The Dodgers have played 111 games thus far in the 2022 season. They are 78-33 with a .702 winning percentage. They have 51 games remaining in the regular season. They are in first place in the National League West with a 16.0-game lead over the second place San Diego Padres. And though it is a bit premature to start talking about Magic Numbers with 51 games remaining, theirs is currently 43 to win their ninth National League West division title in the last 10 seasons.

With their commanding 8-3 win over the AL Central fourth-place Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night, the Dodgers extended the current winning streak to 11 games.

In other words, it is:

• A bad time to not be the Dodgers,
• A bad time to have to have to play the Dodgers over those next 51 games.

In yet another stellar performance by Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin, the 28-year-old Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, CA took a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh on Friday.

“Tony was good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s win behind his All-Star right-hander. “I think that it helped that this was a very aggressive offensive ball club. They were aggressive in the zone, he was trying to get ahead, got some quick outs, had his pitch-count low, so good.

“I think in that sixth inning, seventh inning – something like that – I thought he hit a wall,” Roberts added. “I thought the slider started to get up there a little bit, he couldn’t get the split – didn’t have the depth that it had – loss some velocity on the fastball, so I tried to sneak him through the seventh inning, thought it was his time to… I thought he had enough, and it was good that David (Price) finished that inning.”

Gonsolin made it into the sixth inning before allowing his first base runner, a one-out walk to Royals right fielder Kyle Isbel, and into the seventh inning before giving up his first hit, a one-out single by Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. He finished his brilliant 6.2 innings of work allowing only one run on two hits, with three strikeouts and three walks enroute to his team-best 14th win of the season with only one loss, while lowering his ERA to a team-best 2.24 ERA.

“It was pretty solid and I felt like I was throwing a lot of strikes,” Gonsolin said of his 21st start of the season. “They were swinging a lot which helped keep my pitch count down and made some good pitches early to get some soft contact.”

As Dodger fans know, ‘Goose’ (as Gonsolin is affectionally known) was named to the 2022 National League All-Star team for the first time in his (thus far) four-year MLB career. He is also currently second on the team in strikeouts with 105 behind only left-hander Julio Urias‘ 117.

With the win, Gonsolin is now tied with Atlanta’s Kyle Wright (14-5) for most wins in the National League. He also significantly improved his chances to win his first career NL Cy Young Award, although this, too, is a bit premature to call.

Regardless, great job, Goose!

Play Ball!

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