Tony Gonsolin struggled out of the gate on Sunday afternoon as the Los Angeles Dodgers were swept by the Los Angeles Angels in the first leg of the 2025 Freeway Series.
Gonsolin allowed a leadoff home run to Zach Neto and then dealt with some bleeding from his right hand, which prompted a visit from manager Dave Roberts and the training staff.
“Just had some dead skin after the bullpen and tried to pick it off, and it took some good skin with it. Just wouldn’t stop bleeding,” Gonsolin explained after the Dodgers’ 6-4 loss.
The 31-year-old remained in the game and largely kept his finger issue at bay from there. However, a one-out walk was followed by Taylor Ward hitting a two-run homer to give the Angels a 3-0 lead in the first.
Gonsolin bounced back with a perfect second inning, but gave up another run in the third. He managed to complete four innings on a season-high 97 pitches, which was a moral victory in itself for Gonsolin.
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to let something like a little blood pull me out of the game, especially after this first batter,” he began.
“So fortunate enough to get through four today. A lot of grinding, a lot of balls, just a lot of poor execution. And the boys did a good job battling back, we just couldn’t hold on.”
Gonsolin issued only four walks in his first three starts of the season, but surpassed that total with five free passes against the Angels.
“I mean, potentially, but I don’t make excuses for myself like that,” he answered when asked if the finger injury affected his command. “I still need to execute pitches, and I wasn’t doing that today.”
Gonsolin added: “I mean, it’s basically just like having skin there, honestly. I don’t make excuses for it. I just couldn’t execute pitches, and I’m not going to blame my thumb or whatever. It’s just I didn’t pitch good today.”
Tony Gonsolin hopes finger injury was fluke
Gonsolin noted that he has not dealt with a similar injury in the past and hopes the occurrence on Sunday was nothing more than bad luck.
“I hadn’t dealt with it at all, actually,” Gonsolin said. “Again, I pulled some dead skin off my finger, and it took some good skin with it, and that’s what was causing the bleeding.”
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