LOS ANGELES – Hiding behind that 5.00 ERA, Emmet Sheehan toted around for much of the season and might have been a valuable postseason piece.
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Sheehan allowed just one hit in 5⅓ scoreless innings Sunday afternoon as the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 to complete a three-game sweep.
Sheehan retired 16 of the 18 batters he faced, allowing just one single and walking one while striking out nine.
The outing was Sheehan’s third consecutive outstanding performance this month as he has bounced between Triple-A and the majors. It might have cemented a spot in the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen after a rough season for the 26-year-old right-hander – an outcome that did not seem likely when he was demoted to Triple-A in early August.
Sheehan has been called up for two starts this month and pitched in ‘bulk’ following Jack Dreyer as an opener Sunday. Sheehan carried a 5.29 ERA into September after 20 starts for the Dodgers that landed him back in the minors.
In his three September outings, though, Sheehan has shown rediscovered fastball command after working on his delivery in Triple-A. He has allowed just one run in 17 innings, holding hitters to a .105 average (6 for 57) with 24 strikeouts and three walks. After giving up 20 home runs in those first 20 starts, he has allowed just one in his 17 September innings.
Sheehan has gotten 50 swings-and-misses in his three outings this month, nearly half of them (24) on his reborn four-seam fastball. He also got six on his curveball Sunday.
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The Giants scratched out one run in the first inning against Dreyer when he walked leadoff man Jonah Cox. Cox moved to second on a wild pickoff attempt by Dreyer, stole third and scored on Victor Bericoto’s RBI single.
That stood up as the only run of the day until Tommy Edman emerged from a 2-for-41 slump to hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.
The Dodgers broke the 1-1 tie in the seventh on singles by Max Muncy and Josue De Paula followed by an RBI double from Kike’ Hernandez.
They stranded De Paula and Hernandez in scoring position but singles by Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman and Muncy produced another run in the eighth inning.
Kris Bubic, Brock Stewart and Tanner Scott combined on 2⅔ innings of hitless relief to close out the combined two-hitters for the Dodgers’ 96th win. With the win, the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch a first-round bye over the Atlanta Braves (who clinched the National League East division title Sunday) dropped to three.
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