Emmet Sheehan wins his first Major League game for the Dodgers

In his Major League debut a week ago, Emmet Sheehan made quite an impression by pitching six innings without allowing a hit.

In Friday’s 3-2 Dodger Stadium victory over the Astros, the club’s No. In six innings, the 8 prospect from MLB Pipeline continued his impressive career start by allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four.

“I felt great,” Sheehan said. “I felt like my stuff was definitely a little bit better, getting comfortable with a big league ball. And yeah, I gave us a chance to win, which is what I was trying to do.”

Friday, Sheehan continued right where he left off in his previous outing, pitching two scoreless innings to begin his outing. To start his career, he went 8 1/3 innings without allowing a hit until Chas McCormick reached first on an infield single in the third.

The Astros were able to get Sheehan in the fourth when Mauricio Dubón and Kyle Tucker hit consecutive home runs, the young right-hander’s first two runs. Sheehan’s ability to maintain his composure and not let the inning spiral was perhaps the Dodgers’ most impressive feat.

After the two home runs, he walked Alex Bregman, but he then struck out the next nine batters he faced, including Corey Julks and Jeremy Pea, the 2022 World Series MVP, in the fifth.

“It’s impressive,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “With a guy like Emmet, you learn some information with some adversity and for him to give up a couple homers, but for him to not run from it was pretty telling.”

In his first outing, Sheehan used his changeup more than his slider, but in his second outing, he used the slider more. He said that was mostly based on reading the swings Houston was taking off him, but a little bit on the game plan to attack the Astros’ lineup. In his debut, Sheehan only produced four swings and misses. On Friday, he made 12 records.

Sheehan’s four-seamer, the pitch that made him a top-rated prospect, has yet to yield a hit to opposing hitters.

“It’s pretty similar the way it was playing up in Double-A, I think,” Sheehan said. “Maybe a little less strikeouts, but other than that, I feel good about heaters up in the zone and slider, changeup, some curveballs off that. It’s all good.”

Nobody knew how long Sheehan would play in the Majors when he made his debut on Friday against the Giants. Sheehan’s performance was going to determine everything. Sheehan is trying to make a name for himself in the Dodgers’ rotation and has already earned a longer contract after two appearances.

At Coors Field on Thursday, he will make his next start against the Rockies. The Dodgers will have a good idea of how their future might look over the next few seasons with young fireballers Bobby Miller and Sheehan in the starting rotation.

“Really good fastball, good life on the ball,” Dubón said of Sheehan. “We didn’t have a lot of information on him. But he pitched a good game, and just give him props.”

Sheehan was followed by Michael Grove, who had not pitched since the seventh inning and pitched two scoreless innings. After that, Brusdar Graterol pitched a flawless ninth inning to secure Los Angeles’ third victory in a row. Over their last three games, the Dodgers have given up just two runs.

“We’ve built our success on pitching and defense,” Roberts said. “To minimize walks, to strike guys out, to catch the baseball … when we do that, the offense should be good enough for us to win.”