Sunday was a big day for many reasons at Dodger Stadium this weekend. Not only was it Father’s Day where players got to celebrate with their children on the field before the game, but left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney was making his first appearance after a lengthy stint on the injured list.

The Miami Marlins 2012 first-round draft pick and former Los Angeles Angel had pitched in two games this season and had a 0.00 ERA before being placed on the injured list on April 17th for left shoulder discomfort. He had a rehab start with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers and the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, respectively, before Sunday’s return.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shared how pleased he was before the game that Heaney was his starter to wrap up the series.

“I’m excited for Andrew,” Roberts stated. “He was obviously off to a really good start this year. Got derailed a little bit, but he’s worked his way back and it’s going to be a nice insertion to our rotation. I expect him to go out there and pitch well. It’s kind of 6 (innings) and 90 (pitches) so that’s kind of a regular turn for him. Plan on helping us win a ballgame today.”

Heaney threw 77 pitches through five innings and faced two batters in the top of the sixth before being pulled. He limited Cleveland to five hits with two runs scored. He walked one batter and struck-out seven hitters, leaving the game with a 0.59 ERA.

One of those runs was a home run for Cleveland’s left-fielder Oscar Mercado. Coincidentally, it was both Mercado’s first home run and Heaney’s first earned run of the season.

Heaney contemplated his outing after the game with SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson.

“I felt good,” the left-hander reflected. “Pretty close, couple pitches got away from me. Kinda not happy with how the two batters were in the sixth. Beyond that, it was good. Just something to build on.”

Heaney was referring to the home run he gave up and, subsequently, the next batter he walked before Roberts replaced him with right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol.

Cleveland managed to load the bases off of a single and a hit batsman. And though Heaney was still responsible for the initial walk, he was “saved by the swing” to end the top of the sixth inning when Guardians center fielder Myles Straw struck out swinging on what would have been a run-scoring walk had he checked his swing.

Considering this was his first major league start since returning from the injured list, Heaney was solid through five innings. He was encouraged when summing up his outing.

“Early, where I want to be. Kinda late, I think I just sort of maybe ran out of steam a little bit. Something that you know I hope you know I can keep pushing through and something that I can you know kind of get this one under my belt and kind of go from here.”

Roberts had high praise for his lefty, despite the Dodgers dropping the game 5-3 to give Cleveland the series win.

“Andrew was really good. Threw the ball, was outstanding actually,” complimented Roberts. “Ran out of gas a little bit, I think, but gave us what we needed, what we had hoped for. And he’ll be ready to make his start in six days.”

Dodgers will get a rest with no game scheduled on Monday. Here’s to coming back refreshed and ready to tackle the next series – one game at a time.

Let’s go Dodgers!

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