{"id":285091,"date":"2026-04-25T06:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285091\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T06:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:05:07","slug":"dodgers-bullpen-squanders-strong-start-by-emmet-sheehan-in-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285091\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ bullpen squanders strong start by Emmet Sheehan in loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The boos were already loud when Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, a member of the scandal-embroiled 2017 Astros, came up to bat in the eighth inning. They swelled when he launched a tying home run off Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen<\/a> and rounded the bases.<\/p>\n

Then in the ninth, Dodgers<\/a> left-hander Tanner Scott<\/a> surrendered a two-run home run to Dansby Swanson en route to the Dodgers\u2019 6-4 loss<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n

The game flipped dramatically after Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan<\/a> left the game. He was charged with just one run and four hits, receiving a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout with one out in the seventh. He tied his career high with 10 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Sheehan cruised through the first three innings, recording seven strikeouts his first time through the Cubs\u2019 batting order and retiring 10 batters in a row.<\/p>\n

He finally gave up back-to-back hits, the first baserunners he allowed, in the fourth inning. But a dart of a throw to home from center fielder Andy Pages cut down former Dodgers prospect Michael Busch to keep the Cubs scoreless.<\/p>\n

The only run charged to Sheehan came in the seventh inning, after he\u2019d given up a single to Cubs designated hitter Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros and then handed the ball over to Alex Vesia.<\/p>\n

Vesia surrendered a two-run triple to Swanson and an RBI single to Nico Hoerner, cutting the Dodgers\u2019 lead to one.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers had led since Will Smith\u2019s three-run home run in the third inning. Then in the fourth, Hyeseong Kim drove in another run with a two-out single.<\/p>\n

After Bregman\u2019s home run, the Cubs came inches away from pulling ahead in the same inning. But with a runner on first, Pages cut off Ballesteros\u2019 double before it reached the wall, and he slung the ball across his body to Kim, whose on-target throw home nabbed the Cubs\u2019 Ian Happ as he slid headfirst toward the plate.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 offense, however, didn\u2019t score again, allowing the Cubs to extend their winning streak to 10.<\/p>\n

Counsell doubles down on Ohtani exemption criticism<\/p>\n

Days after Cubs manager Craig Counsell alluded to the rule that designates Shohei Ohtani<\/a> as a \u201ctwo-way player,\u201d who doesn\u2019t count against the 13-pitcher roster limit (14 in September), his team came face to face with Ohtani and the Dodgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was answering a different question,\u201d Counsell said Friday, before the first game of the weekend series. \u201cBut what sometimes happens is, when you answer a question, whatever is more interesting about your answer is the part that gets printed.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Cubs\u2019 bullpen hit hard by injury, he was originally asked about the lack of flexibility in the roster makeup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never understood it, either,\u201d Counsell told reporters Monday. \u201cIt\u2019s an offensive rule, essentially. It\u2019s a rule to help offense more than anything, if you ask me. And then there\u2019s one team that\u2019s allowed to carry basically one of both, and that he gets special consideration, \u2014 which is probably the most bizarre rule \u2026 for one team.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments took on a life of their own, with a focus on the portion relating to Ohtani.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot surprised,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what happens these days when you say certain things. And I don\u2019t think he meant it really maliciously. I mean, they\u2019re going through it on the pitching side.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut again, this is a rule that\u2019s applicable to Shohei. It\u2019s not a Dodger rule, right? I mean, this was implemented when he was with the Angels<\/a>. But not surprising, because he\u2019s a very important player, so it gets a lot of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell said something similar, while standing firm in his evaluation of the rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, this is not a Dodger thing, it\u2019s not an Ohtani thing,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cIt is a bad rule.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boos were already loud when Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, a member of the scandal-embroiled 2017 Astros,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[122205,5885,120280,120283,122208,217,122207,426,9923,56933,2424,48,52,51,47928,47,50,49,10250,122206,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-285091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-bad-rule","9":"tag-bullpen","10":"tag-counsell","11":"tag-cubs-manager-craig-counsell","12":"tag-cubs-manager-criag-counsell","13":"tag-day","14":"tag-different-question","15":"tag-dodgers","16":"tag-face","17":"tag-flexibility","18":"tag-friday","19":"tag-la","20":"tag-la-headlines","21":"tag-la-news","22":"tag-lack","23":"tag-los-angeles","24":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","25":"tag-los-angeles-news","26":"tag-ohtani","27":"tag-shohei-ohtani-rule","28":"tag-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}