Dave Roberts' quick hook of Emmet Sheehan backfires as Angels rout Dodgers

Emmet Sheehan #80 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

LOS ANGELES, The Dodgers entered Sunday afternoon with a chance to complete a season sweep of the Angels.

Instead, they walked away from Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium with one of their ugliest losses of the season, a 13-5 defeat in front of 49,535 fans that left plenty of questions surrounding Dave Roberts’ early decision-making.

The defining moment came in the second inning.

With Emmet Sheehan laboring through a stressful inning and already at 35 pitches in the inning, Roberts emerged from the dugout and removed his starter after just 1⅓ innings. Sheehan's final line wasn't pretty, three hits, two runs, two walks and two strikeouts on 49 pitches. But the move ultimately opened the floodgates for an Angels offense that battered six Dodgers relievers the rest of the afternoon.

"I thought the stuff was good coming in, I really did," Roberts said. "I think that obviously you look at the Madrigal at-bat and I think it was 14-15 pitches. After the first inning, I just didn't feel comfortable getting him past the 40-pitch mark in one inning. In the second inning he had one out and here comes Neto, here comes Trout. I just felt right there that I was not gonna put this guy in harm's way with stress."

Roberts' concern for protecting Sheehan is understandable. The right-hander had already endured a draining second inning highlighted by Nick Madrigal's exhausting 14-pitch walk that included two successful ABS challenges. The inning only became more frustrating when Dalton Rushing appeared to catch a foul tip for what should have been strike three against José Siri, only for the call to be missed and the at-bat extended into a bases-loading walk.

Sebastián Rivero immediately followed with a two-run single.

Rushing was visibly frustrated and Roberts shared those sentiments afterward.

"Didn't get an explanation," Roberts said. "It should be reviewable."

Still, removing Sheehan at that moment felt like an overreaction.

This wasn't a starter coming off injury concerns or showing diminished stuff. Roberts himself admitted the stuff looked good. More importantly, Sheehan has repeatedly shown this season an ability to pitch through adversity. Just last week in Arizona, he delivered 6⅓ strong innings while allowing only two runs. Entering Sunday, he had surrendered only four runs across his previous 12⅓ innings.

Even with the high pitch count, Sheehan may have represented the Dodgers' best chance to stabilize the game.

Instead, the bullpen was forced into emergency action far earlier than expected.

Alex Vesia came in and immediately looked out of rhythm. The normally reliable left-hander walked the first batter he faced and allowed two runs while recording only two outs. It's difficult to ignore the reality that relievers prepare mentally and physically for specific game situations. Being thrust into a game in the second inning is vastly different than entering in the sixth or seventh.

The domino effect never stopped.

Edgardo Henriquez provided 1⅔ scoreless innings and briefly stabilized things, but the bullpen eventually unraveled. Jonathan Hernández absorbed the worst of the damage, allowing six runs over 1⅔ innings as the Angels blew the game open.

Jo Adell #7 of the Los Angeles Angels celebrates a home run during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Ric Tapia - The Sporting Tribune

Jo Adell #7 of the Los Angeles Angels celebrates a home run during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Jo Adell launched a two-run homer for his 10th home run of the season. Rivero continued his career day with another RBI hit. Then Zach Neto crushed a three-run homer to center field as the Angels poured six runs across in the seventh inning alone.

By day's end, the bottom of the Angels lineup had completely embarrassed the Dodgers.

Rivero entered Sunday hitting just .133 (6-for-45) on the season. He finished 5-for-5 with a double, five RBIs and was the driving force behind one of the Angels' most impressive offensive performances of the year. The Dodgers simply had no answer.

Meanwhile, Sheehan could only watch.

"Frustrating, definitely couldn't put guys away," Sheehan said. "Not efficient, not good."

When asked what caused the early trouble, the right-hander pointed to execution.

"Probably more execution stuff," he said. "Felt pretty good early but yeah executing with two strikes just not very good."

Sheehan was even more direct when evaluating the outing as a whole.

"Very frustrating," he said. "Just back to work."

The loss dropped Sheehan to 3-3 with a 4.70 ERA through 12 starts, numbers that don't fully reflect the progress he had shown in recent weeks.

Lost amid the pitching disaster was a spirited Dodgers comeback attempt.

The offense was largely silent against José Soriano until the sixth inning. Kyle Tucker's RBI fielder's choice in the third accounted for the Dodgers' only run through five innings before the lineup finally came alive.

Rushing delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, launching his first home run since April 20. The three-run shot barely cleared the wall and cut the deficit to 6-4. Moments later, rookie Ryan Ward followed with a home run of his own, marking the fourth time this season that Dodgers hitters have gone back-to-back.

Rushing finished a perfect 4-for-4 with two singles, a double and the three-run homer.

Dalton Rushing brings the @Dodgers within 2 💥 pic.twitter.com/8cQIdBkdQ8

, MLB (@MLB) June 7, 2026

The rally briefly made the game competitive at 6-5.

Then the bullpen collapsed.

The Angels scored seven unanswered runs over the final three innings and erased any hope of a comeback.

Shohei Ohtani continued his recent surge at the plate, going 2-for-5 and raising his batting average to .302.

"I think Shohei's body is feeling good," Roberts said. "I think he is seeing the ball, he's hitting the ball hard. He's just taking really good at-bats. So yeah, when he's going well, it certainly spurs the offense to score some runs because it seems like he's always on base and it just makes life a lot better for us when Shohei is swinging the bat like that."

Roberts believes even bigger offensive numbers are coming.

"I don't think he's really has gotten going, going," Roberts said. "I do think that the slug is gonna start to really coming. He's hitting the ball hard, he's taking his walks and he's obviously doing it on the mound. It just shows how special of a player Shohei is."

Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Ric Tapia - The Sporting Tribune

Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Since receiving back-to-back days off in mid-May, Ohtani has looked like the superstar version of himself again, providing another reminder of how dangerous the Dodgers can be when he's locked in.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Sunday's story wasn't about Ohtani.

It was about a managerial decision that didn't work.

Roberts chose caution over trust in the second inning. He chose to protect his starter from further stress and hand the game to a rested bullpen.

By the final out, the Angels had scored 13 runs, the bullpen had burned through six pitchers, and the Dodgers watched a chance at a season sweep disappear.

Sometimes the safest move ends up carrying the biggest consequences.