LOS ANGELES — Tony Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a four-hitter against the San Diego Padres’ supercharged lineup, winning 8-1 Friday night after honoring Vin Scully.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts led the stadium in a unison call of Scully’s signature “It’s time for Dodgers baseball” during a memorial before the game. Scully died Tuesday at age 94.
“It speaks to how much love the Dodger family has for Vin,” Roberts said. “It was a special moment.”
The NL West rivals met for the first time since San Diego acquired superstar Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Dodgers extended their division lead to a season-best 13 1/2 games over the Padres and showed no signs of slowing down.
Gonsolin (13-1) struck out six and allowed three hits. He overcame a 30-pitch first inning and left two runners on. After that, he settled in.
“I was grinding at-bats. (Jurickson) Profar starting with 10-11 (pitches) was too many,” Gonsolin said. “Fouling off some good pitches. I was throwing a lot of balls early but executed when I needed to.”
PHOTOS: Gonsolin, Dodgers 4-hit revamped Padres in 8-1 win
Soto was showered with “Future Dodger” chants at Chavez Ravine last month when he played in the All-Star Game with his name on the trade block. Washington sent the 23-year-old to Los Angeles’ rival instead, and Soto was booed in each at-bat Friday.
Soto and ex-Dodger Manny Machado had two of the Padres’ four hits.
The Dodgers scored four runs in the first inning on a two-run double by Hanser Alberto, an infield single by Will Smith and an error. The Dodgers added another four runs in the third inning, on a two-run double by Chris Taylor - in his first game back from the IL - and Cody Bellinger’s two-run double.
Sean Manaea (6-6) had one of the worst starts of his season, allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits in four innings.
“I’ve said often that a lot of times you can get to a starter in the first before you get to a rhythm and they certainly did,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “They were on some fastballs middle of the plate and it ended up being a tough inning and so was the third.”
Joey Gallo had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning, his second hit since being acquired by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.
The Padres scored on Drury’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.
NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS
Nothing new was revealed in Clayton Kershaw’s MRI on Friday. He has back soreness that caused him to leave Thursday’s game against the Giants. Roberts said he’ll rest and re-set.
“There wasn’t any new findings, so that’s a positive,” Roberts said. “This was the best-case scenario coming from the MRI.”
FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS WEAR BROWN
Trea Turner is former teammates with Juan Soto and Josh Bell in Washington, and now he’ll see them plenty in the NL West. The Dodgers and Padres play nine times in September.
“I told them they look terrible in brown,” Trea Turner joked. “It’s good to see them on a team that’s competing. Juan has won a World Series and was a big part of our (Nationals) team obviously in 2019. JB hasn’t been there yet. Hopefully, he has a chance to play in the postseason. Happy for those guys. Look forward to playing a lot of baseball games.”
TIP OF THE CAP
Before he threw a pitch, Gonsolin tipped his cap from the mound toward the broadcast booth. Gonsolin never had the chance to meet Scully.
“Being able to have the start today on the first day back with the ceremony, just wanted to show my appreciation for Vin,” Gonsolin said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (fractured wrist) will begin a rehab assignment either Saturday or Sunday in Double-A San Antonio.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Mike Clevinger (3-3, 3.13 ERA) earned his first win in more than a month in his last start, allowing just one run on five hits in seven innings against Colorado.
Dodgers: LHP Andrew Heaney (1-0, 0.77 ERA) allowed just one earned run and four hits in four innings against the Giants on Monday. It was his second start back from a left shoulder strain.
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