Fresh from a no-hit bid that ended with one out in the ninth inning, left-hander Tyler Anderson will take the mound Wednesday evening for the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers in the second game of their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Dodgers continued their mastery of the Reds on Tuesday with an 8-2 rout, running their winning streak to seven games over Cincinnati dating to last season. Los Angeles is 13-4 against Cincinnati since the start of the 2019 season.
Anderson (8-0, 2.82 ERA) nearly made history in his start against the Los Angeles Angels last Wednesday, as he had issued just two walks and struck out eight before yielding a triple to Shohei Ohtani on his 123rd and final pitch. The Dodgers emerged with a 4-1 win.
“It felt like a really big spot in a playoff-game situation,” Anderson said. “The crowd was really, really into it.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who pulled Clayton Kershaw from a perfect-game bid earlier this season in Minnesota, said he had no regrets allowing Anderson’s pitch count to rise.
“I look at each individual situation, and I know I’ve got this reputation as the grim reaper,” Roberts joked. “But I’m a sports fan, too, and I wanted that just as much.”
Before his near-no-hitter, Anderson threw 28 straight scoreless innings from May 17 against the Arizona Diamondbacks to June 9 against the Chicago White Sox.
Lifetime in four appearances (three starts) against Cincinnati, Anderson is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA.
The Reds will counter on Wednesday with right-hander Luis Castillo (2-4, 3.33). In his past six outings, Castillo is 2-3 with a 2.72 ERA and has made four straight quality starts.
Castillo will face the Dodgers for the first time since tossing 6 1/3 shutout innings on Sept. 17, 2021, and earning a 3-1 victory. Lifetime in four starts vs. Los Angeles, Castillo is 3-0 with a 1.90 ERA and a .195 opponents’ batting average.
The Reds activated 34-year-old infielder Donovan Solano from 60-day injured list on Tuesday while transferring lefty starter Nick Lodolo to 60-day IL.
After signing a one-year, $4.5 million deal in March, Solano strained his left hamstring in a game late in spring training and experienced several setbacks during his recovery before joining the major league roster on Tuesday. He did not appear in the series opener against Los Angeles.
“It’s a blessing to come back here to the team,” said Solano, who was 10-for-29 (.345) with a home run and four doubles in nine games on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville. “I think the whole process we’ve had, everything went well. I’m happy to be back again.
Reds manager David Bell said, “We were really excited to acquire him, and in spring training he had the injury, so it’s been a tough recovery for him. But he’s healthy now, and we know how good of a player he is.”
The Dodgers also made a pregame move on Tuesday, acquiring outfielder Trayce Thompson in a cash deal with the Detroit Tigers. Thompson, the brother of Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson, struck out as an eighth-inning pinch hitter at Cincinnati, then finished the game in right field.
With a single in the ninth inning off David Price, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto collected his 1,000th career hit at Great American Ball Park, becoming the first player with 1,000 hits at the venue since it opened in 2003.
–Field Level Media