Starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin will try to remain unbeaten for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gonsolin (11-0, 1.62 ERA) hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his 16 outings this season. He will make his first start since being named to the National League All-Star team.
“Last year’s (shoulder) injury, coming off of that, trying build back up and feel better and feel healthy, I came back and I set a very tall goal of being an All-Star,” Gonsolin said. “My next goal is to win a championship.”
Gonsolin earned his All-Star nod after posting a 1.62 ERA — the fourth-lowest through 16 starts in Dodgers history behind Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Zack Greinke.
In his last start, Gonsolin earned a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings.
Gonsolin is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.
The Dodgers fell in the opener of this three-game road series at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night to snap their seven-game winning streak. They rallied from a 6-1 deficit and got the potential tying run base in the ninth inning before dropping a 7-6 decision.
“(The Dodgers) can hit, they come back,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s good playing the good teams, it really is. They have a good roster, they have an answer for a lot of the moves we want to make.”
The Cardinals, who have won three consecutive games, will turned to starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (6-7, 3.15) for the middle game of this set.
Wainwright threw a complete game in his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, a 2-0 loss. He allowed just five hits, but two of them were homers.
“It’s incredible what he’s doing,” Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around — not just on the field.”
That was the ninth time that Wainwright allowed two runs or fewer this season.
“I wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t think I was still really good at this game,” Wainwright said. “If I thought I wasn’t going to be good anymore, I’d just go home and be a good dad, a good husband. I feel like I can still pitch. It’s not surprising me. That’s what I expected — to go out and pitch well.”
Wainwright is 7-5 with a 2.66 ERA in 17 career outings (14 starts) against the Dodgers. Trea Turner (5-for-14, two doubles, RBI) and Justin Turner (3-for-9, two doubles, RBI) have hit well against him.
Infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan could return to the Cardinals’ lineup on Wednesday. He was available off the bench Tuesday after recovering from a non-COVID-19 illness.
Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is another possibility to return after recovering from a hamstring strain and a wrist contusion. He was hit on the wrist with a pitch while wrapping up a minor league rehabilitation assignment for his leg injury.
–Field Level Media