The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut with a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds that extended their winning streak to four games.
Tony Gonsolin was hardly dominant in his second start of the season, but worked out of multiple jams to get through four scoreless innings. Like in his 2022 debut against the Colorado Rockies, he was followed by Tyler Anderson, who pitched four innings out of the bullpen and allowed just one run.
“I like it,” Anderson said of piggybacking Gonsolin. “I think Tony does a good job of going in there. I just feel like my job is to give us a chance to stay in there.”
Anderson only needed 55 pitches to complete four innings in what was a mostly quiet outing. However, he had a minor dust-up with Joey Votto in the top of the sixth, when a pitch got away at hit the Reds first baseman in the head. Some players from the Reds stepped onto the field but tempers quickly cooled and play resumed.
“Honestly, it was really hard to tell,” Anderson said of what he could discern as Votto was shouting toward him. “It was kind of loud. I threw a changeup that kind of slipped out and I just asked him if he was OK. I really couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I think he was upset.
“I understand it. If I was hitting and I got hit in the helmet, I would be upset too. I just tried telling him, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. It was a changeup. My bad.’ I just wanted to make sure he was OK, and I think probably in the heat of the moment he responded with whatever he responded with.
“Overall, I think that’s probably out of the norm for him. I feel like he’s a good player and carries himself in a really good manner. I’ve always respected the way he plays the game. So I don’t really know what happened there with that. I think he was probably just upset. I couldn’t tell you what he was saying though.”
Anderson adjusting to bullpen role with Dodgers
Most of Anderson’s experience has come as a starting pitcher but he is adjusting nicely to his role in the bullpen. “I think it’s trying to manage and figure out when exactly to be ready,” Anderson said of the differences between starting and relieving.
“If you’re starting, you just now to be ready for the first pitch of the game. So I just try to balance and keep track of pitch count of the guy on the mound, if he’s going to finish the inning or if we’re going to go to somebody else.
“Just trying to think the game and play the game a little bit more as it’s going along to be ready at the right time.”
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