August 4th, 2023 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Twenty-three-year-old Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan not only saved Thursday night’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics for 26-year-old left-hander Julio Urías in front of a sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,624, he also saved Dodgers manager Dave Roberts from having to use his often used (and overused) bullpen … with a four-inning save.
It was the Dodgers first four-inning save since former Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda did so on September 2, 2019 against the Colorado Rockies, also at Dodger Stadium.
To be fair, Sheehan had just been moved to the Dodgers bullpen after having made seven starts for Roberts’ team, so going four innings wasn’t all that big of a deal for the fully stretched out (very) hard-throwing 6′-5″ / 220-pound New York, NY native and Dodgers sixth-round draft pick in 2021 out of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA – but hey, a four-inning save is a four-inning save and they are quite rare and very much appreciated in today’s game.
As for those eight Dodgers runs to complete the three-game sweep of the (now) 30-80 AL West last place A’s, two were the result of a double by suddenly blazing hot Dodgers second baseman Amed Rosario. Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas had a two-double / two-RBI night, with one RBI each by first baseman Freddie Freeman (who went 3-for-5 on the night with two doubles and a solo home run), designated hitter Will Smith, pinch-hitter and replacement left fielder David Peralta, and left fielder and replacement third baseman Chris Taylor.
And then there’s that Urías fellow, who has been dealing with a fingernail issue on his pitching hand for the past two weeks.
Making his 15th start of the season, the Culiacan, Mexico native was nothing short of brilliant, allowing no runs and only three hits, while walking one and striking out five in his five innings of work, enroute to his seventh win of the season against six losses. In doing so, he lowered his un-Urías-like 4.98 ERA to 4.69.
“There’s been a lot of inconsistencies throughout the year, but like I feel like I’m feeling myself on the mound, feeling like I’m stronger on the mound, feeling that those inconsistencies aren’t as prevalent as they have been in the past, but I feel really good about where I’m at,” Urías told reporters postgame through an interpreter.
“It was really encouraging, just given how little he’s been on the mound the last couple, two-and-a-half weeks, to see him come out there and throw the baseball like he did, really encouraging,” Roberts said of Urías postgame. “I thought early he was a little kind of trying to find his way in that first inning, but really settled in. I thought that fifth inning was his best inning of the night.”
During “…that fifth inning…” Urías struck out the side, needing only 14 pitches to do so.
(SportsNet LA)
The Dodgers open a four-game ‘wrap-around’ weekend series against the division-rival fourth-place San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday night. They then travel to Chase Field for a brief two-game series with the NL West third place Arizona diamondbacks before returning home on August 10 to open a ten-game homestand against the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium.
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I think Dodgers and Urias were fortunate last night that they were playing the hapless Oakland A’s. Whether it is the fingernail, mechanical issue, the pressure of impending free agency, or some combination, Urias is not pitching like Urias of past seasons. He and the Dodgers have two months to get him back on track or 2023 will be a short postseason.
Where was the fastball. It was non existent. Huge dropoff. Can’t blame Friedman and Co. If the names on the back of the Uniform don’t produce like their baseball card there is nothing much you can do.
Exactly!