Anderson has another strong outing
He pitches seven scoreless innings
NEW YORK – It wasn’t no-hit stuff but it was still plenty good.
Chase Anderson, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his previous start against Arizona, followed that with another strong outing Thursday afternoon against New York.
With Anderson turning in seven shutout innings once again, the first-place Brewers did just enough on offense to pull out a 2-1 victory over the Mets that allowed them to split the four-game series after dropping the first two.
The Brewers boosted their record to 29-25 and return home to face the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw on Friday night.
Anderson walked one and struck out seven, giving him four hits and four walks allowed over 14 innings in his last two starts with 18 strikeouts. He retired 15 of the last 16 hitters he faced and the final 10 in a row.
“He was in great rhythm, even the third time through the lineup,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He was outstanding today. He’s in a good place right now. He’s got four pitches working. He’s become a four-pitch guy.
“That’s a credit to his hard work and to (pitching coach) Derek Johnson, improving that curveball and the cutter he’s using effectively, too. He was really fastball/ changeup in the early part of his career. Those other two pitches have become a big part of his career.”
Zach Wheeler started for the Mets and kept them in the game by holding the Brewers to two runs over 61⁄3 innings, benefiting from three doubleplay grounders. In July 2015, the Brewers thought they had a deal all set to acquire Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores for centerfielder Carlos Gomez, but New York backed out at the last moment.
The next day, the Brewers sent Gomez and right-hander Mike Fiers to Houston for four minor-league prospects, including rightfielder Domingo Santana.
The Brewers picked up utility player Nick Franklin earlier this season from Tampa Bay because they liked his versatility. Though he had struggled at the plate (.169 entering the game) with irregular playing time, Franklin came through with a big game against the Mets.
It began with Franklin throwing out Lucas Duda at the plate in the second inning. Duda tried to score from second on Chase d’Arnaud’s two-out single, but Franklin threw on the fly to catcher Jett Bandy in plenty of time for the out.
“It started with the ball in left field, throwing the guy out at home,” Franklin said. “It started off right and just continued throughout the day. As soon as he hit it, I kind of thought he was going to go home. When I saw the third base coach waving, I decided to unload on it.”
Franklin also reached base in all three plate appearances before coming out of the game with a walk, two singles, run scored and run batted in. He opened the third with a walk and eventually scored on Hernan Perez’s two-out double.
Franklin lined an RBI single to left in the fourth, an inning in which the Brewers had a chance to score more runs after the Mets failed to get an out when Anderson popped up a bunt that landed on the infield and catcher d’Arnaud didn’t make a play in time.
Mets manager Terry Collins was ejected in that inning over a dispute involving a batboy, of all things. With the bases loaded and one down, Eric Sogard lifted a foul pop fly near the Brewers’ dugout and both third baseman Flores and d’Arnaud gave chase.
As instructed, the batboy seated in foul territory near the dugout picked up his chair and tried to get out of the way but impeded Flores’ path to the ball, which dropped safely. Third base umpire Fieldin Culbreth called an out, which the rules don’t allow for in that particular instance, and after the umpires convened it was correctly ruled no play.
Collins was irate over that change of call and stormed onto the field to argue, getting ejected in the process. As it turns out, it was a break for the Mets because Sogard grounded into a double play to end the threat and the inning.
The Mets cut the Brewers’ lead to 2-1 when Flores homered off Jacob Barnes in the eighth, but Corey Knebel took care of the ninth to record his fourth save. BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
The versatility of the position player group allowed Counsell to put Sogard at shortstop, Perez in center and Franklin in left. Counsell wanted to give shortstop Orlando Arcia and centerfielder Keon Broxton a break and also get more left-handed bats in the lineup against Wheeler.
“It’s something we’ve really improved this year, just options and choices to have,” Counsell said. “It allows us to withstand some injuries and pitching matchups and things like that. I think (first baseman Jesus) Aguilar is the only guy who plays just one position. That’s a real plus.”
The buzz at Citi Field was about the controversy created when New York’s mascot, Mr. Met, was videotaped flipping off fans who were deriding him at the end of the game Wednesday night. Word was the person in that mascot outfit was reassigned.
The Mets put out this statement on the matter: “We apologize for the inappropriate reaction of this employee. We do not condone this type of behavior. We are dealing with this matter internally.” STAT SHEET
Third baseman Travis Shaw was voted the Brewers player of the month for May after batting .333 (33 for 99) with four home runs and 18 RBI. Knebel was voted pitcher of the month after posting a 0.71 ERA in 12 outings with 27 strikeouts in 122⁄3 innings. Opponents batted .140 against him.
Arcia had his careerbest 11-game hitting streak snapped in tough fashion. He entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and struck out in his only at-bat in the ninth. TAKEAWAY
The Brewers’ pitching has been uneven, with promising moments and others in which you scratched your head. But there have been some strong starts of late, including the last two by Anderson. It’s a cliché but it all starts with starting pitching. RECORD
This year: 29-25 (14-15 home; 15-10 away)
Last year: 25-29 NEXT GAME
Friday: Brewers vs. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jimmy Nelson (3-3, 3.83) vs. Los Angeles LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-2, 2.37). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.