Dodgers lose Tarik Skubal for a couple days, call up Emmet Sheehan

Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal is going on the bereavement list, manager Dave Roberts announced on Sunday.The move came a day after Skubal suffered his worst start with the Dodgers, giving up four runs in five innings in Saturday’s 10-4 win over the San Francisco Giants.In his absence, Emmet Sheehan was called up from triple-A, returning in hopes of building off back-to-back strong starts earlier this month.He will follow opener Jack Dreyer on Sunday as the bulk pitcher for the Dodgers’ series finale with the Giants.Roberts said Skubal would be away from the Dodgers for “a couple days.” No further information on his situation was available.Skubal is a contender to be the Dodgers’ Game 1 starter in the playoffs, after being acquired in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline in August.

Even after Saturday’s setback, in which he allowed eight hits and bemoaned his lack of fastball command, the left-hander is 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA in nine starts with the Dodgers this season.The two-time Cy Young Award winner will anchor a postseason rotation also expected to include Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (assuming he continues to recover from his recent groin injury).The Dodgers also freshened up their bullpen on Sunday, swapping out right-handers was calling up Kyle Hurt and optioning Seth Halvorsen. The team enters Sunday with the chance to not only sweep the Giants, but further lower their current magic number of four to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs.They enter play on Sunday four games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the No.2 seed in the National League....