Emmet Sheehan pitched brilliantly in long relief, Enrique Hernandez broke a seventh-inning tie with a run-scoring double and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game home sweep of the rival San Francisco Giants with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon.
Tommy Edman homered for Los Angeles (96-60), which won its fourth straight and remained four games ahead of the Atlanta Braves (92-64) in the race for the National League’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
After Victor Bericoto had singled home Jonah Cox in the first inning against Dodgers opener Jack Dreyer, Sheehan took over to start the second and held the Giants to just one hit over the next 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Nine of the 16 outs he recorded came via strikeout.
Meanwhile, Edman’s homer, his seventh of the season, produced a 1-1 tie in the sixth. It came off Giants reliever Carson Seymour, who had replaced Matt Wilkinson after five shutout innings.
Making his fifth career start, Wilkinson limited the Dodgers to three hits while striking out six.
The clubs took the 1-1 tie into the bottom of the seventh, when one-out singles by Max Muncy and Josue De Paula off Sam Hentges (1-7) set the stage for Hernandez, whose double to center field drove in the go-ahead run.
Muncy provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth that scored Teoscar Hernandez, who had singled.
Kris Bubic (4-2), Brock Stewart and Tanner Scott threw the final 2 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, allowing just two baserunners, one on an error and the other via a walk.
Scott walked Brett Harris with two outs in the ninth, bringing the potential tying run to the plate. But the left-hander locked down his 23rd save by striking out Osleivis Basabe.
Muncy, De Paula, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman had two hits apiece for the Dodgers, who will host the second-place San Diego Padres for three games before closing the regular season with three in San Francisco beginning Friday.
Jung Hoo Lee joined Bericoto with the only hits for the Giants (64-92), who completed their road schedule with a 28-53 record.
