Gonzalez steps up when asked, leads Nats over Phillies

Dusty Baker isn't mincing words. He's challenging Gio Gonzalez to step it up during Stephen Strasburg's absence and give the Nationals the quality starter they desperately need right now to round out their rotation.

Suffice it to say, Baker was one happy man this afternoon after watching the left-hander toss seven innings of one-run ball during a 3-2 victory over the Phillies.

"He seemed like a guy on a mission," Baker said. "We talked the other day, and I told him that he's very important in this equation, especially with Stras out. He responded."

Strasburg's elbow injury, which leaves the right-hander's postseason status up in the air, has left pressure on Gonzalez to put together a strong finish to a season that has been erratic throughout. The overall numbers say he's 11-9 with a 4.27 ERA, but start-to-start there's no telling what the Nationals are going to get.

Baker and pitching coach Mike Maddux made a point to meet with Gonzalez heading into this start and emphasize his importance to the club's overall fortunes at this point. The left-hander took the message to heart.

"This start was a good bounce-back and step in the right direction," Gonzalez said. "Especially having Mad Dog and Dusty kind of like, 'Hey, we're going to need you to kind of focus a little bit more,' that's exactly it. I just wanted to have a good bounce-back."

Gonzalez bounced back thanks to an encouraging display of pitch efficiency. He got through the top of the first on 13 pitches, got through the fifth with a total of only 61 and never faced more than four batters in any individual inning.

Gonzalez walked just one batter. He put away others when he got to two strikes. And when he got into something resembling a jam, he twice induced double plays to help get himself out of trouble.

"The key was the double plays," Baker said. "If you can get two outs on one pitch, that's going to keep your pitch count down. ... Strikeouts require more pitches - and if they foul off pitches, at least three pitches. He was very, very, very good today."

Baker often describes the key for Gonzalez as making sure he pitches "like a left-hander" instead of "like a right-hander." The difference: Lefties typically change speeds and try to induce weak contact, as opposed to right-handers who try to dominate hitters with power.

"We actually talked about it a couple years ago," said third baseman Anthony Rendon, who started all three of the double plays turned by the Nationals today. "When he was coming up, he always wanted to strike everybody out. He wanted to rear back and throw 95 and try to get those big outs and try to be that dominant power pitcher.

"But as he's gotten older, he's learned how to pitch even more. Every year, he's learning. He's getting those groundball outs, so that's taking him deeper into the game because his arm still feels strong. He's not trying to overpower everybody."

It remains to be seen how exactly Gonzalez fits into the Nationals' postseason plans. (Their magic number to clinch the National League East is now 11, heading into this week's series with the Mets, who are still nine games back with 19 to play.)

Assuming Strasburg isn't healthy enough to return by then, Gonzalez figures to be either the Nationals' No. 3 or No. 4 starter in the National League Division Series, with a still-rehabbing Joe Ross taking the other slot behind top-two starters Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark.

Before that happens, the Nationals just want him to put together a few more starts like he did today.

"We've seen it before," Rendon said. "Not surprised."