LOS ANGELES -- With Clayton Kershaw back from the injured list and the additions of Ryan Yarbrough and Lance Lynn, the Dodgers’ starting rotation has been much improved after an uncharacteristically bad July.

That has left the Dodgers wondering where Tony Gonsolin -- who came into Saturday’s start mired in one of the worst stretches of his career -- fits into their plans as they begin to sort through their options for the rest of the regular season and into the postseason. Before the game, manager Dave Roberts made it clear Gonsolin needed to perform better in order to keep his spot in the rotation.

Gonsolin certainly rose to the challenge in the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Rockies on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, allowing just one run and striking out six over six strong innings.

“I thought it was his best outing in quite some time,” Roberts said. “I thought every throw had conviction. Everything was with conviction. He made pitches when he needed to, pounded the strike zone, used his entire pitch mix. … It was good to see Tony go out there and really pitch the way we’re used to seeing him throw the baseball.”

Gonsolin’s night didn’t get off to such a hot start, however. In fact, the first pitch the right-hander threw on Saturday was a four-seamer that was hammered by Ezequiel Tovar for a solo homer to straightaway center field.

For a second, you could feel the energy zapped out of the crowd. It was fair to wonder if Gonsolin, who had a 6.89 ERA in his last nine starts entering Saturday, was headed for another rough outing. But to Gonsolin’s credit, he bounced back and retired the next nine batters he faced.

“If I’ve learned anything this year it’s that if you get hit in the face, you just keep going,” Gonsolin said. “I was trying to execute pitches. I thought I did a much better job of executing pitches today. And we played really good defense.”

Though his velocity was down across the board, Gonsolin’s command was improved and his pitch mix was more like the one he used on his way to an All-Star season in 2022.

Gonsolin got five whiffs on the four-seamer, seven on the splitter and two each on the slider and curveball. The Rockies are one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, especially away from Coors Field, but it was still encouraging for the Dodgers to see him have some success -- something that has eluded him for nearly half of the season.

“I don’t think that anyone saw coming what these five weeks have been for Tony, but the way he responded was really good to see,” Roberts said. “My confidence really hasn’t wavered. It’s more for him to go out there and realize that when he goes out there and throws the baseball like we’re used to seeing, these are the results.”

Gonsolin’s results were aided by some strong defense from the Dodgers, particularly James Outman, who made a few stellar plays out in center field. In the second, Outman took extra bases away from Elehuris Montero and did it again in the sixth inning against Brendan Rodgers. Both balls had expected batting averages of over .500.

Outman, of course, also delivered the big blow offensively for the Dodgers, a two-run homer off right-hander Peter Lambert. Outman has reached base safely in 10 of the 11 games he’s played in this month.

“I think I’m just relaxing at the plate, kind of going back to my plan, just kind of sticking to it,” Outman said. “And it helps when we’re winning.”

The Dodgers have certainly done a lot of winning lately. They’ve now won a season-high seven consecutive games and are 11-1 since the calendar flipped over to August. They’ve taken advantage of two of the worst teams in the Majors in the A’s and Rockies, but winning those games is part of what good teams do.

And if Gonsolin is able to turn the corner to stabilize the rotation even more, the Dodgers feel confident they can stack up against any team in the Majors.