Editorials

Brett Anderson Tips Cap To DBacks; Says Fatigue Wasn’t Factor



The Los Angeles Dodgers are on a three-game losing streak and their magic number to clinch their third straight NL West title sits at seven.

Left-hander Brett Anderson struggled on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing 10 hits and five earned runs in 4.2 innings. The Dodgers went on to lose, 8-4. After the game, Anderson gave praise to the team that beat him.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap, I just got hit,” he said. “There’s only a handful of times where I’ve felt like I just got beat, and today was one of those times. I’ve faced them five or six times now and they had a good game plan. They weren’t going to fall behind in the count and they were swinging early, like they were angry at the baseball. They were hitting rockets.”

It was only the fourth time this season that Anderson has allowed at least four runs and first since his disaster start on August 10 against the Washington Nationals (seven earned runs in five innings).

This is the most Anderson has thrown in a season since his rookie year in 2009 and someone asked if fatigue may be a factor. The left-hander answered truthfully. “I just pitch bad,” he said. “My stuff was fine. They were swinging early and I wasn’t able to make good pitches early in the count to keep them off base. They just hit me. It was just a bad outing. It happens to the best of us. I only have a couple more and I expect to pitch better.”

Anderson would actually like less rest than he’s been getting lately and he explained why. “I would like to be on normal rest the last couple of times just to get back into a rhythm,” the 27-year-old said.

“I’m a routine-based, rhythm-based pitcher and it’s tough. Obviously, they’re trying to give me extra rest because we’re in unchartered territory with the innings and starts. But being a rhythm guy, I would like to get on a semi-normal routine. The last couple [starts] I would like to get back to normal because that’s when I was pitching the best in the first half.”\

He should get his wish as the Dodgers have zero days off the rest of the way and have no current plans to use a sixth starter.

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Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

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