Vaca High grad Gonsolin pitches a gem for Dodgers
Ex-Bulldog star hurls an MLB career-high seven innings
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.
“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.
He 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.
As a senior at Vacaville High, Gonsolin played shortstop and pitched for the 2012 Bulldogs. They tied for first with Napa in the Monticello Empire League with a 13-2 record, losing to Davis 2-1 in the
finals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs. He also played for the 2011 squad that tied Armijo for the MEL title with a record of 12-3.
Gonsolin hit .370 with 26 runs, 19 RBIs and seven triples his senior year. He went 4-1 on the mound that year with a 2.60 ERA. He went on to star for St. Mary’s College in Moraga, where he both pitched and played right field.
The Dodgers selected Gonsolin in the ninth round of the June 2016 MLB draft.
• Matt Sieger contributed to this report.