The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to the win column with a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, thanks in part to Tony Gonsolin turning in another dominant performance.
Coming off a start in which he didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth inning, the right-hander retired the first 10 Brewers faced before issuing a walk to Willy Adames on a borderline pitch.
Gonsolin then induced an inning-ending double play but gave up his first hit on a Keston Hiura single with one out in the fifth. Milwaukee managed just one other base hit off the 28-year-old over his seven shutout innings.
Gonsolin finished his night with eight strikeouts and improved to 15-1 on the season. He’s tied with Justin Verlander for the MLB lead in wins, and Gonsolin attributed the success against the Brewers to being able to command all of his pitches, via SportsNetLA:
“I felt pretty good. We were working on the slider in the bullpen this last go-around, and it came out today. I was really happy with it. … I felt like I was throwing everything for strikes today. I was landing the curveball. Splitter was in there for strikes when I needed to. Same with the slider. I thought the fastball was pretty good and jumping a little bit. Got a lot of foul balls with it.”
Gonsolin specifically praised his slider, which he felt was at its best all season:
“Today was definitely the best it’s been all year. Very happy with it and hopefully can continue that.”
After a rough month of July, Gonsolin has bounced back by allowing just one run in 18.2 innings (0.48 ERA) across his first three starts in August. The 2022 All-Star owns a 2.12 ERA, 3.34 FIP and MLB-best 0.86 WHIP in 123.1 innings pitched this season (22 starts).
Gonsolin not worried about career high in innings
Despite having already set a new career-high in innings pitched, Gonsolin recently noted he isn’t feeling any fatigue. However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated the club will be cautious with him.
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