Homer barrage hurts Heaney, Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- Andrew Heaney has found himself with a home run problem.

The left-hander allowed four in the Dodgers’ 7-4 loss to the Giants on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, giving him a combined total of 10 in 21 innings over his last four starts. Prior to this stretch, Heaney had allowed just one homer in 31 innings across seven starts (including none in his first four starts back from the injured list). It was the third time in Heaney’s career that he has allowed four home runs in one game.

“I was throwing [stuff] right down the middle,” said Heaney. “Didn't do a good job of mixing pitches very well, didn’t put guys away. I made mistakes, they capitalized.”

On a hot night where the ball was carrying, Heaney had his work cut out for him with a Giants lineup that featured eight right-handed hitters. Every home run he had allowed to that point was by a righty, and that trend continued on Monday, with Lewis Brinson, J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada and David Villar each taking Heaney deep.

Three of the home runs Heaney allowed came on fastballs that caught too much of the plate; seven of the 10 home runs he’s surrendered this season have come on his four-seamer. The other came on an outside changeup that Estrada reached out and knocked over the wall in right-center field.

Manager Dave Roberts concurred that some of Heaney’s troubles may come down to pitch sequencing. As essentially a two-pitch pitcher -- a four-seamer and slider make up the bulk of his repertoire, with a changeup mixed in occasionally -- Heaney’s mistakes can be easier for hitters to take advantage of.

Although Heaney wouldn’t use it as an excuse, the environmental conditions might have had something to do with why he got stung this time out.

“A couple of them would have been homers, I think, no matter what,’ said Freddie Freeman, who hit a home run of his own, a two-run shot in the first inning. “But I’m not used to the 100 [mph exit velocity] and the 101s at 35 [degree launch angle] going out.”

In all, Heaney was charged with six runs in 5 1/3 innings. Before Monday, the most earned runs Heaney had allowed in a start as a Dodger had been three. Along with the solo homer Justin Bruihl allowed to Brinson in the ninth, it was the first time Dodgers pitching has given up five home runs in a game all season.

Interestingly enough, Heaney has seen a significant uptick in strikeouts over this recent stretch. Including the eight Giants he punched out on Monday, Heaney has 36 over his last four games. His misses seem to be coming inside the zone rather than outside of it, as he’s issued just three walks in that span.

“I think that the mistakes that he is making, they're just going out of the ballpark instead of mis-hitting or fouling off,” said Roberts. “I think the internal numbers, as long as he's throwing the ball well, the stuff’s good, there's swing and miss in there, there's something we can certainly build upon.”

Although it’s a new problem for Heaney as a Dodger, the home run ball has been an issue for him for much of his career. That includes 2021, when his 2.01 HR/9 ranked fifth among Major League pitchers with at least 120 innings pitched.

Heaney likely has somewhere in the area of five starts remaining in the regular season, meaning he and the Dodgers still have plenty of opportunity to work on things. But if the long ball remains an issue for Heaney, it could present an interesting dilemma for the Dodgers with regards to the playoff rotation, provided Julio Urías, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Anderson, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are all healthy.

“We have time,” said Roberts. “But I know he was upset tonight, and I think that's a good thing. He's been here before and certainly, the first handful of starts [back from the IL], it seemed pretty easy for him. He's still striking out a lot of guys but yeah, been a victim of the long ball the last [few] outings. But he’ll be fine. And I know he'll be ready with that next turn.”

Despite the loss, the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the National League West fell to 8, thanks to the Padres’ loss to the D-backs.