Sheehan Deserved Better, the Dodgers Never Found Enough

If this story sounds familiar, that's because Dodgers fans have seen a version of it more than once lately.

A young starter takes the mound, pitches well enough to win, leaves with the game under control, and watches the result slip away anyway.

This time it was Emmet Sheehan.

The right-hander turned in what would qualify as a gem on most nights, allowing just three hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings. Unfortunately for Sheehan, two of those three hits happened to leave the ballpark, and on a night when the Dodgers offense struggled to generate much of anything beyond Shohei Ohtani, that was enough to send Los Angeles to a 4-1 loss against the Diamondbacks on Monday.

Baseball has a remarkable ability to make good performances look disappointing.

Less than 48 hours after Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out ten in a scoreless outing that somehow prompted discussion about whether he was truly at his best, Sheehan delivered another strong start that ended with a loss attached to his name.

The box score won't be particularly kind to him.

The game itself should be.

After allowing a first-inning double to Corbin Carroll, Sheehan retired 15 consecutive hitters and spent much of the evening looking completely in command. His fastball had life, his breaking pitches generated weak contact, and Arizona spent six innings searching for answers.

"Emmet did really good," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward. "He certainly deserved better."

Roberts wasn't wrong.

The first crack appeared in the sixth when Arizona's No. 9 hitter, Tommy Troy, launched his first major league home run to tie the game. The seventh brought another blow when Nolan Arenado connected on a breaking ball and sent it into the seats in left-center.

That was essentially the difference.

Which brings us to a trend that may deserve its own investigation at some point.

The Dodgers have spent an alarming amount of time this season watching opposing No. 9 hitters create problems. Managers construct lineups hoping to survive the bottom spot in the order. Somehow, Dodgers pitchers keep finding themselves burned by it.

Troy's homer was simply the latest example.

The frustrating part for Los Angeles was that Sheehan's outing should have been enough.

The Dodgers managed only one run despite collecting opportunities throughout the night. Ohtani continued his recent tear, finishing 3-for-4 and recording his tenth hit over the last five games. Beyond that, the offense never found a sustained rally against Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez, who continued what has quietly become an outstanding season.

Roberts credited Rodríguez for much of that.

"I thought Rodriguez threw the baseball well," Roberts said.

He did. But the Dodgers also failed to deliver the timely hit that has often separated their wins from their losses this season.

Ohtani doubled and scored on Freddie Freeman's groundout in the third inning, providing Los Angeles with a 1-0 lead. That advantage stood for four innings before Arizona's home runs flipped the game.

From there, the Dodgers never mounted much of a response.

Ketel Marte's two-run homer in the eighth added insurance and effectively closed the door.

Lost in the result was another encouraging development for a Dodgers rotation that keeps producing answers.

Sheehan joined Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski on the growing list of starters who have taken meaningful steps forward over the season's first two months. Roberts credited the work being done by the coaching staff and catchers Will Smith and Dalton Rushing.

"Those guys are doing a great job," Roberts said. "Regardless of what guy we have starting, I feel like we're going to prevent runs."

Based on the way the Dodgers' young starters have developed this season, it's becoming difficult to argue otherwise.

The Dodgers allowed just three hits through the first seven innings. They received another quality start. They got three hits from the best player in the world.

On most nights, that's enough.

This one wasn't.

And for Emmet Sheehan, that probably felt like the cruelest part.