Dodgers begin homestand with convincing win over White Sox

LOS ANGELES ― The Dodgers arrived home this week from a deflating road trip in which their only two wins were the result of shutouts.

Recent history almost repeated itself Tuesday. Tony Gonsolin threw six shutout innings and the Dodgers took a shutout into the ninth inning en route to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Two-run home runs in the first inning from Will Smith and David Peralta staked Gonsolin to a 4-0 lead before an announced crowd of 45,561 at Dodger Stadium.

“Any win is obviously important,” Smith said, “Tonight, we had a rough road trip, a couple games got away from us, but it’s good. Off-day yesterday, back in today, and get a big win.”

After falling out of a tie for first place in the National League West during their 2-4 stretch in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, the Dodgers (38-29) gained a game on the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks (41-26) on Tuesday. Three games separate first and second place in the division.

Jason Heyward had two of the Dodgers’ eight hits. He capped the scoring in the sixth inning when he singled, went to second base on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

All five runs came at the expense of White Sox starter Lance Lynn (4-7).

Gonsolin’s fastball velocity was diminished but his results were not. The right-hander walked two batters and allowed two singles – one as a result of a mental error by second baseman Miguel Vargas – and struck out six batters in six innings.

Gonsolin relied heavily on his split-fingered fastball, throwing it 34 times – more than any other pitch in his 90-pitch effort. It generated seven swings and misses. His overreliance on the splitter might have been a matter of need.

Gonsolin’s four-seam fastball averaged 91.1 mph, down 1.4 mph from his season average. It did not generate a single swing and miss, but it also ticked up as the game went along and did not yield any hard contact. The right-hander lowered his ERA for the season to 1.93.

“Even with a 90-mph fastball at times in the first three innings they were still late on it because he was sequencing so well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

A right forearm strain limited Gonsolin to seven starts in the second half of last season. He missed nearly the first month of the 2023 regular season with an ankle sprain. Gonsolin hasn’t missed a turn in the rotation since; Roberts reiterated that Gonsolin is not guarding against any unreported health issues.

Still, the Dodgers decided to push Gonsolin’s most recent turn in the rotation back a couple of days after the pitcher reported soreness in the days following his start Monday in Cincinnati.

“I think the extra couple days really helped me,” Gonsolin said. “For whatever reason I didn’t come out of this last start super great. I just wasn’t bouncing back right away. It was kind of just weird, honestly. I hadn’t really experienced something like that.”

Gonsolin’s pitch count was extended Tuesday by a clean single by Andrew Vaughn, and a few other things out of his control.

In the first inning, home plate umpire Brian O’Nora called a 2-and-2 slider to Luis Robert Jr. a ball. The pitch was so close to being an inning-ending strike, Gonsolin began walking off the mound. He got back on the rubber, walked Robert, and threw a total of five more pitches in the inning.

In the second, Jake Burger reached base on an error when Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts fielded a routine ground ball and threw the ball wide of first base. In the sixth, both Gonsolin and Freddie Freeman ran to cover first base on a ground ball to Vargas’ left. Freeman got to the bag first, but Vargas threw the ball to Gonsolin instead, and Yoan Moncada was safe.

Caleb Ferguson and Evan Phillips each threw a scoreless inning in relief. The Sox got their only run against Dodgers pitcher Tayler Scott on a double, a fielders’ choice and a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

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