The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered another disappointing defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night, mustering only four hits in a 1-0 loss at Dodger Stadium.
They also didn’t do Tony Gonsolin any favors defensively, as miscommunication between Gavin Lux and Joc Pederson allowed a fly ball to drop for a leadoff single in the first inning. The Giants went on to load the bases and took their decided lead on an RBI groundout.
That was all Gonsolin allowed but needed 39 pitches to get through the first inning before settling in. “The first inning, I think it’s another example of lack of execution,” Gonsolin critiqued himself. “I think I can execute a little better. I made the adjustment after that.”
Gonsolin tossed three scoreless innings after the first, allowing just the one run in four innings total while giving up two hits to go along with five strikeouts and four walks.
The four walks were a career high for the 25-year-old, but three of them came in the first two innings. “Just throwing everything for strikes,” Gonsolin said of the adjustments he made.
“I felt like I was throwing the curveball off the plate to my glove side, same with the slider and fastball command wasn’t great.”
While Gonsolin only lasted four innings, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed with his ability to settle in despite not having his best stuff.
“I think for us, obviously lose a game, but to see what Tony did after that first inning — he’s a hitter away from being removed from the game — throwing 39 pitches but to reset and throw three scoreless innings after that,” Roberts said.
“That last inning was the best inning of the night for him.”
Gonsolin has been stellar since the Dodgers called him up earlier this season, pitching to a 2.81 ERA in seven games (six starts). He feels that he can be even better if he comes out ready to go.
“I think it’s just recognizing that the adjustment needs to be made sooner,” Gonsolin noted. “After that long inning, I kind of got to relax but I’ve got to be able to make that adjustment sooner.”
It remains to be seen what the plan for Gonsolin is moving forward, but if he continues to impress Roberts the way he has, it would not be surprising to see him make the postseason roster.
“The thing I liked most is you have such a stressful first inning and to be able to not concede and reset, gather yourself and throw up three more zeros,” Roberts said.
“For a young pitcher to not only limit damage, which he did in that first inning when he was stressed, to then come back and make pitches, get better as the outing progresses, I think that really shows a lot of maturity.”
