Tony Gonsolin had a rebound game on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers blew out the newly-revamped San Diego Padres, 8-1, in the series opener at Dodger Stadium.
In July, Gonsolin posted a 4.40 ERA following his stellar three months where he posted a 1.58 ERA through June. The rough patch began in St. Louis when he allowed five runs in five innings, and that was followed by giving up seven runs across 11 innings in his next two outings.
But in his first August start, Gonsolin allowed no runs on just three hits while going five innings against the Padres’ high-powered lineup. The right-hander considered his performance a step in the right direction.
“I think a lot of my pitches are coming around, I think the trust in the fastball is coming back, which is nice to see,” Gonsolin said. “I’ve definitely been trying to attack guys and stay ahead. It’s great when our hitters hit like they do and give a lot of that support so I’m just able to attack guys.”
While Gonsolin was able to settle in nicely and find a rhythm, his overall start was limited by throwing 30 pitches in the first inning.
“I felt like it was just kind of grindy at-bats,” Gonsolin said. “(Jurickson) Profar starting off the game with whatever it was, 10, 11 pitches. I don’t even know how many pitches — too many.
“Just kind of fouling off some good pitches, I was throwing a lot of balls early, kind of spraying it a little bit, but executed when I needed to. Overall it didn’t come back to hurt me.”
Gonsolin also ended up going with a fastball-heavy gameplan against the Padres, but he said that wasn’t necessarily part of his approach going into the start.
“I think just falling behind in some counts, or not landing the offspeed stuff for strikes kind of forced me into being fastball heavy,” He said. “But I thought it was pretty good and I executed it when I needed to.”
Gonsolin pitched after Dodgers’ Vin Scully ceremony
Prior to the start, the Dodgers honored the life of Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, who passed away on Aug. 2 at the age of 94.
“Just tried to take it all in,” Gonsolin said. “I never got to meet Vin, but he’s a legend. For us and everyone to honor that and cherish that moment, it meant a lot for me and I just tried to take it all in.”
When Gonsolin first took the mound and before he threw his first pitch, he tipped his cap to the broadcast booth to honor the Dodgers’ legend.
“Just being able to have this start on the first game back, with the ceremony, I just wanted to show my appreciation to Vin.”
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