Friday night’s game… was not for the faint of heart. The Dodgers completely crumbled late and lost a frustrating one in extra innings on a final of 7-5.
The story of the first six innings was 23-year-old rookie Emmet Sheehan. Sheehan was making his MLB debut against a red-hot San Francisco Giants team, and he completely shut them down.
Sheehan ended up throwing six no-hit, shutout innings, allowing just two walks while striking out three. He left with a 4-0 lead, one that the Dodgers had no business blowing, especially with how lethargic the Giants’ lineup looked against Sheehan.
Emmet Sheehan had never pitched above Double-A before today. He just made the MLB look easy. His final line vs. the Giants:
6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
The Dodgers needed length and Sheehan came through with 6 no-hit innings. What an incredible performance from the 23-year-old.
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) June 17, 2023
Unfortunately, the bullpen had other plans.
Brusdar Graterol gave up a two-run home run in the seventh inning, quickly making it 4-2. Then, in the eighth inning, Victor Gonzalez got into immediate trouble, and the Giants ended up tying the game with Tayler Scott on the mound. Then, on an infield single to shortstop, they took a 5-4 lead.
Sheehan allowed zero runs on zero hits in six innings in his MLB debut. The Dodgers bullpen allowed a quick five runs in five hits in the next two innings.
It sucks for Emmet Sheehan that the Dodgers bullpen blew his lead but if anything it makes his performance look that much more impressive.
The Giants didn’t get a hit or run off of him in six innings.
They’ve now scored four runs on four hits off the bullpen in less than two.
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) June 17, 2023
On the offensive side of things, the Dodgers got four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, with yet another impressive two-out rally. Hits by Will Smith, J.D. Martinez and James Outman gave Sheehan the run support we all thought would be enough to get the win in his MLB debut.
But the bats came back to life in the ninth to let the bullpen off the hook (only a little) to tie the game. With one out, Miguel Rojas singled and stole second base. Mookie Betts singled to right for his second hit of the game and Rojas moved to third. Freddie Freeman came up and punched a jam-shot single to center to tie it. Somewhat shockingly, Betts was caught trying to steal third for the second out. Will Smith walked and J.D. Martinez struck out to end the inning.
For the second straight game, the Dodgers went to extra innings.
Tied at 5-5, Caleb Ferguson came on to pitch a clean top of the 10th, but the Dodgers couldn’t put the winning run across in the bottom of the inning. The Giants scored two in the top of the 11th to ultimately end the pain and hand the Dodgers loss number 31 on the season.
Aside from the game itself, the Dodgers lost two players — David Peralta and Chris Taylor — to injuries during the game. We should know more on both after the game and on Saturday, but for now, we know Peralta left with a left hamstring strain and Taylor left with right knee pain.
Up Next
The Dodgers and Giants play the second game of this series on Saturday with first pitch at 6:10 p.m. PT. Bobby Miller is taking the mound for the Dodgers in his fifth career start.