Left-hander Gonsalves shines for Lookouts

Feeling loose in the bullpen before Friday's start, Stephen Gonsalves had a "little extra velo in the tank" on his fastball and a feeling his stuff would translate on the field.
The Twins' No. 3 prospect yielded four hits and two walks while striking out four over 6 2/3 scoreless innings as Double-A Chattanooga topped Jackson, 3-1, at AT&T Field. 

Gameday box score
"I established my fastball early and the changeup was my second go-to," Gonsalves said. "The curveball was hit-and-miss tonight, but the slider was there. It was more of a cutter at 85-87 [mph]. I was mixing it in for strikes with my changeup and it felt pretty good."
MLB.com's No. 73 overall prospect missed the first seven weeks of the season with shoulder discomfort, but has returned to post a 2.68 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with 96 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings. In July, Gonsalves (8-3) won three of six starts and recorded a 3.31 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. But in his last outing on July 30 against Montgomery, the left-hander matched a season high by allowing three runs on six hits with four walks in 6 1/3 innings, and that prompted some adjustments. 
"Me and my pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, we had a bullpen a couple of days after that start," Gonsalves said. "We really just worked on my aligning and going home and staying behind my pitches and going through to the catcher instead of spinning off after I released the pitch. Just had to stay true and trust my stuff." 
The 23-year-old got back to his successful formula in the first, recording three groundouts on 14 pitches. Gonsalves notched eight outs using three pitches or fewer and threw 62 of 98 pitches for strikes. 
"I think I faced 28 batters tonight and threw about 20 first-pitch strikes," the 2013 fourth-round pick said. "And that's been the key. As long as you get ahead in this league, you'll be able to compete and stay in the game and keep your team in it." 
Jamie Westbrook led off the second with a double, but Gonsalves got Michael Perez and No. 19 D-backs prospect Victor Reyes to line out before striking out Kelly Dugan.
After a 1-2-3 third, Gonsalves surrendered a single to Marty Herum to start the fourth and issued a walk to Perez with two outs. The 6-foot-5, 213-pound hurler bore down and whiffed Reyes to escape further trouble. In the sixth, Gonsalves worked around two singles by getting Westbrook to pop out to second baseman Ryan Walker. 

"Normally, I'm in heavy counts," he said. "In the fifth or sixth inning I'm usually at 100 pitches because I might be striking out nine. This hasn't been the case the past couple of times out. Just pitching to contact, staying within myself and just competing as long as I can." 
Pitching into the seventh for the second straight start, the San Diego high school product walked Perez to start the frame. Gonsalves got Reyes to ground into a fielder's choice and Dugan to fly out before being replaced by Todd Van Steensel.
"I always want to finish the game," Gonsalves said. "[Manager] Jake Mauer made the right call, I was at 98 pitches and we had a righty coming up and we had Todd Van Steensel in the 'pen ready to go. He's been lights-out the past couple of weeks and we probably have one of the greatest bullpens in the league, that's one of the reasons why we're 35 games over .500 right now."
• Get tickets to a Lookouts game »
Van Steensel surrendered a hit and fanned two over 1 1/3 innings and Gabriel Moya recorded his 19th save after allowing a home run to Perez in the ninth. 
Second-ranked Twins prospect Nick Gordon belted his eighth homer and T.J. White launched his 11th long ball for the Lookouts.