Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Brett Anderson pitched the Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks tonight, securing both the series win and ensuring the team started July off on the right foot.
For the last two months, Anderson has been a savior for the battered Dodgers rotation, posting sub-3 ERAs in May and June, and now he’s started off July by getting his season ERA to 3.00. Anderson threw 95 pitches over seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just seven hits and two walks while striking out seven batters.
Offensively, Don Mattingly opted for an all righty lineup (except for Anderson) against lefty starter Robbie Ray, and while the offense wasn’t spectacular today, they did enough. The Dodgers compiled nine hits, four for extra bases, and four walks en route to scoring four runs.
The Dodgers struck in the first on a Howie Kendrick sac fly, but won the game behind a three-run third inning after an Enrique Hernandez RBI double, a Kendrick RBI single, and a Justin Turner RBI double. Speaking of Enrique, he was much more than an amazing mascot today, finishing a homer short of the cycle in a 3-for-5 effort.
Provided with a three-run lead to keep safe for two frames, Yimi Garcia entered and managed to get two outs, but also gave up back-to-back singles and a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to two. Adam Liberatore closed out the inning by stranding a runner, as he got Welington Castillo to fly out. Kenley Jansen entered in the ninth to close out the game, and that he did just that. But it didn’t end without drama because the D-Backs are literally the only team that can score off Jansen this year (all three runs against him), and David Peralta hit a solo homer that brought them within one, but it thankfully wasn’t quite enough.
Tomorrow the Dodgers get a much needed day off before heading home, where they’ll stay until the All-Star break comes.
