The Dodgers used five pitchers in their ugly 8-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, only one of them was good.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the one not bad one was 28-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin, who was making his first start of the season, having begun it on the 15-day injured list after suffering a left ankle sprain while walking off the backfields at Camelback Ranch during Spring Training.

But even though the Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA allowed no runs and only two hits in his 3.1-inning season debut, he was not all that pleased with his outing, having walked three Pirates batters while striking out only one.

“I threw way too many balls today, just not throwing very many effective pitches and falling behind in a lot of counts,” Gonsolin told reporters after his season debut. “I felt like I was throwing a lot of strikes in the bullpen, my bullpen felt really good, and then just when I got onto the game mound, it just kinda wasn’t there. I felt ready, just didn’t throw a lot of strikes, honestly.”

Of Gonsolin’s 65 total pitches, only 39 were strikes (60%). His only strikeout in his season debut was that of Pirates second baseman Ji Hwan Bae in the bottom of the third inning.

“I thought he was good, but I just think that they did a good job of controlling the strike zone and making him repeat pitches, and the pitch-count got up there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Gonsolin’s season debut. “But I think that was more of a reflection of that offensive approach tonight verses what Tony could or couldn’t do.”

Again, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that Gonsolin’s first replacement, 27-year-old Dodgers right-hander Phil Bickford, allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout and one walk in his one inning of relief of Gonsolin.

Next came 25-year-old left-hander Justin Bruihl, who allowed one run on three hits with one strikeout and no walks in his one inning of relief.

It gets worse.

Next came 28-year old right-hander Yency Almonte, who allowed four runs on two hits with no strikeouts and one walk in his 1.1 inning pitched to make it a (then) 7-1 ballgame.

And then there was 27-year-old left-hander Alex Vesia, who allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout and no walks in his 1.1 inning of work, to make it 8-1, the final score.

“Even after (Gonsolin) came out of the game, we still had a chance to win the game,” said Roberts.

Didn’t happen.

As for the Dodgers offense, their lone run came on a solo home run by Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, his fourth of the season, with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, so there’s that.

The three game series with the Bucs wrap ups with a matinee game on Thursday morning, with a 9:35 A.M. PDT scheduled start time and left-hander Julio Urías on the mound.

Play Ball!

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