Tony Gonsolin struggles again and Dodgers lose series to Royals

One team at Kauffman Stadium got a quality start from its pitcher and two scoreless innings of relief, pounded out 15 hits and went eight for 20 with runners in scoring position, ran the bases smartly and aggressively and played stout defense throughout Sunday’s game.

The other team was the Dodgers.

There are no gimmes in baseball no matter how woeful the opponent, but a lopsided 9-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals in which the Dodgers were manhandled by a team with the second-worst record in the majors (25-59) still qualifies as a surprise … or maybe not.

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“Those guys just outplayed us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers fell to 46-37 and 22-22 on the road. “It's a different brand of baseball as far as putting the ball in play, hitting behind runners, stealing bases, they were excellent in situational hitting. To be quite honest, we couldn't keep up.

“They played a better, well-rounded baseball game. They spoiled pitches, kept the line moving with walks and hit batters. So when you look at it that way, it's no surprise at all that they beat us and won the series.”

A third consecutive shaky start by right-hander Tony Gonsolin, who a year ago this month was heading to his first All-Star Game and a breakout season in which he went 16-1 with a 2.14 earned-run average, set the table for Sunday’s loss.

Though his 4-3 record and 3.69 ERA in 12 starts this season seem respectable, Gonsolin hasn’t looked nearly as sharp or as dominant as he did in 2022, especially in his last three starts.

Gonsolin gave up four runs and six hits in 3 ⅔ innings Sunday, striking out three and walking three, and has given up 15 runs and 17 hits, struck out 13 and walked seven in 14 ⅓ innings of his last three games for a 9.42 ERA and .304 batting average against.

“The thing that stands out most is he hasn't had his slider,” Roberts said. “With the splitter, the changeup, he manages [left-handed] hitters. With right-handers, the equalizer has been his slider, and he just hasn't had it. It doesn't have the bite, it's been up in the zone, and he's not getting the swing and miss that we're accustomed to.”

Said Gonsolin: “That’s a fair assessment. I thought it was a little better today, some of the locations, some of the executions of it, some of the movement. I’ve just got to do better.”

Gonsolin looked decent through three innings Sunday, giving up one run and three hits, and the velocity of his fastball, which averaged 92.8 mph, was up a tick from his 92.2 season average.

But things unraveled quickly in the fourth, when Gonsolin walked Drew Waters, Kyle Isbel singled and No. 9 batter Nicky Lopez hit a two-run double to right field for a 3-1 Royals lead. Lopez took third on Garcia’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Bobby Witt Jr.’s RBI single to make it 4-1.

Salvador Perez grounded out, but with the left-handed-hitting Nick Pratto coming up, Roberts pulled Gonsolin in favor of left-hander Victor Gonzalez.

“I just haven’t really been good lately,” Gonsolin said. “I feel like I’ve been walking more guys, falling behind in counts, not executing pitches. It’s super frustrating. I felt like I was doing OK until a few starts ago. I’m just trying to figure it out, trying to compete.”

Gonzalez got the last out of the fourth but gave up three runs in the fifth. An error by shortstop Mookie Betts paved the way for two unearned runs off Yency Almonte in the sixth. The game was so out of hand that infielder Yonny Hernandez pitched the eighth, yielding one hit and no runs.

The bottom four batters in the Royals' order — MJ Melendez, Waters, Isbel and Lopez — combined to go seven for 16 with three doubles, three walks, a hit batter, eight runs and five RBIs.

“We didn’t play well,” Roberts said, “and they played better, frankly.”

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The Dodgers got some semi-encouraging news before the game on ace Clayton Kershaw, who made enough progress in a throwing session for the team to delay a decision to place him on the injured list because of an inflamed shoulder until Monday.

Kershaw, who pulled himself from Tuesday night’s game in Colorado after throwing 79 pitches in six one-hit innings and received a cortisone injection Thursday, is scheduled to pitch Monday night against Pittsburgh.

The left-hander’s start could be pushed back to later this week, or the Dodgers could place him on the IL and give him at least 15 days off before his next start after the All-Star break. If Kershaw can’t go Monday night, Michael Grove will start.

“For me, there wasn’t much guarding of the shoulder, it was more of a clean stroke,” Roberts said of Kershaw’s throwing session. “It's not 100% right now, but there's improvement.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.