LOS ANGELES — Emmet Sheehan’s 1-1 fastball to Taylor Ward in the top of the second inning Sunday was left over the heart of the plate and smacked over the right-center field wall, taking whatever wind was left in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ sails with it.After a laborious 28-pitch first inning, in which the Baltimore Orioles scored twice but left the bases loaded, Sheehan was hopeful he’d be able to put his command issues aside and give the Dodgers a chance to stay in the game. But in what has become an unfortunately familiar pattern for the 26-year-old right-hander, the execution was not there. The Orioles pounced on Sheehan for eight hits and six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings in an eventual 12-1 rout, handing Los Angeles a series loss and its first back-to-back defeats since May 12.“He just wasn’t sharp,” a terse Dave Roberts said of Sheehan after the game. “He really wasn’t. The slider wasn’t in zone. They were seeing him well. He wasn’t efficient. It was a grind for him.”
Taylor Ward lifts one out and extends the @Orioles lead ☄️ pic.twitter.com/zXrkIcMMX0
— MLB (@MLB) June 21, 2026After sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays, the Dodgers (49-29) fell mostly flat against the Orioles, with Roberts voicing frustration over the collective approach of his team’s offense throughout the series. On Friday, Los Angeles left 12 runners on base and looked poised for one of their more frustrating losses of the season, if not for a walk-off win courtesy of Dalton Rushing and shoddy defense from the Orioles. The Dodgers mustered just one hit through the first eight innings of Saturday’s 3-2 loss. And on Sunday, they went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position — not that it mattered all that much given the Orioles’ run total.“I just don’t think it’s been good,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ offense. “Taking strikes, hittable strikes with the fastball, and chasing spin — it’s just not who we are, who we need to be. You got to give credit to the Orioles and how they pitched us. But we just didn’t do a good job ourselves.“I feel fortunate that we won a game this series.”Now, some perspective is needed. The Dodgers are far from full strength, with Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández still on the injured list, and the newly-reinstated Tommy Edman only available to play in three to four games a week, at least for now. They are still 20 games over .500, behind only the Atlanta Braves (48-28) for the best record in the major leagues. Still, expectations are rightfully high for the back-to-back champs, and their play this series fell short.Let’s break down three takeaways from a disappointing weekend.Sheehan’s spot in rotation could be in jeopardyIt’s been a turbulent year for Sheehan, who has showcased flashes of true wipeout stuff but has been unable to command it consistently. Sunday’s clunker marked Sheehan’s third straight start in which he left the mound frustrated. He did not make it out of the second inning in his June 7 start against the Los Angeles Angels. He bounced back with five scoreless innings versus the Chicago White Sox on June 14, but was ambushed in the sixth with three runs before he could record an out. On Sunday, erratic location and an overall lack of execution did Sheehan in.“Execution was really bad,” Sheehan said. “At this point, my coaches, teammates, fans all deserve better than what I’m putting out there.”Sheehan’s struggles started from the jump, when the first four hitters he faced reached base safely. That Sheehan was able to emerge from the inning with just two runs on his line was a small victory, especially when Max Muncy singled home Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the first to halve the deficit. But that was short-lived, as Ward and Colton Cowser tagged Sheehan for solo shots in the second and third innings, respectively. Sheehan walked Ward and Pete Alonso in the fourth. Both came in to score and were charged to Sheehan on a bases-loaded knock by Cowser off reliever Jack Dreyer.“Today, obviously, walks were a problem, and that’s never good,” Sheehan said. “Execution and being confident in the pitch I want to throw, both of those need to improve. And I need to start giving us a chance to win.”The Dodgers feel that way as well. Sheehan will take his next start — slated for June 28 vs. the San Diego Padres — but if his performance doesn’t improve, it’s reasonable to wonder if the team should make a rotation change. When commanded, Sheehan has some of the best putaway stuff in the league. His chase rate (35.4 percent) and whiff rate (30.3 percent) both rank in the top 15 percent of baseball, and his expected ERA (3.81) and expected batting average (.232) suggest his overall numbers should be better. But sustaining his velocity and being more consistent in the zone are problem areas he needs to address.There are no current plans to change the starting staff, and the Dodgers will evaluate Sheehan’s next outing before making any decisions. The organization has been clear about why patience is critical for River Ryan in Triple A, but he remains the top candidate should the club need to mix in a fresh arm.“It just hasn’t been where we needed to be, where (Sheehan) wants it to be,” Roberts said. “And I think right now he’s probably searching a little bit. But he’ll get a start this next one, and we’ll see where it takes us.”Roberts feels quality of at-bats needs to improveRoberts is a patient manager, a trait he’s learned after 10 years at the helm with the Dodgers. He trusts his veterans to hit their way out of slumps, and he is understanding of the growing pains young players experience as they adjust to major-league pitching.But it was clear Sunday that he expects better from his lineup.“The mindset of being offensive, and scaring pitchers out of the strike zone, I think for us it’s very in between,” Roberts said. “Pitchers just start to get that rhythm, that comfort, and that just shouldn’t be the case with our lineup. There’s passivity at the wrong time. I think that the mindset of scaring guys out of the hitting zone, we’re just not doing that right now.”That’s an approach Roberts sees throughout the batting order. Kyle Tucker’s final at-bat Saturday serves as a microcosm of that. Tucker came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the game-tying run standing 90 feet away. Right-hander Yennier Cano spiked a splitter in the dirt for ball one. Cano then fired three more splitters out of the zone. Tucker chased and missed on all three to end the game.
