MIAMI -- After establishing himself as a Major League starter last year, the 2021 season hasn’t gone quite like Tony Gonsolin was hoping. He didn’t win the fifth-starter job out of Spring Training and then missed the first two months of the season with a right shoulder issue.

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Even after returning to the mound, Gonsolin hasn’t quite looked like himself. His velocity hasn’t gotten up to its normal average, his command has been sporadic and his workload has been limited due to lingering shoulder soreness.

But in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss in 10 innings against the Marlins on Tuesday at loanDepot park, the right-hander looked more like last year’s version, which is a good sign for Los Angeles, both in the short and long term.

“Tony threw the heck out of the baseball,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He gave us a chance to win.”

Gonsolin tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings, his longest start of the season. He only struck out three, but he was in control most of the night, allowing just three baserunners, two of them coming with two outs. Most importantly, Gonsolin, who has walked three or more in three of his five starts, allowed just one free pass.

“I think this was probably his best as far as consistent strike-throwing, the command of the secondaries, the fastball command,” Roberts said. “Just really good and really something for Tony to build on going into his next turn.”

While the Dodgers are going to need Gonsolin to give them even more length moving forward, they still got 72 pitches out of him despite his slow buildup. Seeing him get into the sixth inning was crucial in the short term with a bullpen game scheduled for Wednesday.

Los Angeles, though, still went to six relievers, meaning it’ll likely have to make a few roster moves to add pitching for the remaining two games of this four-game series. And it couldn’t come away with the win either, as the Marlins walked off on a wild pitch by Blake Treinen and a throwing error from Will Smith that allowed Starling Marte to score from second.

“When I got to it, I saw Marte halfway. Make a good throw and he’s out,” Smith said. “In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have thrown it, but it happens.”

The last play summed up the first two nights in Miami for the Dodgers. They have not played their best baseball after coming into town with a nine-game winning streak. They’ve committed three errors and have allowed five stolen bases. They also left 14 men on base and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Tuesday's one-run defeat.

“Not good,” Roberts said about his team’s play. “I think that the little things -- we’re just not doing them well. When you give teams extra outs, extra outs, it’s tough to win a big league ballgame.”

But while Tuesday’s game didn’t end the way the Dodgers would’ve hoped, seeing Gonsolin return to form was a big development for the team’s long-term outlook.

The club has asked a lot from Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Julio Urías. With Major League Baseball conducting its investigation into Trevor Bauer, there’s still uncertainty on when -- or if -- Bauer will return to the mound this season. Add the fact that Urias has already reached a career-high 99 1/3 innings at the big league level and the Dodgers are going to lean heavily on Gonsolin.

“He was a big part of things initially,” Roberts said. “And just kind of the way things have played out, he’s going to play big for us.”