LOS ANGELES — Inserted into the fire immediately, Emmet Sheehan proved to be the calming influence the Dodgers were expecting.
He just needed a little help in the form of five innings of relief from Justin Wrobleski and Will Smith’s pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the ninth.
Smith, who was given the night off from behind the plate, still managed to make it a full day’s work with one swing while pinch hitting for Kiké Hernandez. Smith’s eighth homer of the season gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory, their 25th comeback win of the season.
Sheehan was dropped into the third game of an already tense series and gave up one run over four innings in his return from Tommy John surgery. His healing properties started the Dodgers toward their fifth consecutive victory and another long night for the San Diego Padres.
There to back him up was Wrobleski (2-2), who pitched four scoreless innings before the Padres tied it in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Jake Cronenworth and an RBI double from Xander Bogaerts.
The Dodgers have now won five of six games against the Padres in a stretch where the National League rivals are facing each other seven times in 11 days. On Thursday, they have a chance at a rare four-game sweep with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound.
Where Yamamoto has done his best to hold things together for an injury-plagued rotation, he has witnessed in recent weeks the returns of Clayton Kershaw (knee/toe), Shohei Ohtani (elbow) and now Sheehan, who managed to show plenty of upside in 13 appearances during his 2023 rookie season.
Visibly stronger now and with a greater appreciation for major league life, Manager Dave Roberts also saw some resolve from the right-hander as he approached his 2025 debut.
“You look back a couple years, he’s much more physical,” Roberts said before the outing. “He’s had a chance to watch a lot of baseball, learn and then now apply it. I think that’s going to make him a better major league pitcher. This is his first one, so I think just having the expectation to attack these guys, fill up the strike zone with his pitch mix, that’s the ask. And the results – we’re all prepared to live with whatever happens.”
It was all so prophetic after Sheehan gave up three hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his first time on the Dodger Stadium mound since facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 playoffs.
Held to just two hits over four scoreless innings at the outset, the Dodgers’ offense erupted for three runs in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly from Pages and a two-run single from rookie Dalton Rushing.
Pages was again caught in the crossfire in the seventh inning when he was hit by pitch from Stephen Kolek. Pages had taken umbrage with getting hit in Monday’s series opener then had four hits with two home runs in Tuesday’s game, when Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch after the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. was plunked.
Roberts was ejected from Tuesday’s game amid the uproar of it all.
While Pages took his time getting to first base after he was hit on Wednesday, there was no incident, even when Pages crossed paths with Kolek after the Padres pitcher was removed from the game.
The Dodgers eventually loaded the bases in the seventh with two outs but failed to score when Wandy Peralta struck out Ohtani to end the inning.
The Padres loaded the bases in the ninth inning against Wrobleski when Luis Arraez singled, Manny Machado reached base on a Max Muncy throwing error and Gavin Sheets singled. Cronenworth’s fly ball made it 3-2 and Bogaerts tied it with one out.
Freddie Freeman cut down Brandon Lockridge at home plate after he tried to score on a sharp ground ball to first base. Wrobleski preserved the tie by getting Diaz to ground into a fielder’s choice, with Muncy able to make an accurate throw to second base to force out Jose Iglesias.
More to come on this story.
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