Tony Gonsolin lifts Dodgers past Padres as NL West showdown continues
Faced with a hard-charging San Diego Padres team in their most important game of the season to date, the Dodgers needed Tony Gonsolin to be one cool cat Tuesday night. They picked the right guy.
The feline fan simply turned in the best start of his young career, going a career-high seven innings while allowing just four hits as the Dodgers beat the Padres, 3-1, at Petco Park.
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San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado applies a tag to Los Angeles Dodgers’ Will Smith in the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in San Diego. The Padres challenged the call of safe and it was over turned after review. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
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Kenley Jansen #74, Cody Bellinger #35 and Edwin Rios #43 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate after defeating the San Diego Padres 3-1 in a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Edwin Rios #43 bumps into Tony Gonsolin #46 of the Los Angeles Dodgers as he catches a fly ball hit by Trent Grisham #2 of the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres drops his bat on a wild pitch during the ninth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Clayton Kershaw #22 congratulates Edwin Rios #43 of the Los Angeles Dodgers at the dugout after his solo homerun during the fifth inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Manager Dave Roberts, and team trainer take Caleb Ferguson #64 of the Los Angeles Dodgers out during the eighth inning of a game against the San Diego Padres t PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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A.J. Pollock #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers leaps to catch a fly ball hit by Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres during the third inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Third base coach Dino Eble congratulates Edwin Rios #43 of the Los Angeles Dodgers after his solo homerun during the fifth inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Will Smith #16 congratulates Mookie Betts #50 after he scored on an RBI single by Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Wil Myers #4 of the San Diego Padres is unable to field an RBI single hit by Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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The Los Angeles Dodgers bench reacts after Edwin Rios hits a solo home run off San Diego Padres starting pitcher Zach Davies in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
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San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado reacts after Trent Grisham reaches first base safely on a bunt against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in San Diego. Jurickson Profar scored on the play. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
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Chris Taylor #3 is out at second base after Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit into a double play as Jake Cronenworth #9 of the San Diego Padres makes the throw to first base during the fourth inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres flys out to centerfield during the third inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Tony Gonsolin #46 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Dodgers’ Edwin Rios reacts as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run against the San Diego Padres starting pitcher Zach Davies in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
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Tony Gonsolin #46 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Manny Machado #13 looks on as Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres throws out A.J. Pollock #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Will Smith #16 celebrates with Kenley Jansen #74 of the Los Angeles Dodgers after defeating the San Diego Padres 3-1 in a game at PETCO Park on September 15, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
“It was great. You never know until you know and you see it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Gonsolin rising to the occasion. “Given the circumstances right now, there was a lot at stake. I think he realized that and he picked us up. To lose the game late the way we lost it (Tuesday in San Diego) and to come back and be a stopper was really good to see — especially for a young pitcher.”
As calm and composed as Gonsolin was for seven innings, there was plenty of drama for the Dodgers in the final two innings after he left the game.
Lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson started the eighth inning by striking out Jurickson Profar on three pitches. But he waved for the trainer after his third pitch and left the game with an apparent elbow injury. Roberts said initial tests were “not conclusive” but “didn’t present as a UCL so we’re keeping our fingers crossed for Caleb.”
Ferguson has already had Tommy John surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament once (as a senior in high school six years ago). He will undergo an MRI in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
As costly as an injury to Ferguson might be, the Dodgers have much more resting on the performance of closer Kenley Jansen.
Pitching in a save situation for the first time since blowing a three-run lead and failing to retire a batter in the ninth inning against the Houston Astros on Saturday, Jansen loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, allowing singles to Manny Machado and Mitch Moreland (a pop up that fell in front of center fielder A.J. Pollock) then walking Austin Nola.
But Jansen rallied back to strike out Wil Myers and Jake Cronenworth and strand the go-ahead runs.
“It wasn’t the easiest one tonight. They’re locked in and I tried to be locked in too, bounce back,” Jansen said on SportsNet LA. “I’m not going to let stuff that happened in the past define our season. Our season is trying to win a championship. I don’t care about results or stats or any of that bullcrap — sorry, I almost cursed. It’s time to win a championship.”
Jansen has allowed 11 baserunners (and eight runs) in his past four outings. But Roberts once again affirmed his confidence in his closer.
“I know what he can do. I’ve seen it,” Roberts said. “Now the challenge is every time I hand him the baseball to have that same focus and intensity. These games are only going to get bigger as we finish the season out and get into the postseason. I trust him with the baseball.”
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Padres (their longest since 2012) that had cut the Dodgers’ lead to 1 1/2 games in the NL West. That lead is back to 2 1/2 and the Doddgers’ magic number to clinch an eighth consecutive division title is down to nine.
Late to Summer Camp due to a positive coronavirus test (which he believes was a false positive), Gonsolin spent much of this season traveling between Dodger Stadium and the alternate training site at USC.
Gonsolin can put away the GPS if he hadn’t already. His start in San Diego should cement his position in the Dodgers’ postseason pitching plans.
Gonsolin gave up a two-out double in the second inning. A leadoff double by Profar in the third led to the Padres’ only run of the night when it was followed by two bunts.
But that was all the damage the Padres could manage against Gonsolin. He retired 14 of 15 batters after Trent Grisham’s bunt single drove in the only run for the Padres, the only blemish being another infield hit.
“You can see the great ones — and I’m not putting him in that category quite yet, but he was smelling it,” Roberts said. “There were signs of another guy on our staff that you can see that smells it. He’s been fortunate enough to be around that player, No. 22 (Clayton Kershaw), for a year and a half and see some things.”
Gonsolin finished with those four hits allowed, no walks and two strikeouts. Sixty-three of Gonsolin’s 90 pitches were strikes. He became the first starting pitcher this season to complete seven innings against the Padres in under 100 pitches.
“Every game I get to go out there and throw is the biggest game to me,” Gonsolin said of the importance of Tuesday’s game. “So I want to go out there and do the best I can do, throw strikes and give our team a chance to win and go as deep as possible.”
If Gonsolin’s pulse never rose, it also couldn’t drop. The Dodgers didn’t let him get too comfortable, taking a one-run lead in the third and expanding it only by one in the fifth.
Justin Turner returned to the lineup after missing 14 games with a strained hamstring and went 3 for 4, driving in a run in the first and scoring one in the third on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single.
Edwin Rios added a solo home run in the fifth.
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