It had been more than two weeks since Juan Soto, the only man in baseball with a richer contract than Shohei Ohtani, had recorded an extra-base hit for the New York Mets.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Saturday night at Citi Field, however, Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin provided him the perfect opportunity to get back on track.
Advertisement
After a solid opening three innings for Gonsolin, who was making an all-important start for the Dodgers a night after their 13-inning marathon victory in the series opener, the right-hander had made a mess for himself in the fourth.
With two outs, he issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to load the bases. The Dodgers’ early one-run lead then disappeared when Starling Marte reached on a half-swing infield single.
Read more: Teoscar Hernández and Dodgers defeat Mets in 13 innings, but pitching issues loom large
That brought up Soto, who had underperformed through much of his first two months in Queens after signing a $765-million mega-contract with the Mets. Gonsolin got ahead 1-and-2 in the count, before narrowly missing with a slider. He tried to come back with his trademark splitter. But Soto was all over it, crushing a two-run double that proved to be the decisive blow in New York’s 5-2 victory over the Dodgers.
Advertisement
“At the outset, I was pretty optimistic, getting a 2-0 lead,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And then there was that [fourth inning] where he sort of lost command, had two outs and the back-to-back walks. … And obviously the big hit from Soto with two outs. He just couldn’t kind of limit damage right there.”
In what likely will be a preview of what’s to come for the Dodgers (32-20) over a grueling portion of their schedule in the next month, the team’s fate Saturday was almost entirely reliant upon the performance of their starter.
On Friday night, their already overworked bullpen had been gassed again by their extra-inning gantlet. And though they won that game, and freshened up their pitching staff by calling up Bobby Miller on Saturday for some extra length, Roberts had his hands tied as Gonsolin started to lose command.
Juan Soto runs to first base after hitting a two-run double in the fourth inning Saturday against the Dodgers. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Over his first three innings against the Mets (31-21), Gonsolin had been fine, giving up one run in a two-out rally in the second by skirting more danger in the third by dialing up an inning-ending double-play with…