Brewers' Anderson shuts down Diamondbacks (May 28, 2017)
MILWAUKEE -- After a rough week, the Milwaukee Brewers desperately needed something good to happen Saturday afternoon and Chase Anderson was more than happy to provide it.
Anderson threw seven innings of no-hit ball and struck out a career-high 11 as the Brewers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park.
"I was thinking about that before the game -- let's have one big performance from somebody that gets it done for you and snaps you out of it," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Chase drove the bus today. He took care of it. It was an incredible performance."
Anderson (3-1) had struggled this month, going 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in four starts, and got into trouble early against Arizona by walking his first two batters. But he struck out his next two and got out of the inning unscathed.
From there, Anderson cruised. He allowed one more baserunner on a fourth-inning walk to Jake Lamb but was at 111 pitches after retiring Rey Fuentes to get out of the seventh.
"I was just trying to go out there and do my thing, attack hitters and after the first two hitters of the game, walking those guys, it was 'OK, let's go,'" Anderson said. "I just flipped the switch somehow and next thing you know, I'm in the eighth inning."
Nick Ahmed brought the no-hit bid to an end, ripping a 2-0 offering off second baseman Eric Sogard's glove for a single. Counsell turned to Rob Scahill, who used a double play and a strikeout to end the inning.
"I was hoping he got through the eighth and I was hoping I had a tough decision," Counsell said.
While Anderson was dealing, Milwaukee's offense took some time to get to Greinke, who came into the game 16-2 with a 3.07 ERA in 27 career appearances at Miller Park -- including a 15-0 record and 2.93 ERA while with the Brewers in 2011-12.
Early on, Greinke looked to be in the same mode that gave him a 5-0 record and 2.55 ERA in his last five starts. He retired his first nine batters in order and needed just seven pitches to get through the second inning.
Sogard led off the fourth with a double and, after Eric Thames grounded out to second, Greinke loaded the bases with walks to Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw.
Domingo Santana struck out on three pitches to bring up Jett Bandy, who worked the count full before slapping a fastball to the wall in left for a bases-clearing double.
"It was a good at-bat," Bandy said. "He threw me a couple sliders early and they were pretty good pitches. I wasn't trying to do too much. I was just trying to put something in play and I got a fastball up."
Milwaukee tacked on two runs in the sixth on Aguilar's home run, and after Shaw singled, Santana drove him home with a base hit that chased Greinke.
Greinke went 5 1/3 innings in his shortest start since April 14 and was charged with five runs, five hits and two walks while striking out six.
"I didn't do my best," Greinke said. "It seems to me the whole team played pretty terrible today, including me. He almost threw a no-hitter and we gave up six runs. It was a pretty bad game."
Sogard drove in an insurance run with an RBI single in the seventh, but Paul Goldschmidt prevented a shutout with a run-scoring base hit in the ninth off Neftali Feliz.
"We made a little noise in the ninth inning and made them maneuver in their bullpen a little bit and get some of their back-end guys up," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "So we'll build on that and get ready for tomorrow."
NOTES: The Brewers agreed to terms with international free agent 1B/OF Ernesto Martinez Jr. The 17-year-old native of Cuba played for France in the World Baseball Classic. ... Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo juggled his lineup a bit, resting C Chris Iannetta, OF David Peralta and INF Brandon Drury. Lovullo said he was just trying to give players a break during Arizona's 11-game road trip. ... Brewers 2B Jonathan Villar got a day off and might be dropped from the leadoff spot when he returns to the starting lineup Sunday afternoon, manager Craig Counsell said. After batting .285 with 62 stolen bases a year ago, Villar has struggled this season, posting a .213 average with 12 steals and 60 strikeouts.
