Tyler Anderson pitches game of career, finishes two outs shy of no-hitter
The veteran took a no-hitter into the 9th
Entering the 2022 season, Tyler Anderson wasn’t even in the Dodgers’ starting rotation. With five names already locked and loaded, he’d have to wait his turn to make a start for LA.
He wouldn’t have to wait long, as an injury to Andrew Heaney a few weeks into the season opened a spot for Anderson. Through the first two months of the season, he’s been arguably the Dodgers’ second best starter behind Tony Gonsolin. With the exception of one, maybe two outings, he’s been nearly perfect for LA.
One could argue it’s been the best season of his career.
Well on Wednesday night, Anderson pitched the game of his career.
Anderson took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels. Not only did he have a season-high in pitches, he was at a career-high. Over the years, we’ve seen Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pull pitchers while they were toying with history. He’s almost become known for it.
Wednesday wasn’t like those other games, though. Instead, Roberts gave his pitcher a shot to finish it off.
“I know I’ve got this reputation as the Grim Reaper,” Roberts said to reporters. “I’m a sport fan, too. I wanted that as much as Tyler and his teammates wanted it for him.”
Last night’s game was different than the other ones, and Roberts knew that. In 2016, Ross Stripling was removed after 7.1 innings of no-hit ball. The difference in that game? It was his Major League debut and he was at 100 pitches. Later in the year, Rich Hill was removed after seven perfect innings. The problem? Hill was dealing with blisters. Fast forward to the beginning of this season and Clayton Kershaw was removed after seven perfect innings. It was the first start of the year for Kershaw and the Dodgers wanted to avoid any potential injury with him if they could.
Like I mentioned earlier, Wednesday was a completely different situation than those previous ones.
In his last outing, Anderson only threw three innings. The Dodgers have an off day on Thursday and another one next week, allowing more time between Anderson’s next start.
“I have taken it out of certain players hands,” Roberts said to the media. “Those are reasons that I felt could compromise heath for the player. If I ever felt that, I’m not afraid to pull the plug. I sleep well at night knowing I can protect the player. In this particular instance, I felt that wasn’t going to be a compromise.”
Knowing there was no turning back after letting him go eight innings, Anderson was sent back out there for the ninth. He’d have to earn this no-hitter, as he was set to face Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
Anderson struck out Trout on five pitches to begin the inning, putting him only two outs away from throwing his first career no-hitter. Ohtani stepped into the batters box and didn’t waste a second. On the first pitch he saw, he tripled down the right field line. Mookie Betts made a diving attempt, but he came up just short.
“You love it,” Tyler Anderson said to the media about Mookie’s attempt. “Off the bat you know it’s a hit. You love the effort from Mookie. I kind of laughed that he dove for it, it’s a very nice gesture but it was so far away.”
Just two outs shy, Anderson’s attempt at history was over. Just a brutal reminder of how truly difficult it is to throw nine innings without allowing a hit. At a career-high 123 pitches, that would be it for Anderson.
Roberts came out to get his starter, allowing him to get a standing ovation in front of 50,000+ screaming Dodgers fans.
“It felt like a really big spot in a playoff game,” Anderson said to the media on the crowd in the ninth inning. “You could feel the energy. You don’t get that very often.”
So, at what point was the no-hitter getting strong consideration? For Anderson, he said he thought he had a shot after seven innings.
“Once you get through seven,” he said to the media. “My pitch count was pretty high. You feel like you might have a chance there.”
He wasn’t lying about his pitch count. After seven innings, Anderson had already made 99 pitches, which was two off a season-high. If he were to go for it, he’d likely need at least 120 pitches to get it done, which would shatter his previous career-high in pitches.
Anderson felt that at that point, the pitch count didn’t make a difference.
“I feel like if you throw 100 pitches or 110 or 125, it’s pretty much the same thing.”
Instead of turning to the bullpen in the eighth inning, Roberts sent Anderson back out there to face the bottom of the order. He issued a leadoff walk, but proceeded to retire the next three hitters on only 13 pitches, pushing his pitch count to 117 after eight.
Anderson said he never had a conversation with Roberts about coming out of the game.
“I would have understood,” Anderson said to the media. “He trusts me enough to let me go. I trust him enough that when it’s time to come out, it’s time to come out. I feel like we have a good relationship and there’s a lot of trust there.”
After seeing his starter make it through eight innings, Roberts knew that he was going to let Anderson try and finish things off.
“They’re either going to get a hit or it’s going to end quickly,” Roberts said to the media. “There wasn’t much cost. When I look objectively for the long term, it made sense.
“I thought the number went away after the eighth inning. There wasn’t much of a fall-off. There was still command and teeth to the breaking pitches.”
Anderson was appreciative about his manager giving him the chance to try and finish it off. He was in the dugout earlier this season in Minnesota when he saw Kershaw get removed after seven perfect innings.
“You can’t say enough about that,” Anderson said to the media. “You may never have that chance again. Getting through eight, you want to get that chance to at least try.”
Anderson’s name won’t go down in the record books. The Dodgers will have to wait a little longer for their next no-hitter. For Anderson, this will most likely be the closest he’ll ever come to accomplishing that milestone. It hurts, but this is what baseball is all about.
It doesn’t matter who is on the mound or who is at the plate. Anything can happen on any given night. During the offseason, Anderson was signed to a one-year contract. He didn’t have a spot in the starting rotation and he didn’t know if he’d ever have one.
It doesn’t matter what the final stat line shows. On Wednesday, June 15, Tyler Anderson was the best pitcher in all of baseball.
