Sheehan's consistent velo a good sign, even as he's stung by long ball

PHOENIX -- For Emmet Sheehan, it was never a matter of if, but when.

Over the first two months of the season, Sheehan had recurring issues with his fastball. Early on, his velocity was down across the board. As time went on, he threw harder in the early innings, only to see his velocity fade later in the game. But on Monday night, he maintained his velocity better than he had all season.

Sheehan tossed 6 1/3 strong innings against the D-backs in the series opener at Chase Field, retiring all but three of the 22 batters he faced. The problem? Two of those hitters took him deep for solo homers, and the Dodgers' offense fizzled in a 4-1 loss.

After allowing a one-out double to Corbin Carroll in the first inning, Sheehan retired 15 straight D-backs before serving up a game-tying homer to rookie Tommy Troy in the sixth. He gave up the lead one inning later, surrendering a go-ahead blast to Nolan Arenado with one out in the seventh.

Arenado was Sheehan's last batter, finalizing an outing where the 26-year-old right-hander struck out three, did not walk anyone and averaged a season-high 95.9 mph with his fastball.

"I thought he was really good, certainly deserved better," manager Dave Roberts said. "The fastball was good, slider was good, used the curveball, minimized hits."

Sheehan had minimal margin for error with the Dodgers plating their lone run of the game on a Freddie Freeman groundout in the third inning. L.A. went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, stranding five runners.

"Overall, I thought we had some good at-bats and barrelled up some balls," said Kyle Tucker, who went 0-for-3 with a walk. "But they made some nice plays and we just weren’t able to get the runs across, so just kind of how it goes sometimes.”

While the late home runs stung, Sheehan's stuff looked as good as it had all season. His fastball velocity was up 1.7 mph from his season average. In previous starts, Sheehan's velocity tended to fade from the fourth inning on, but he held it throughout Monday's outing, averaging 95.4 mph or higher with his fastball in every frame.

"It's a little bittersweet with the way my outing ended today, and giving up the lead," Sheehan said. "But yeah, I think it's definitely a positive to take."

After posting a 2.82 ERA across 15 appearances (12 starts) in his return from Tommy John surgery last year, Sheehan has weathered inconsistency in the beginning of the season, partially because of his fluctuating velocity. Sheehan has found ways to be effective and pitch deep into games without having his best stuff, but there have been times when he's admitted that having a few more ticks on his fastball would make a difference.

Throughout the first two months, Sheehan has worked to lock in his mechanics. With time, he reached a point where he felt that he was a few small tweaks away from unlocking something in his delivery. On Monday, a shift in mindset may have been the finishing touch he needed.

"I think it's honestly just trying to relax early, and throw harder later in my delivery," Sheehan said. "Before I was getting a little too tense, and that's something the coaches mentioned to me. And it's a bunch of other things too, but yeah, we've been working hard on it."

Sheehan is the latest Dodgers starter to take a step forward in the last turn through the rotation. Justin Wrobleski saw his velocity tick up on Friday. Roki Sasaki hit triple digits with his fastball for the first time this season on Saturday.

The trio of young starters has helped stabilize a Dodgers rotation that is without Blake Snell (recovery from surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow) and Tyler Glasnow (lower back spasms) for the foreseeable future. Sheehan, Wrobleski and Sasaki may make up the back end of the rotation, but they have come into their own when L.A. needed them most.

"I think for me, we’ve raised the floor of the starting rotation," Roberts said. "The top-end guys are kind of who they are, which is great. But every night we have a really good chance to win because of the starting pitcher."