A week after tossing just 1.1 innings against the Los Angeles Angels, Emmet Sheehan was delivering one of the better starts of his 2026 campaign against the Chicago White Sox.   

Until it wasn't. 

After keeping Chicago at bay for five scoreless innings, an explosive sixth inning of offense was the straw that broke the camel's back. Lack of offense was more of a constant for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they dropped the weekend series, 6-4. 

"I definitely felt better early and then more of the same towards the end, which was pretty frustrating," Sheehan said. 

In his last six starts combined, Sheehan had only recorded three strikeouts with his changeup. During Sunday's contest, four of his eight strikeouts came via the change. 

He accumulated a 67% whiff rate with the offspeed pitch and was used as his put-away pitch against Chicago left-handed hitters (21% thrown to lefties). 

Heading into the sixth inning, Sheehan was working with a one-run lead with the White Sox coming up to the plate for the third time. That lead would quickly be decimated, as Sam Antonacci led off the inning with a home run. 

The next two White Sox hitters would reach via a Miguel Vargas single and Andrew Benintendi's RBI double gave Chicago their first lead of the afternoon. 

Interim manager Danny Lehmann had seen enough from the right-hander after 85 pitches. 

"He was super efficient," Lehmann said of Sheehan's performance. "It just started falling behind a little bit; they got to a couple of heaters and it kind of spiraled from there." 

Sheehan was visibly upset walking off the mound, heading towards the dugout at Rate  Field. 

He had no answer as to whether the White Sox had adjusted to his tendencies on the mound during his third time through the order. 

"Maybe," Sheehan said. 

The inning continued to snowball, as Jack Dreyer gave up two home runs to Colson Montgomery and a two-run home run from Chase Meidroth. 

The Dodgers' offense, which had only put one run on the board via Freddie Freeman's 11th long ball of the season in the first inning, was trying to get over the hump of the sixth-inning deficit. 

Los Angeles managed to score one run in the seventh and eight inning respectively, but made it interesting in the ninth. 

Ryan Ward led off the inning with a free pass and Alex Freeland followed that up with an RBI double after battling Seranthony Domínguez for nine pitches. 

Down 6-4 with runners on the corners and two outs, Freeman found himself in a position to put the Dodgers even closer to striking distance. 

Unfortunately, Domínguez struck out Freeman on a sweeper down and away. 

With the loss, the Dodgers lose their first series since their series against the Atlanta Braves at the beginning of May. 

Los Angeles goes back home after a .500 road trip and hosts the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium on Monday. 

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