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Recap: Tony Gonsolin Adds To String Of Short Starts, Dodgers Offense Silent In 2nd Loss To Giants

Matthew Moreno
3 Min Read
Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports

Miscommunication led to a soaring pitch count for Tony Gonsolin and put the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deficit they never recovered from in a 1-0 loss, their second consecutive defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.

Gonsolin faced a bases-loaded jam and threw 39 pitches in the first inning but managed to keep the Giants to just one run. Trouble began immediately as Gavin Lux’s effort to track down a fly ball in right field led to he and Joc Pederson not communicating.

Lux peeled off at the last second but Pederson moved to avoid colliding with his teammate, and the ball fell for a leadoff single. A one-out walk and single loaded the bases and the Giants took a lead on Kevin Pillar’s RBI groundout.

Despite laboring early and walking three of the first 10 batters faced, Gonsolin managed to get through four innings and keep the deficit at 1-0. However, it was a 10th consecutive game a Dodgers starter didn’t go past five innings, and fourth in a row where the starter didn’t complete at least five.

While it was another short outing in what’s been a string of them, the Dodgers offense bore much of the blame Saturday night. Tyler Beede allowed four hits and issued three walks but also had five strikeouts in his five innings of work.

He stranded the bases loaded in the second inning — benefitting from Gonsolin being up to bat with two outs — and did so again in the fifth, though that time retiring Cody Bellinger.

L.A. mustered all of four hits on the night and only had two reach after Justin Turner’s two-out walk loaded the bases in the fifth inning. Kiké Hernandez twice drove a ball deep, only for it to be caught on the warning track both times.

The lack of offense negated what was another impressive effort by the bullpen as a whole. Caleb Ferguson, Yimi Garcia, Dustin May, Joe Kelly, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen combined for six strikeouts and allow three hits and four walks over five scoreless innings.

With the loss, the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the National League West remained at four, and the earliest they can do so is Tuesday.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com