Anderson quiets Brewers to end skid
Left-hander, two relievers combine for 2-0 shutout
Pirates trade rumors have almost entirely surrounded second baseman Adam Frazier and closer Richard Rodriguez so far.
There was early-season speculation that left-hander Tyler Anderson might be an attractive piece for teams needing a veteran pitcher, but that has cooled off as Anderson has cooled off throughout the year.
Maybe his effort on Sunday will bring the rumors back.
Anderson was great in the Pirates’ 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching seven shutout innings with six strikeouts along the way Sunday at PNC Park. Just six Brewers reached base against him, and right-hander David Bednar and Rodriguez slammed the door from there, snapping the Pirates’ sixgame losing streak.
“Yeah, that was a big one,”
Anderson acknowledged after the game. “We’ve just been scuffling a little bit and not scoring a lot of runs, so just going out today and keeping down a team that’s been swinging the bat pretty well and put up some runs on us. Just to stay in there, it’s just huge for us to enjoy the Fourth of July today.”
The 31- year- old lefthander did find himself in a little bit of trouble in the second inning. He walked Brewers catcher Manny Pina, and Jackie Bradley Jr., singled. Anderson then hit Daniel Robertson to load the bases with one out.
Luckily for him and the Pirates, that brought Brewers starter Freddy Peralta up to the plate. The Brewers asked him to bunt to try to score a runner, but he failed dramatically. Peralta’s bunt went straight to first baseman Phillip Evans, who scooped the ball to catcher Michael Perez. Perez relayed it to Frazier, who was covering first, for an unconventional, 3-2-4, inning-ending double play.
That was really the best opportunity the Brewers had all day against Anderson. No other baserunners reached second base, while the left-hander was on the mound.
“I just feel like my job every day is to go out and not pay attention to stats or numbers, and every time you take the ball, just try to give us a chance to win,” Anderson said. “So stay in as long as you can and give us a chance, and sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t. But it’s always better when we win afterwards.”
There was a bit of drama in the ninth inning, when Rodriguez allowed a leadoff double to Willy Adames, but three flyouts in a row ended the inning, and the game, without too much trouble.
It’s seemed like the Pirates would need an effort like Anderson’s to win a game recently. Their offense has struggled so greatly in their past two series, scoring just 10 runs in the past seven games. That has left such a small margin for error for any Pirates pitcher, and it hasn’t bred success. This was the 51st time in 83 games that the Pirates have scored three or fewer runs. They are now 546 in those games.
For Anderson, at least, none of that mattered. Shortstop Kevin Newman homered in the first, his first since June 14 and just his third all season.
“You know, I’ve been working a lot lately,” Newman said. “I wanted to put a good swing on a fastball, and pulling the ball hard was definitely a good sign.”
Outfielder Ben Gamel and third baseman Wilmer Difo then combined for an insurance run in the sixth, with Gamel singling and Difo doubling down the leftfield line to make it 2-0.
It still wasn’t exactly the offensive onslaught that the Pirates are surely craving right now, but it did the job this time, as Anderson dominated to bring home the win.
“He did dominate,” Newman said after the game. “He hit his spots with his pitches, had great tempo for us, kept the defense on their feet and just locked us in. He would just grab the ball and go. We love that. We love playing defense behind that. It was just an awesome start for him, an awesome start for the team.”