Despite feeling ‘really good,’ D-backs’ Chase Anderson takes a loss to Milwaukee
Jun 20, 2014, 12:03 AM | Updated: 12:04 am
PHOENIX — Sometimes feeling good on the pitcher’s mound doesn’t equate to wins.
That was the case for Arizona Diamondbacks’ rookie right-hander Chase Anderson Thursday.
Anderson didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and pitched six strong innings, but took a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of a four-game series at Chase Field.
“I felt really good out there — that was one of the better days I’ve felt out there on the mound,” Anderson said. “You know, they had a couple bloop hits and I limited the damage, but it just wasn’t enough today.”
Anderson, who fell to 5-2 on the season, yielded just five hits and struck out four, but didn’t help himself in the field. With one out in the sixth, Milwaukee shortstop Jean Segura bounced a high chopper to the third-base side of the mound. Anderson fielded it, but his throw to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was in the dirt and skittered to the fence, allowing Segura to reach second base. He’d score two batters later when Aramis Ramirez singled to left field past a diving Didi Gregorius to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead.
“I should have just ate it. I should have known he was a fast runner,” Anderson said. “I should said ‘that’s a hit’ and gone back to the mound, but I guess it was the adrenaline going — you want to throw it and try to get him out but I should know he’s a fast runner and not do that.”
Despite the costly error, Anderson’s manager was pleased with the youngster’s performance.
“He gave us a chance to win,” Kirk Gibson said. “I decided to take him out of the game — he’s a young kid and was close to 90 pitches. With how their offense was setting up, I let (Oliver Perez) come in that inning — he hadn’t pitched in a while.
“But I thought he did his job and gave us a chance to win.”
The Diamondbacks averaged 9.0 runs in Anderson’s first five starts, which were all wins. In his last two outings, however, the runs have been harder to come by. Arizona pushed across just one run in the right-hander’s last start — a loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles — and one more Thursday.
“Overall, Chase has been really good for us,” Gibson said. “I’ll take care of him and kind of watch his innings as we go along. He was a reliever last year and I think he threw around 88 innings. He’s close to 80 innings right now as a starter this year, so it’s something we’ll have to discuss.”
