Anderson takes 'good step' despite one key pitch

May 12th, 2016

MIAMI -- One pitch, a changeup left up in the strike zone to Marlins first baseman Justin Bour, tarnished an otherwise stellar night on the mound for Chase Anderson. Bour hit the mistake for a two-run homer and the Marlins took the game and the series with a 3-2 win over the Brewers on Wednesday night at Marlins Park.
Anderson went six innings for the first time since an April 13 outing at St. Louis. He allowed just three hits, the fewest for him this season, and three runs. He struck out four and walked only one.
He retired the first 10 hitters and faced the minimum in five of the six innings he worked. The Marlins' first hit was a Martin Prado single in the fourth. But Anderson struck out Christian Yelich, and Prado was caught stealing on the play to end the inning.

"I felt really good," Anderson said. "My goal today was attack, get ahead of guys and not be scared to just go after them. It worked out."
It was the fifth inning that was his undoing. The first three batters reached base for Miami, and all three scored, two on Bour's fifth homer of the season.
"I just left it up," Anderson said of a usually reliable changeup. "The one I threw to Yelich in the first inning [resulting in a strikeout] is where I usually throw that pitch. I tried to do the same thing with Bour. I just left it up, tried to do too much with it. He hit it out. It's a game of inches."
Anderson, 1-5 with a 6.11 ERA, said he's been battling to turn things around. He said he feels like Wednesday's start was definitely a positive in that regard.
"It was one pitch that got me there," he said. "I've been working on a lot of stuff in between starts, trying to figure out what I need to do to get back to pitching like I know how to pitch. Today was a good step in the right direction."