(CBSLA) — The dynamics of baseball have certainly changed dramatically in the last five years. The Dodgers went into Game 2 on Wednesday night starting Tony Gonsolin with the plan of removing him early in the game. How early? Well, Gonsolin ended up making the shortest World Series start since 2014.
The 26-year-old was pulled in the second inning after allowing Manuel Margot to advance third on a fly ball to center for the first out of the inning. The four out outing was the shortest for a World Series starter since Jake Peavy for the San Francisco Giants in Game 6 of the 2014 World Series against the Kansas City Royals.
Tony Gonsolin is the first starter since Jake Peavy in 2014 to be pulled from a #WorldSeries game after getting just 4 or fewer outs
The last Dodger to get pulled that early was John Tudor & the shortest stint by a Dodger SP was 0 outs by Bob Welch in '81 and Harry Taylor in '47 https://t.co/YUcREkhi9p
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 22, 2020
However, there’s a vast difference between Peavy and Gonsolin. Peavy was pulled after giving up five runs, all earned over that inning and a third of work. For Gonsolin, he gave up just a solo shot to Brandon Lowe in the top of the first inning and the walk and stolen base to Margot.
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Showing just how much the Dodgers thinking has evolved, the start was the shortest for the team since John Tudor in Game 3 of the 1988 World Series. The Dodgers went on to lose that game 2-1 to the Oakland A’s.
As you can see above, it’s not the shortest outing in Dodgers World Series history however. That ignominious honor belongs to Bob Welch in 1981 and Harry Taylor in 1947.
Was not going to throw more than a coupe innings anyways.