The day started with a thick, harrowing haze enveloping Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likened the scene to Gotham City as doubts about whether the game could proceed swirled like the smoke that filled the place.
Somehow, the mood darkened.
Even though the fumes from a nearby warehouse fire cleared well before the first pitch Sunday, the gloominess only intensified.
Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan delivered another stinker over just 3 ⅓ innings, and the bullpen didn’t exactly hold things down from there during a 12-1 loss to the Orioles.
Sheehan hasn’t won in more than a month and didn’t wow anyone in his latest outing.
“Execution was really bad,” Sheehan said. “You know, at this point, my coaches, teammates, the fans — they all deserve better than what I’m putting out there right now.”
After making it through a dreadful first inning that could have been much worse and giving up a solo homer in each of the next two innings, Sheehan (3-5) was done in the fourth. Roberts had seen enough after the right-hander walked two of the first three batters he faced in that inning.
Sheehan’s pitching line — he gave up eight hits and a season-worst six runs while striking out four and walking three — was a contender for his worst of 2026.
Five Dodgers relievers combined to give up six more runs. The only highlight came when infielder Miguel Rojas took the mound and needed only seven pitches to complete a perfect ninth inning, earning a standing ovation.
The Dodgers’ offense was anemic, managing just five hits off Baltimore starter Brandon Young and two relievers.
“Offensively, we just weren’t very good, and I feel fortunate that we won a game this series,” Roberts said after his team scratched out nine runs in the three games.
What’s wrong with the Dodgers’ approach at the plate?
“I just don’t think it’s been good,“ Roberts said. “Taking hittable strikes with the fastball and then chasing spin, it’s just not who we are, who we need to be. … Pitchers just start to get that rhythm, that comfort, and that just shouldn’t be the case with our lineup. So I think there’s passivity at the wrong time.“
What it means
This was not the sort of sendoff the Dodgers were hoping to give themselves before a lengthy trip.
They have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since May 12, when they were in the midst of dropping four straight.
They also couldn’t build upon what remains the best home record in the National League, falling to 26-14 at Dodger Stadium.
But the Dodgers (49-29) aren’t exactly on the verge of giving up their massive lead in the NL West — they lead second-place San Diego by nine games.
Who’s hot
Fans who braved the crummy conditions expecting to be rewarded.
Their anger level started to redline after patiently enduring Sheehan’s first-inning wobbles.
The first boos could be heard after Taylor Ward’s solo homer in the second gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead. There were more in the third when Colton Cowser added another solo shot.
The displeasure peaked in the seventh, after Pete Alonso’s three-run blast off reliever Jonathan Hernandez gave Baltimore a 10-1 lead. Fans started to leave in droves, no longer wanting to subject themselves to disappointment.
Who’s not
It’s time to start worrying about Sheehan given what unfolded Sunday.
Three pitches into the game, the Orioles had a baserunner.
Four pitches in, they had runners on second and third.
Nine pitches in, the bases were loaded with nobody out.
Things continued to deteriorate — Baltimore scored two runs as part of a 28-pitch first inning that was a sign of things to come. Sheehan’s ERA ballooned to 5.32, the highest it’s been since late April.
Roberts said Sheehan would get another start before contemplating a change in the rotation.
Up next
The Dodgers will open a nine-game, three-city trip Monday in Minneapolis. Left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer (2-5, 5.37 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Dodgers, with right-hander Zebby Matthews (3-4, 4.78) going for the Twins.
