Red-Hot Red Sox Complete Sweep as Dodgers Catch the Red Eye to Chicago

The Boston Red Sox didn't come to Los Angeles hoping to steal a series from the Dodgers.

They came looking to prove they belonged in October.

Mission accomplished.

Boston capped a convincing three-game sweep Sunday night with an 8-4 victory at Dodger Stadium, extending one of baseball's hottest stretches and further tightening its grip on an American League Wild Card position. Since July 1, the Red Sox have played with the urgency of a club that understands every game matters. They arrived in Los Angeles having won 21 of their previous 25 games, including a 15-game winning streak, and spent the weekend looking every bit like a postseason team.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, looked like a club still trying to rediscover the crisp brand of baseball that carried them through four consecutive series victories following the All-Star break.

Sunday's loss began with Emmet Sheehan, and unfortunately for the young right-hander, it ended much the same way several of his starts have this season.

There are innings when Sheehan looks every bit like the talented young arm the Dodgers have patiently developed. His fastball jumps through the strike zone, his secondary pitches generate awkward swings, and hitters appear overmatched. The second inning was a perfect example as Sheehan struck out the side and looked to have settled comfortably into the game after surrendering two early runs.

An inning later, everything changed.

Ceddanne Rafaela opened the third with a home run. Wilyer Abreu followed with another. Three batters later, Masataka Yoshida launched a third solo shot into the Dodger Stadium seats, giving Boston three home runs in the span of nine pitches and ending Sheehan's afternoon before he could record the final out of the inning.

The outing was frustrating not because it was unfamiliar, but because it has become so familiar.

Brilliance has never been Sheehan's problem.

Sustaining it has.

"It was bad execution," Sheehan admitted afterward. "I just missed my spots."

Asked about the inconsistency that has followed him throughout much of the season, the right-hander didn't search for complicated explanations.

"I don't know. If I knew, I would fix it, but I'm going to keep trying to fix it," Sheehan said. "The only thing I can do is try to get better. There's no other option."

His afternoon ended after 2⅔ innings, six hits, five earned runs and three home runs allowed, dropping his record to 4-8 while raising his ERA to 5.29. Clayton Kershaw has often said that solo home runs usually won't beat you because they're simply isolated mistakes. Sunday served as a reminder that three isolated mistakes in one inning become something entirely different.

The Dodgers briefly grabbed control of the game in the second inning when Eliézer Alfonzo drove home a run before Andy Pages lined a two-run single into right field to erase Boston's early advantage. It proved to be the high-water mark of the afternoon.

The Red Sox answered immediately and never looked back.

Pages added an RBI double later in the game, but Boston continued applying pressure with another home run from Jarren Duran while capitalizing on opportunities the Dodgers never seemed able to create for themselves.

Perhaps the most accurate description of the weekend came not from the box score, but from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

"I think that if you look at it, unemotionally, they outplayed us," Roberts said. "They were hungrier. You've got a lot of players over there that are under control. They're fighting a higher seed in the postseason. They're playing good baseball, and they outplayed us."

There wasn't much to argue with.

The Red Sox played with the desperation of a team fighting to reach October.

The Dodgers played like a team already thinking about it.

That isn't necessarily an indictment of Los Angeles as much as it is recognition of where both clubs currently stand. Boston needed every win this weekend to strengthen its postseason position. The Dodgers, despite the sweep, remain comfortably atop the National League West and continue playing for something different - arriving in October healthy, rested and positioned for another deep postseason run.

Even so, weekends like this serve as reminders that regular-season urgency can still matter.

Adding another layer to the afternoon was the presence of Tarik Skubal, who watched from the Dodger dugout less than 24 hours after arriving in one of the biggest trades of the season. His acquisition immediately changes the complexion of the Dodgers' rotation and naturally raises questions about where pitchers such as Sheehan fit moving forward.

Roberts wasn't ready to answer that question.

"When you're pitching in big league games, you've got to get guys out," Roberts said. "I don't know where we go from here."

The Dodgers won't have long to think about it.

They boarded a flight to Chicago immediately after the game, where another contender awaits. The Cubs have played well enough to remain firmly in the National League playoff race and strengthened their own rotation before the deadline by acquiring Kevin Gausman.

Sound familiar?

The schedule isn't getting any easier.

The schedule isn't getting any easier. Neither are the clubs waiting in the opposite dugout.