Star break last summer, they had a 55-36 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West.

That team went on to win the World Series.

When this year’s Dodgers land in Milwaukee on Sunday night to begin the last road trip before the All-Star break, their record will be a game better and their division lead about the same, pending the results of San Diego’s game Sunday night.

But if you take a good look under the hood, there are obvious — and worrying — differences between this year and last year.

Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim strikes out in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

In 2024, the Dodgers had one of the best records in baseball against teams with a winning record. After Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros, this year’s team is just a game over .500 — 20-19 — against teams over .500. Those are the only kind of teams the Dodgers will face in the playoffs.

And it’s not just that they lose, it’s how they lose that’s troubling.

In losing three in a row for the first time since mid-May, the Dodgers were outscored 29-6 by the Astros. The sweep was Houston’s first in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium since 2008, when the team played in the National League.

Manager Dave Roberts, however, pronounced himself unconcerned.

“I know we’re a good team,” he said. “The point is to win as many games in the regular season as possible. I really don’t care who we beat, I just want to win more games than anyone.

“So right now, or even going forward, I don’t pay too much attention to that.”

Look a little deeper, though, and there are other concerns. The Dodgers’ injured list, already as crowded as a Beyoncé concert — it swelled to 12 players with Max Muncy’s addition Thursday — could get even larger this week depending on the health of outfielder Teoscar Hernández and utility player Tommy Edman.

Teoscar Hernández, who fouled a ball off his left foot Saturday, spent 13 days on the IL with a groin problem in May and has been troubled by that injury and a nagging hip-flexor issue that could be behind a slump that has seen him hit .188/.240/.321 over his last 30 games. Edman didn’t play Sunday after a ball off the small toe on his right foot over the weekend. Both players had MRI scans Sunday with Edman’s showing a fracture of the toe.

Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is called out by umpire Paul Clemons during the eighth inning of a loss to the Astros at Dodger Stadium Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Kiké Hernández has been battling a sore left elbow that affects his swing for about a month. He may have to be shut down to let it heal.

“There is talk about one of those guys potentially going on the IL,” Roberts said. “I don’t see it being Tommy but we’re still kind of trying to figure that out. And then who would we bring [up]?”

With those three unavailable, the only player Roberts had on the bench Sunday was catcher Will Smith. And with the rotation still missing four starters to injury, he gave the ball to right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who had thrown just four big-innings all season.

That left manager Dave Roberts with a short bench. And with the rotation still missing four starters to injury, he gave the ball to right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who had thrown just four big-league innings all season.

Sheehan went one better Sunday, yielding just a run on five hits over five innings. But his teammates did little against Houston starter Ryan Gusto (6-3), who gave up four hits — including a run-scoring double to Dalton Rushing — over a season-high six innings.

Will Klein came on in favor of Sheehan to start the sixth and after two quick outs, the Astros loaded the bases on a double, a hit batter and an infield single. Klein (1-1) then walked Zack Short on a 3-2 pitch to force in the go-ahead run.

The Astros padded their lead with back-to-back homers from Christian Walker and Yainer Díaz to start the seventh off reliever Tanner Scott.

Jose Altuve closed the scoring with another solo homer off Anthony Banda in the ninth.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  — Three batters into his third start of the year on Saturday, Shohei Ohtani showed some brief frustration.

With one out in the first inning — on a day he was trying to pitch into the second for the first time this year — Ohtani gave up a line drive single to Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. Then, he walked Maikel Garcia on five pitches in the next at-bat, pulling four straight throws low and to the glove side to put two aboard.

As Ohtani received the ball back from catcher Dalton Rushing, he wore a stoic look, seemingly displeased with his lack of execution.

But he climbed back atop the mound, stared down the plate as Vinnie Pasquantino dug in, and absolutely bullied the Royals first baseman with three straight pitches.

A 99.2-mph fastball on the inside corner for strike one.

A 100.2-mph fastball on the inside black for strike two.

And then, a blistering 101.7-mph fastball — the hardest-thrown pitch of Ohtani’s MLB career — that Pasquantino took a helpless hack at, grounding into a tailor-made, inning-ending double-play.

Just like that, Ohtani was locked back in.

Though the Dodgers lost 9-5 to the Royals on Saturday, Ohtani turned in his best pitching performance yet. After escaping the first-inning jam, he retired the side in the second. Over 27 pitches, he threw 20 strikes and got three swings-and-misses, including on a 100-mph fastball and late-biting slider to strike out Jac Caglianone in the second.

Even over another small sample size, with Ohtani’s workload still limited as he works his way back from a second Tommy John surgery, the right-hander flashed the dominant potential of his stuff, both lighting up the radar gun and unleashing a flurry of unhittable off-speed offerings in his most complete performance yet since resuming his two-way role.

Things did not go well for the Dodgers (52-32) after Ohtani left the mound. Bulk man Ben Casparius gave up six runs in four innings, and now has a 7.82 ERA in his three outings piggybacking with Ohtani over the last three weeks.

He didn’t get much help from his defense, either. In the third inning, Teoscar Hernández failed to get to a flare down the right-field line with two outs, extending the inning ahead of a two-run double from Garcia in the next at-bat. Andy Pages also booted a ball in center field during a four-run rally from the Royals (39-44) in the fifth, an inning that was punctuated by a three-run, two-out homer from Pasquantino to center.

The Dodgers’ offense, meanwhile, never figured out crafty right-hander Seth Lugo, stranding all nine hitters who reached base against him (four hits and five walks) while striking out eight times.

