Anderson posts quality start with 'D-plus' stuff
Dodgers lefty not happy with performance, but he keeps club in the game
ST. LOUIS -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly acknowledged that Brett Anderson experienced some early command issues on Sunday, but he said he is "really happy" with the way Anderson is throwing the ball. Anderson, on the other hand, did not flatter himself following six innings of work in the Dodgers' 3-1 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
"That was maybe the worst stuff I've ever had in the big leagues," Anderson said.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old left-hander found a way to keep the Dodgers in yet another game, which was enough to bring him a snippet of gratification following his third loss of the season. Anderson ended May with six starts under his belt and no more than three runs allowed in any of them.
"I was terrible," he said. "There's not too many moral victories in this game, but the fact that I gave our team a quality start and two runs with my D-plus stuff in this ballpark against a good team, you can kind of take solace in that."
Anderson struck out five, walked three and threw 61 of his 102 pitches for strikes. A pair of first-inning pitches that "leaked over the plate" cost him, though. Jhonny Peralta followed a Matt Carpenter single with a two-run homer to put St. Louis ahead just three hitters into the bottom of the first.
"You just hope after the first where I gave up the homer that it's not going to be enough to beat you, but unfortunately it was," Anderson said.
Video: LAD@STL: Peralta blasts a two-run homer off Anderson
That's what stuck for Mattingly more than anything as the Dodgers' offense continued to struggle.
"He kind of hung in there and battled, wanted to stay out there," Mattingly said. "It was good. He shows us that he's got something about him that he can keep himself in a game. There's times when his command gets off but he continues to battle. He doesn't give in."