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Tyler Anderson got in a groove from the first inning and kept on going.

Anderson tossed a career-high eight scoreless innings [url=http://www.arizonacardinalsteamonline.com]Cardinals Authentic Jerseys[/url] , Pat Valaika, Nolan Arenado and Chris Iannetta homered, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Friday night.

Anderson (5-3) struck out eight and walked one on 96 pitches. The left-hander retired his first 11 batters before giving up a two-out single to Justin Turner in the fourth. Matt Kemp singled leading off the fifth and Yasiel Puig narrowly beat out the throw on a two-out bunt in the same inning.

”It’s been a while since everything has really been on,” Anderson said. ”My last couple of starts were pretty close, I felt like my command was there I just made a couple mistakes. Tonight I didn’t make those mistakes. It was a total mix of all my pitches.”

Anderson retired five straight batters before allowing a single to Cody Bellinger in the seventh. Anderson improved to 4-0 on the road with a 3.48 ERA while holding hitters to a .216 average. The Rockies have won seven of his last nine starts away from home.

”He kept us off-balance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. ”He has a three, four-pitch mix that we couldn’t get any swings off of.”

Iannetta homered leading off the ninth, extending Colorado’s lead to 3-0.

Arenado hit his team-high 20th homer in the eighth and Valaika homered over the center-field fence for Colorado’s first run in the fifth.

Valaika homered for the first time since last Sept. 24 at San Diego. It was just his second homer ever at Dodger Stadium. His first long ball in the majors came on Sept. 24, 2016, in the same stadium.

”It felt good to put the barrel on the ball in a real game, a big league game,” Valaika said. ”It felt good to get the lead, too.”

The Rockies turned double plays behind Anderson in the fifth and eighth innings.

”Andy pitched great. He was spotting up everything [url=http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com]Falcons Authentic Jerseys[/url] , it was pretty easy to play defense,” Valaika said. ”I was thinking it was the third inning and I hadn’t really fielded anything yet.”

Wade Davis worked the ninth to earn his 23rd save in 27 chances.

Rich Hill (1-3) pitched solidly in his third start since coming off the disabled list because of a finger blister. Only one of his six hits was for extra bases, a double by Trevor Story in the sixth.

”The ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to,” Hill said. ”Everything was really came together.”

Hill struck out a season-high 10 and didn’t walk anyone while allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings. His 110 pitches were a season high and the most he’s thrown since May 13, 2016, at Tampa Bay.

But the Dodgers’ bullpen struggled for the second straight game. Scott Alexander gave up Arenado’s homer and Yimi Garcia allowed Iannetta’s shot.

A day earlier, Walker Buehler was rocked for five runs and five hits in one-plus innings of an 11-5 loss to the Cubs.

Turner’s two-out shot in the ninth gave the Dodgers a franchise-record and major league-leading 54 homers in June with one day left.

”This team has set the record for the most home runs in the month for them, so clearly they’re trying to put the ball in the air,” Anderson said. ”Tonight when they did it they were just underneath a lot of things.”

The Rockies began the month getting swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series, with Los Angeles scoring 33 runs in those games. Colorado improved to 5-2 against Los Angeles this season.

PITCHER CAN HIT

Anderson collected a career high-tying two hits with singles in the third and seventh. Hill had an 0-2 count against him in the third and appeared annoyed when Anderson made contact. ”He’s a good hitting pitcher,” Hill said.

SLUMP BUSTED

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp singled in the fifth, snapping an 0-for-15 skid. In his last 23 games against the Rockies since Sept. 20, 2015 [url=http://www.baltimoreravensteamauthentic.com]Ravens Authentic Jerseys[/url] , Kemp has hit .389.

UP NEXT

RHP German Marquez (5-8, 5.53 ERA) starts for Colorado, which has won four of his seven road starts this season. He has a 3.07 ERA away from home compared to 7.93 in Denver. RHP Kenta Maeda (5-4, 3.44) goes for the Dodgers. In eight career games, including six starts, Maeda is 5-2 with a 2.11 ERA to go with 48 strikeouts and nine walks.




TORONTO — The Detroit Tigers will be trying to avoid making more history Sunday afternoon when they face the Toronto Blue Jays on Canada Day at the Rogers Centre.

After Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak smacked a 1-0 fastball from Joe Jimenez for his second career walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday, the Tigers have lost 11 games in a row.

The last time the Tigers put together a losing streak like that was 2003. On Sunday, in the third contest of the four-game series, the Tigers will be trying to avoid dipping deeper into their history by losing 12 in a row for the first time since 1996.

The Tigers will start right-hander Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 4.35 ERA) against Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ (10-3, 3.62).

Saturday looked promising for the Tigers when they took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but the Blue Jays came back to tie in the fifth.

Both Toronto wins in the series have been by one run.

“Honestly, nobody wants to play extra innings [url=http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com]Bills Authentic Jerseys[/url] ,” Smoak said. “To be able to do it in the ninth and get it over with is always a good feeling.”

The Tigers would beg to differ. They would have been happy to try their luck in extra innings if that’s what it takes to end their funk.

“We’re all trying hard,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Everybody’s trying. We tried all kinds of things today to try to make this happen. And we were in the game again and ultimately we lose the ballgame.”

The Blue Jays have dominated the Tigers at the Rogers Centre in recent years, winning 12 of their past 14 meetings.

There could be times when it seems as if the Tigers might be trying a little too hard to make things happen and then paying for it. First baseman John Hicks, who hit his seventh home run of the season in the second inning Saturday, was not so sure that is the case.

“I don’t think guys are trying to do anything more than we’ve been trying to do all year,” he said. “We’re in a losing streak, but we’re going out every day playing the same way we’ve been playing all year. But when you are losing, things get magnified.”

Losing a close game or a lopsided one does not matter, Hicks said, adding “A loss is a loss.

“They all stink, every loss is frustrating. It just happens to be in a losing streak, so it happens to magnify things more. We’ve had opportunities to win pretty much every ballgame we’ve lost.”

The task Sunday falls to Zimmermann, who will make his 10th start of the season.

Despite pitching five scoreless innings Monday against the Oakland Athletics [url=http://www.carolinapanthersteamonline.com]Panthers Authentic Jerseys[/url] , Zimmermann did not factor in the decision, He allowed four hits and three walks and struck out three.

In three career starts against the Blue Jays, Zimmermann is 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA. This will be his first start against Toronto since June 8, 2016, when he took the loss, giving up seven runs and eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. He will be making his first career start at the Rogers Centre.

Happ has not lost since May 10. In his eight starts since, he is 6-0 with a 2.60 ERA. One of the no-decisions came June 2 in Detroit when he allowed four runs and had eight strikeouts against the Tigers in five innings.

In nine career games (eight starts) against the Tigers, he is 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA.

The Blue Jays lead the season series between the teams 3-2. Two games are left.

Both teams had injuries to relief pitchers Saturday. The Blue Jays put Ryan Tepera on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation in his right elbow and recalled Jake Petricka from Triple-A Buffalo.

Tigers reliever Alex Wilson left the game — and was replaced by Jimenez — in the eighth inning with a strained left calf. He is listed as day to day.

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