The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their two-game sweep of the Los Angels Angels with a 4-1 victory, backed by Tyler Anderson nearly throwing a no-hitter.
The veteran southpaw entered the ninth inning with the no-hitter intact and at 117 pitches as Mike Trout led off. Anderson struck out Trout on five pitches, which drew a huge roar from the Dodger Stadium faithful, but he had another tough test with Shohei Ohtani.
On the first pitch Anderson threw, Ohtani lined the ball into the right-field corner while Mookie Betts raced over. As the ball was close to landing, Betts made a diving effort to save the no-hitter, however, he was at least a few feet short of reaching the ball.
Anderson appreciated the effort Betts made to keep it alive, although he also found some humor in the attempt.
“You love it,” Anderson said about Betts’ diving attempt. “Obviously off the bat, you know it’s a hit, but you love the effort from Mookie. You can’t ask for anything more than that. He is a great defender, a great teammate. He’s the man.
“I kind of laughed that he dove for it. Like it’s a very nice gesture, but it was so far away.”
Anderson was also grateful Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave him the chance to make baseball history despite his high pitch count.
“You can’t say enough about that,” Anderson said. “You may never have a chance to do that again. In however many years of pitching, I’ve taken some in the fifth or sixth, maybe some in the seventh before, but getting through eight, you want to just give it a chance.
“We’ve got some off days coming up here in between, so you have a chance to go out and at least try.”
The 32-year-old was replaced by Craig Kimbrel, who promptly allowed an RBI single to Matt Duffy. The run was charged to Anderson, which closed the book on his night at 8.1 innings pitched, one hit allowed, one run, eight strikeouts, two walks and 123 pitches.
Anderson improved to 8-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.82 to go along with 63 strikeouts in 67 innings.
Betts relieved by home run against Angels
In the first game of the Freeway Series, the Dodgers had another great pitching performance from Tony Gonsolin during a 2-0 win.
Their first run came in the fourth inning with an RBI walk by Justin Turner but they were held scoreless until the eighth when Betts took Andrew Wantz deep for his 17th home run of the season.
After the game, the 2018 American League MVP noted he was relieved to contribute to the win. Betts finished with the one home run in four at-bats, which marked his first since June 1. Prior to Tuesday’s matchup against the Angels, the 29-year-old had been mired in a 2-for-31 skid dating back to June 5.
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