It was another rough week for the Dodgers.
They went 2-4 and are 4-8 in their past 12 games. They are 12-18 in their past 30 games.
They were swept by the San Francisco Giants for the first time at Dodger Stadium in 11 years.
They dropped to third place in the National League West standings, behind those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks and those surging Giants.
The losses to the Giants over the weekend were historic. They were shutout 15-0 on Saturday, the Dodgers biggest home loss in 125 years. It was the worst loss in Los Angeles Dodgers history since being shut out 18-0 by the Cincinnati Reds in 1965.
To make matters worse, the Pride Night game on Friday drew hundreds of protesters. Catholics and Christians blocked the entrance to the stadium at Sunset Boulevard, but it didn’t affect attendance at the game. An announced crowd of a little over 49,000 was at the game, which honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of cross-dressing nuns who do charity work in Los Angeles and throughout the state, and also drew the ire of Christians nationwide.
Reports of angry protesters at the game were greatly exaggerated. The protesters didn’t get much farther than the parking gates.
The Dodger fans in the stands for the game, however, left more upset than the protesters.
Emmet Sheehan made his major league debut and pitched six no-hit innings before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took him out and handed the game over to the bullpen.
“It was a special moment he'll remember forever,” Roberts told the Associated Press after the game. “He delivered. It was fun to watch. We made some nice plays behind him. I wish we could have ended it with a win.”
Roberts isn’t the only one who wishes the Dodgers could have won the game for Sheehan.
Sheehan left with a 4-0 lead. The Giants scored two runs in the seventh-inning on a two-run home run by Wilmer Flores. They scored three runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead before the Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score and send the game to extra innings.
But the Giants scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to break the tie. The game ended on a wild play in the bottom of the 11th inning.
With Michael Busch on second base and one out, Mookie Betts hit an infield pop up that the Giants let drop near the mound. The throw to first base ended up in right field and Betts sped around the bases to third.
But Busch stopped midway between third base and home on the errant throw and was caught in a rundown. Betts and Busch both ended up at third base with Busch being tagged for the second out in the inning.
Instead of scoring a run and cutting the lead to 7-6 with a runner at third and one out, the Dodgers still trailed 7-5 with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Miguel Rojas grounded out to end the game.
It wasn’t the first time the Giants ruined a no-hit bid by a Dodgers pitcher.
In 2016, Ross Stripling took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Giants only for the Dodgers to lose 3-2 in 10 innings.
The Dodgers bullpen in 2023 is developing a bad habit of blowing leads and ruining quality starts. But the game on Friday night was particularly painful.
Dodgers starting pitching power rankings:
- Tony Gonsolin
- Emmet Sheehan
- Clayton Kershaw
- Michael Grove
- Bobby Miller
The Dodgers (39-33) start a two-game series in Anaheim against the Angels on Tuesday and host the Houston Astros for a weekend series starting on Friday.
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