Dodgers Interview: Gonsolin on his “Bloody Sunday”
"I just didn't pitch good today."
LOS ANGELES — The box score may say Tony Gonsolin lasted four innings in Sunday’s 6–4 loss to the Angels, but the story behind those four frames runs much deeper—starting with a bleeding thumb, poor command, and a night where nothing quite felt right.
It all began during his pregame bullpen session, when Gonsolin noticed some dead skin on his thumb. He made a fateful choice to peel it off—and took too much. “Yeah, just had some dead skin after the bullpen and then tried to pick it off and took some good skin with it,” Gonsolin explained after the game. “It just wouldn’t stop bleeding.”
That bleeding thumb was a problem in the early innings, where Gonsolin struggled mightily to command his pitches and was tagged for three quick runs. Still, the right-hander refused to pin his performance on the injury.
“I mean, potentially,” he said when asked if it affected his mechanics. “But I don’t make excuses for myself like that. I still need to execute pitches. And I wasn’t doing that today.”
After getting checked out on the mound, the Dodgers’ training staff applied Dermabond—a kind of medical adhesive bandage—to stop the bleeding. From that point on, Gonsolin said, “It’s basically just like having skin there, honestly. So again, I don’t make excuses for it. I just couldn’t execute pitches.”
The poor execution led to a high pitch count early, but Gonsolin refused to exit without giving the Dodgers some length.
“I wasn’t going to let something like a little [thumb issue] pull me out of the game, especially after the first batter,” he said. “So, fortunate enough to get through four today. A lot of grinding, a lot of balls, just a lot of poor execution.”
Despite the rocky outing, Gonsolin appreciated the fight shown by his teammates—especially catcher Will Smith, who launched a clutch, game-tying home run late in the contest.
“The boys did a good job battling back,” Gonsolin said. “They just couldn’t get it done in the end.”
The loss was compounded by broader context: the Dodgers have made several recent roster moves to patch together a pitching staff that’s been pushed to its limit. Gonsolin acknowledged the shifts, especially the increased reliance on younger arms. “Yeah, um, wasn’t expecting that personally,” he said. “But I think we’re just trying to win games and give these young guys a shot.”
For Gonsolin, the outing was a reminder of how thin the margins are—even something as small as a torn flap of skin can derail an outing. But he took full ownership of the results.
“I just didn’t pitch good today,” he said plainly.
In the long grind of a 162-game season, days like this happen. But the Dodgers will need more than grit and Dermabond going forward. With the rotation in flux and the bullpen overworked, there’s little room for error as the club tries to steer back on course.
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