Even though Freddie Freeman broke out of an extended slump with three hits, including a solo homer in the seventh inning, and two walks, the Dodgers never truly threatened to chip away at the lead until a four-run rally in the ninth, squandering a five-game winning streak to set up a series rubber match on Sunday.

All of that, however, paled in comparison to the impressiveness of Ohtani’s outing on the mound.

In his four innings so far this year, the 30-year-old has given up just one run and three hits. His fastball has routinely eclipsed 100 mph while his array of breaking stuff has kept opponents off balance.

The Dodgers are still being careful with Ohtani’s buildup, uncertain of when — or if — he will be fully stretched out for normal-length starts. But for now, the few innings he has contributed have been encouraging, quickly erasing any doubts about how his arm would respond from the second reconstructive elbow surgery of his career.

Pitching injury updates

It’ll be a little while longer before the Dodgers get more pitching reinforcements from triple-A Oklahoma City.

On Friday night, Tyler Glasnow gave up five runs on seven hits in his second rehab outing, but more consequentially managed only 2 ⅓ innings, well short of the four-inning goal the Dodgers had targeted for his start. Because of that, Roberts said Glasnow will likely need at least two more rehab starts before returning to the majors. He has been out since April because of a shoulder problem.

Emmet Sheehan’s next start will come in triple A, Roberts said, even after the right-hander pitched six perfect innings with 13 strikeouts earlier this week. Sheehan returned from Tommy John surgery earlier this month with a solid four-inning start for the Dodgers, but was optioned ahead of this road trip to continue building up in Oklahoma City. Sheehan will be a candidate to return to the majors after his next outing, perhaps near the end of the Dodgers’ upcoming homestand.

Back in Los Angeles, Blake Snell (shoulder) and Blake Treinen (forearm) continued their progression of bullpen sessions on Saturday, and are getting closer to throwing live sessions against hitters. Roki Sasaki (shoulder) has also continued to play catch and, according to Roberts, is finally “feeling really good” almost two months into his IL stint.

Twenty-nine hours before his official return to the Dodger Stadium mound, Emmet Sheehan took a moment to get himself reacquainted with his home ballpark.

In an empty Dodger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Sheehan walked onto the field at Chavez Ravine, climbed up a slope he hadn’t toed since the 2023 season, and practiced his pitching motion a few times before returning to the clubhouse.

For Sheehan, such dry tosses are part of his normal pre-start routine. In any ballpark where he pitches, he likes to get a feel for the mound and its surroundings before the game.

The only difference this time: how long it had been since he’d taken the bump in a big-league stadium.

After an auspicious rookie season in 2023, in which his 4.92 earned-run average belied the potential he flashed with his low-arm-slot, high-velocity delivery, Sheehan missed all of last season and the first three months of this campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

A former sixth-round draft pick who blossomed into one of the organization’s top pitching prospects during an impressive minor-league career, Sheehan became one of the many homegrown Dodgers pitchers to endure a major surgery after injuring his elbow in spring training last year.

In recent months, however, his relatively seamless recovery process had fueled excitement throughout the organization leading up to his return on Wednesday.

And over four sharp innings in the Dodgers’ 4-3 win against the San Diego Padres — one that ended on a walk-off home run by Will Smith in the ninth — the 25-year-old right-hander showed exactly why.

With his fastball sitting around 95 mph, and a tantalizing combination of sliders and changeups keeping Padres hitters off balance, Sheehan gave up just one run while striking out six batters in his big-league return.

He threw 65 pitches, 43 for strikes. He didn’t issue a walk, while yielding only three hits. And the lone score against him came when second baseman Tommy Edman failed to corral a hard-hit one-hopper with two outs in the top of the second.

Other than that, he posted nothing but zeroes.

Sheehan wasn’t the winning pitcher. That honor went to another former prospect, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, who followed Sheehan with five stellar innings of long relief, flashing his own promising signs (including a fastball that touched 99 mph at one point) after an up-and-down start to his big-league career.

For most of his outing, Wrobleski was protecting a 3-1 lead the Dodgers took in the bottom of the fifth, when Max Muncy hit a leadoff triple, Hyeseong Kim followed an Andy Pages sacrifice fly with a double, and slumping rookie catcher Dalton Rushing plated the game’s go-ahead runs on a two-run single.

But with the Dodgers’ bullpen worn thin from back-to-back bullpen games the previous two nights, Wrobleski went back to the mound in the ninth to try to finish things off. He couldn’t, giving up two runs after a Max Muncy throwing error put him in a jam.

However, Smith made sure it didn’t matter, coming off the bench in the bottom of the ninth to whack a walk-off home run just over the right-field wall.

Will Smith runs to first after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning for the Dodgers against the Padres on Wednesday night.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Despite the late dramatics, it was Sheehan’s return that had the biggest future implications on the Dodgers’ season, giving their shorthanded rotation a badly needed, and highly intriguing, new option for the second half of the season.

While discussing Sheehan before the game, manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers always “liked his makeup, his toughness, his ability to repeat his delivery, the swing-and-miss stuff, the preparation.”

But the way he navigated his Tommy John recovery — returning to action 13 months after undergoing the procedure last May — had added another element of optimism among team officials.

Roberts noted how Sheehan had seemingly increased his physical strength during his rehab, with the once lanky 6-foot-5 pitcher now possessing noticeably more mass. He also explained how Sheehan has “had a chance to watch a lot of baseball, learn and then now apply it.”

“I think that’s going to make him a better major league pitcher,” Roberts said.

One start back, signs of such growth were already becoming clear.