The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a sweep of the San Diego Padres behind a strong start from Tony Gonsolin, who earned his first win of the season.
Gonsolin pitched five shutout innings while only giving up two hits and added six strikeouts compared to only one walk.
The right-hander did not have his best stuff, posting a called strikes + whiffs percentage of just 21%, but he was still able to navigate a talented lineup.
“I thought my fastball command was some of the best it’s been since I debuted in ’19,” Gonsolin said. “I think that really saved me today.”
It was just his fourth start of the season after returning from the 15-day injured list, but Gonsolin has continued to build on each outing. He has now turned in two consecutive starts without allowing an earned run.
“I definitely feel great health-wise,” Gonsolin said. “I feel good and I’m building more confidence every day. Just trusting that everything is working.”
While Gonsolin did not have his best swing-and-miss stuff, his fastball velocity was noticeably up. The average on his fastball was 1.6 mph higher than his season average, and it was even 0.5 mph faster than the average from last year.
Gonsolin was encouraged by his velocity, and that uptick stood out to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“I think the thing that sticks out most with Tony is the fastball velocity,” Roberts said. “A lot of 95s (mph) today, just really executed it, commanded with conviction, and the secondaries were really good.
“He probably would’ve liked to have been a little bit more efficient to get into the sixth inning, but looking out at what we have ahead of us, I thought it was smart to kind of make that the end of the line. But really impressed with the way he threw the baseball.”
Tony Gonsolin held Padres scoreless
Although the Padres were widely considered to be the most talented lineup in baseball, the Dodgers pitching staff held them to just four runs in the three-game series sweep.
The Padres have been struggling since the start of the season, but with a lineup that features Fernando Tatís Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth, they have the ability to turn it around at any moment.
“They’re a really good lineup,” Gonsolin said. “Can’t take any pitches off, top to bottom they all hit well, so I was fortunate to come out of this one without any runs. They had a couple innings with some guys on and guys in scoring position early. We played really good defense.”
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
