Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers got behind early today and never felt in the game in a nice and easy 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays.
The loss drops the Dodgers to 7-5 after the All-Star break and ends their streak of five consecutive series wins.
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Tony Gonsolin has struggled in 2023, carrying an ERA a run higher than his career number, and has seen his run prevention magic become slowly less captivating.
He did start the game well, notching a 1-2-3 frame in the 1st, but the 2nd led to immediate trouble behind a single and double to put a pair in scoring position. Remarkably, he got a double play off a Whit Merrifield sacrifice fly that helped him limit the damage to just one run.
The trouble was only getting started, though. Gonsolin started the 3rd by hitting a batter, gave up a single to advance a runner into scoring position, and then Brandon Belt drove the run in for a 2-0 lead to the Blue Jays.
He later issued a walk in the inning to load things up before escaping, and was honestly lucky to only give up a pair of runs.
First 10 balls in play off #Dodgers Tony Gonsolin, 5 of them had exit velocities of 95 mph or higher. His fastball velocity, meanwhile, is back at its sinking season avg of 92.9 mph after some hopeful signs of more in his previous start
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 26, 2023
After stranding a lead-off walk in the 4th, the 5th started with a single and saw another put up later, but there were two outs. Unfortunately, Tony made perhaps the worst 0-2 pitch I’ve ever seen in a hanging split right down the fucking middle for a three-run homer to make it a 5-0 lead.
Credit to him for giving the Dodgers the pitches, I guess, but fucking hell: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 109 Pitches.
Things didn’t get a lot better when the pen entered, as Alex Vesia gave up a solo shot to Danny Jansen to push the lead to 6-0 for the Blue Jays.
On the other side, Yusei Kikuchi wasn’t necessarily doing much better early, but he did do the important part of preventing runs from crossing the plate. The Dodgers stranded back-to-back singles to start the game in the 1st, and did similar for a pair of singles and a walk to leave them loaded in the 2nd.
He settled in the 3rd, striking out the side, and faced the minimum in the 4th after having a single erased by a double play. He seemed to find trouble again in the 5th when he started by hitting a batter and issuing a walk, but another double play prevented any damage.
The Dodgers finally broke through in the 6th, as Chris Taylor led off with a double and James Outman came up with a two-out single to make it 6-1.
James Outman singles home the first run of the game for the Dodgers, notches another multi-hit effort. pic.twitter.com/GNpUHt9Xav
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 26, 2023
Tyson Miller made his Dodger debut in the 7th and got a nine-pitch inning on three fly balls. He continued on in the 8th but didn’t have as much success. While he got two outs after a lead-off single, he then gave up another single, uncorked a wild pitch, walked a batter to load the bases and then gave up a Bo Bichette single to drive in two and make it 8-1.
To finish off the Blue Jays, it was Phil Bickford, issuing just a walk in a scoreless frame.
As all this was going on, the Blue Jays pen was at work, getting a clean 7th, working around a two-out walk and single in the 8th, and then another clean inning in the 9th.
Game ova.
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Enrique Hernandez basically provided the only entertaining thing of the day.
Enrique Hernandez's ovation and pre-game dance is basically it for Dodgers highlights so far. pic.twitter.com/h512ZjxVbf
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 26, 2023
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 58-43 |
| Giants | 55-47 (3.5 GB)* |
| Diamondbacks | 55-48 (4 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The Dodgers will have a day off tomorrow while remaining at home to welcome in the Reds, starting at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET with Bobby Miller (4.28 ERA/3.80 xERA/4.45 DRA) facing off against Brandon Williamson (4.60/5.56/6.37).
