Tony Gonsolin can’t save Dodgers from blowout loss to Brewers
The dodgers were smart to fly Tony Gonsolin on Sunday to Milwaukee, ahead of the team because the right-hander looked well-rested and sharp Monday night against the Brewers at American Family Field.
The same can’t be said for the rest of the Dodgers, who were delayed Sunday night due to a minor team bus accident leaving Petco Park, flew four hours from San Diego to Milwaukee, and arrived at their hotel around 3:45 a.m. time after winning two out of three games in an intense series against divisional rivals Padres.
Manager Dave Roberts dismissed talk of a “hangover effect,” but the Dodgers looked soaked in a 9-3 loss that saw offense score six and go 0-6 with runners in goal position, and defense made a crucial error that resulted in three unearned runs. and two lower-leverage helpers were torched for six runs.
“The hangover tonight was Peralta,” Roberts said of Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta, who kept the Dodgers to one run and three hits in six innings. “I thought we’d add some momentum to this series … I don’t think the energy has let up, but when a guy carves you, it takes the wind out of your sails.”
Gonsolin, who made his third start after missing most of April with a left ankle sprain, looked dominant for most of his six-inning, 80-pitch stint, giving up three hits, batting six and walking none, his only mistake a hanging fastball with split fingers that Joey Wiemer hit in the fifth for a three-run homer.
“I’m telling you, Tony threw the crap out of baseball — it was just a mistake,” Roberts said. “I really liked all of his stuff – speed, the secondary pitches, how he sequenced.”
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta delivers against the Dodgers in the first inning on Monday.
(Morry Gash/Associated Press)
Gonsolin retired 12 of the first 13 Brewers he faced, five by strikeout, and had just one hit when William Contreras opened the fifth with a slow roll to the left of third baseman Michael Busch. Busch recovered from an initial wobble in time to pull back the slow catcher, but his throw sailed wide of first base due to an error.
“Yes,” Busch said when asked if he had more time for the play than he realized. “I tried to throw it quickly, but I have to get it in my glove first.”
Gonsolin defeated Brian Anderson and got Brice Turang throwing himself into a fielder’s choice for the second out, but Tyrone Taylor went to the middle, and Gonsolin conceded an 84-mile sliver down the middle to Wiemer, who hit a 109- Miles-screamer in goal sent pitches in left field for his third homer of the season and a 3-0 lead.
“We just have to do plays,” Roberts said. “If you give teams extra outs at some point, it’s going to cost you something.”
The Dodgers got a run-back for the sixth time Freddie Freeman doubled, finished third Jason Heyward‘s groundout and continued to score Max Muncy‘s Grounder to the first 3:1.
But the Brewers tacked on against relievers Phil Bickford and Wander Suero in a six-run seventh, Wiemer with an RBI double, Christian Yelich with a two-run single and Willy Adames with a three-run homer for a 9-1 lead.
Chris Taylor hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in ninth place in midfield, and of the Dodgers’ utility man’s 18 hits this season, seven are homers. But the game was way out of reach by then.
“It wasn’t easy, to be honest, but it’s part of the game,” Dodgers left fielder David Peralta said of the grueling travel schedule. “We did our best today. We ground every shot, every inning. It just didn’t go our way. So we’re going to get some rest tonight, freshen up for tomorrow and start over.”
baby boom
The Dodgers were a man in the bullpen after left-hander Caleb Ferguson returned to Los Angeles to be with his wife Carissa, who passed her due date with the couple’s first child. Ferguson served in San Diego on Saturday and Sunday and would not have been available on Monday. The Dodgers will add another arm Tuesday, and Ferguson will become the fifth Dodgers player to be put on the paternity list this season.
