Dodgers News: Tyler Anderson Convinced Dave Roberts To Remain In Game By Predicting Double Play

Tyler Anderson turned in another efficient start and the Los Angeles Dodgers offense erupted in 13-0 blowout of the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field to begin their road trip.

With plenty of run support behind him, Anderson pitched aggressively and got through seven shutout innings. He gave up just four hits and collected four strikeouts on 94 pitches.

Anderson allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh but bounced back by striking out Randal Grichuk and getting Elias Diaz to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was wary about Anderson’s pitch count getting too high and made a mound visit but was convinced to leave him in the game, as seen on SportsNet LA:

“I just wanted to get a feeling on where he was at. Obviously kind of extending him, where the game was at, the score, I didn’t want to put too much stress on him. That potentially could cut into his next start. He just assured me that he felt good and said he was going to get a ground-ball double play. He was a man of his word.”

Anderson appreciated Roberts trusting him and was happy to fulfill the promise that he would get an inning-ending double play:

“I just said, ‘Hey, I still feel good. If you’ll give me a chance, I think we can get us through this inning here.’ So he gave me the chance, and it was great. I figured if I said, ‘Hey, we’ll get a ground-ball double play right here and the inning is over,’ he would give me another chance like, ‘OK, yeah. That seems easy.’ Fortunately we got it. Next pitch, which was great.”

By getting through the seventh, Anderson has now logged at least six innings in each of his past five outings. The 2022 All-Star improved to 11-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 3.21 FIP and 0.99 WHIP across 110.1 innings pitched this season (19 games, 17 starts).

Anderson earns first win over Rockies

Anderson, who pitched for the Rockies from 2016-19, earned his first career win against his former club with Thursday’s performance.

He and Clayton Kershaw previously were on the wrong side of MLB history when the Rockies got back-to-back wins against the southpaws.

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