Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin had the best pitching performance of his brief two-year MLB career on Saturday evening against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. All the 6′-3″ / 205-pound Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA did was allow only two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking one and striking out a season and career-high eight over his six innings of work.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is the Dodgers Achilles’ heel – RISP – reared it’s ugly head once again, leading to a 5-2 loss to the Rocs.

Through nine innings, the Dodgers left six men on base – not all that horrible or uncommon even for the best team in all of baseball. But what was horrible is that they went a collective 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Among those who had a night which they’d rather forget was Dodgers designated hitter Joc Pederson, who entered the game with an embarrassing .191 / .296 / .415 / .711 slash-line. Pederson grounded into a shift-assisted step-and-throw 6-3 double play with no outs in the bottom of the sixth.

When the dust had settled after Pederson’s 0-for-4 night including a strikeout, he saw his slash-line drop to .184 / .286 / .398 / .684, with 25 strikeouts. He does, however, have six home runs on the season, so he’s got that going for him.

But Pederson wasn’t the only one who had a rough night. Dodgers centerfielder Cody Bellinger was robbed of a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning on an outstanding leaping over-the-wall catch by Rockies right fielder Sam Hilliard. Belli would finish the night going 0-for-3 with a walk.

But the Dodgers lack of offense aside and getting back to Gonsolin, he most certainly did his part in his season and career-high six innings of work on Saturday night.

“Overall, really good. Tony, you know he’s always going to compete,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters during his postgame interview. “I thought the slider was good, I thought the fastball velocity good; the command wasn’t good with the fastball – there was a lot of middle-middle. But he and Austin [Barnes] worked really well with the split-change; didn’t have that early and went to the curveball late. But I thought he got into a rhythm there in the last couple of innings. But Tony, he continues to grow and get better each outing.”

As most Dodger fans know, Gonsolin got roughed up a bit in his last outing against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX. As such, he sees his performance on Saturday as a big confidence booster.

“I had a rough outing in Texas, so to come out and have a performance like today is awesome for me, confidence-wise,” Gonsolin said. “Goes to show my stuff is working. I feel like I’m competent when I throw the ball across the plate — they won’t hit it or will get soft contact, and if they hit it well, our [defensive] positioning has been great.

“I thought early on, with the splitty not really working, the slider was there, so I just kind of went to it a little bit more,” he added. “I thought it was really good today. It looked like it was sharp, and the break was a little bit later, so I just kind of rolled with it.”

Well done, Catman … Achilles’ heel notwithstanding.

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