D-backs' 5-game winning streak halted by Anderson's masterpiece
MILWAUKEE -- Chase Anderson's smile following a near no-hitter barely masked what it meant to perform well against the Diamondbacks franchise that decided to move him.
"I knew those guys as friends, as the team that traded you away," Anderson said. "You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, you want to make them second guess that trade."
Anderson (3-1) took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers snapped Arizona's five-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory on Saturday.
He struck out a career-high 11. The 29-year-old right-hander also walked three and threw a career-high 114 pitches.
"I didn't care. I could throw 150 pitches," he said. "I wanted to get the no-hitter."
Nick Ahmed broke up the bid with a sharply hit ball up the middle to start the eighth that deflected off second baseman Eric Sogard's glove. On Aug. 16, 2015, Ahmed blooped a single to right-center leading off the eighth inning for the Diamondbacks' first hit against Atlanta's Shelby Miller.
"Nick came up with a big base hit," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.
Anderson was drafted by Arizona in 2009 and pitched for the Diamondbacks in 2014 and 2015 before Milwaukee acquired him in a trade last year. He had already thrown a career high number of pitches before returning to the mound in the eighth, and Ahmed quickly chased him.
Sogard was shifted to the first-base side but raced to the left side of second to try for the grounder.
Rob Scahill relieved Anderson after the hit, and Anderson received an extended standing ovation from the 29,746 at Miller Park. The celebration continued after the game, when his teammates dumped two coolers on top of him.
"There were a lot of emotions," Anderson said. "The fans, the way they support us in this town, I've never experienced anything like that."
http://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/868612020525948928
ZACK'S BAD DAY
Jett Bandy hit a three-run double off Zack Greinke (6-3) in the fourth. Jesus Aguilar homered and Domingo Santana added a run-scoring single in the sixth to drop Greinke to 16-3 all-time at Miller Park.
At the start, it appeared Greinke would be more likely to throw a no-hitter. He was perfect the first time through the lineup on 29 pitches, but ran into trouble in the fourth after Sogard's flare fell in shallow left field for a double.
Greinke loaded the bases and then, with two outs, Bandy hit a bases clearing double over Yasmany Tomas' head in left field.
"I didn't do my best. It seems to me the whole team played pretty terrible today, including me," said Greinke, who gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings. "He almost threw a no-hitter and we gave up six runs. It was a pretty bad game. "
http://twitter.com/FOXSPORTSAZ/status/868610092244934656
STOPPED AGAIN
Anderson's bid at his first no-hitter ended at the same point of the game his previous best effort did. Anderson took a no-hitter into the eighth on May 17, 2016 against the Cubs before Ben Zobrist broke up it with a double.
This one didn't look promising from the outset for Anderson, who walked the first two batters of the game before settling down to retire the next 10 straight. He walked Jake Lamb in the fourth, but that would be all until Ahmed's at-bat.
Anderson mixed a sharp breaking ball to complement his mid-90s fastball as mid-afternoon shadows crept across Miller Park's diamond.
"It was great," said Bandy, the Brewers catcher. "It was like a video game. I was putting my fingers down and Chase was throwing it. That was all on him."
ZACK AND CHASE
Greinke holds a special place in Brewers history, coming to Milwaukee in a trade in 2011 and leading the franchise to its first National League Championship Series since 1982. But since then, the franchise has been in a full scale rebuild, jettisoning Greinke in 2012 to the Los Angeles Angels for prospects, including Jean Segura.
Greinke signed with Arizona before the 2016 season. A few weeks after Arizona signed Greinke, the Diamondbacks dealt Anderson to Milwaukee, receiving Segura as part of the package.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RF David Peralta got a day off as part of a season-long 11-game road trip.
Brewers: With LF Ryan Braun (strained left calf) on the 10-day DL, the Brewers have opted to keep an additional pitcher on the staff for now. That means a combination of Hernan Perez, Eric Thames and Nick Franklin will man the position.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: LHP Patrick Corbin (4-4, 4.40 ERA) will pitch in the finale of this four-game set.
Brewers: RHP Jimmy Nelson (2-3, 4.20) will make his 10th start of the season.