Gonsolin pitches Dodgers to 11th straight victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tony Gonsolin took a no-hit try into the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers won their 11th straight game, beating the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Friday.
Gonsolin (14-1) tied Atlanta’s Kyle Wright for the NL wins lead. The Dodgers, with the best record in the majors, broke open the game on Trayce Thompson’s three-run homer in the eighth.
“Tony was good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it helped that this was a very aggressive ballclub. They were aggressive in the zone.”
“I thought in the sixth or seventh inning he hit a wall. The slider started to get up there and he couldn’t get the split to have the depth. I felt he had enough,” he said.
Gonsolin did not allow a baserunner until issuing a oneout walk to Kyle Isbel in the sixth, when the game was still scoreless. He didn’t give up a hit until Vinnie Pasquantino’s one-out single in the seventh.
Overall, Gonsolin permitted two hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“It was pretty solid,” Gonsolin said. “I felt like I was throwing a lot of strikes early with everything, which was nice to see. They were swinging a lot, so I kept the pitch count down. I got some soft contact and the guys made some good plays.”
Josh Staumont (3-2) lost in relief, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk, without recording an out.
Royals starter Daniel Lynch gave up just two hits in five scoreless innings. A high pitch count was his undoing as he threw 105 and walked four.
Lynch escaped a basesloaded, no-out jam in the fifth when he got Trea Turner to foul out, struck out Freddie Freeman and retired Will Smith on a flyball.
The Dodgers scored five times in the seventh after loading the bases with no outs on singles by pinch-hitter Gavin Lux and Thompson and a walk to Mookie Betts. Turner hit a two-run single, Freeman followed with an RBI double, and a wild pitch and Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0.
Michael A. Taylor doubled home a run in the Kansas City seventh. Salvador Perez added a two-run homer in the eighth.