Chase Anderson settles down, settles in after early homers

In almost any circumstance, surrendering home runs is a negative for a pitcher.

In Chase Anderson's case on Monday night, it was a couple of long balls that actually helped get him back on track mentally.

The right-hander gave up second-inning homers to Eugenio Suárez and Phillip Ervin, then snapped back to attention quickly. Anderson recovered to retire the final 14 batters he faced, and the Brewers' offense finally woke up behind him in an eventual 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Miller Park.

THE GAME:5 Takeaways | Box score

NOTES:Matt Albers is back with the Brewers, but not active yet

PODCAST:CC Sabathia talks about his amazing 2008 season

MLB:Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics

It was the second straight victory for the Brewers, who moved back to the top of the heap in the National League wild-card chase. And it was the first victory since July 27 for Anderson, who came into the game on a full week's rest instead of the usual four days after manager Craig Counsell tweaked his rotation heading into the team's previous series in St. Louis.

Anderson breezed through the first inning on 13 pitches – no small feat considering the problems he's had in the opening frame this season – before Suárez sent his third pitch of the second inning out to left-center. Preston Tucker grounded out, then Ervin sent a grooved fastball out to left-center to give Cincinnati a quick 2-0 lead.

The homers were the 25th and 26th allowed this season by Anderson, whose career high of 28 came in 151 2/3 innings in 2016.

"I think in the second inning a really good hitter hit an off-speed pitch. It kind of looked like he might have been sitting on an off-speed pitch," Counsell said. "Then he made a mistake to Ervin. That ball was a middle fastball. He was trying to go away and he just left it in the middle.

"When Chase is leaving balls in the middle, he's getting hurt on them, for sure."

But then, just like that, Anderson got dialed in against a Cincinnati lineup missing its best hitter in Joey Votto.

He finished out the second with no further damage, struck out two in the third and one more each in the fourth, fifth and sixth before being lifted for a pinch-hitter with his pitch count sitting at only 76.

"I think my focus got better, honestly, after the homers," said Anderson. "Pitch to Suárez was a bad pitch. Other one wasn’t terrible but really wasn’t located well. You don’t expect that, but this is the big leagues and guys are going to make you pay for mistakes. They really did for those two pitches.

"I know the homers have kind of been a big thing for me this year. A lot of solo homers. I know the first inning has been a big thing for me this year. But I felt like I found something as the game went on. I was able to re-focus and keep our team in the game, and I think that was the biggest positive – give our guys a chance."

Anderson was asked how, specifically, he was able to re-focus.

"I think it’s more of a rhythm thing," he explained. "(Pitching coach Derek Johnson) has been telling me this year I’ve been too fast. Sometimes too slow, sometimes can’t really find a rhythm. But I got to a point in that fourth, fifth, sixth inning where I found my timing. I was a little bit slower, but it was right. I could get my hand where I needed to get it to make a pitch.

"Curveball was better tonight – I felt like I could throw that pitch a lot more. The cutter was good when I couldn’t locate the heater. It’s good to have four pitches, like I’ve always talked about. It just gives you more weapons to go to when you’re in jams at times.

"And if you can command those four pitches in big spots in the game, it’s going to pay off for you."

The Brewers' offense had trouble early on against veteran right-hander Homer Bailey, who entered 1-10 with a 6.33 earned run average. Christian Yelich got Milwaukee on the board with a solo homer in the fifth, then Travis Shaw's two-run, broken-bat homer in the sixth put the Brewers ahead to stay.

With another runner on and with Anderson's spot coming up four batters after Shaw's homer, Orlando Arcia pinch-hit for the Brewers' starter. He had plenty more gas in the tank but exited having allowed just the two homers to go along with six strikeouts.

While Arcia failed to collect a hit the decision still worked out fine as Josh Hader pitched two perfect innings behind Anderson to make it 20 consecutive Cincinnati batters retired, and then Jeremy Jeffress closed the game out by earning his fifth save one day after throwing 32 pitches over two innings in a close victory over the Cardinals.

"I think he was seeing how the inning played out," Anderson said of Counsell. "I was looking forward to going out in the seventh and put up another zero. I really try to stay focused until I hear something. But those guys have shut the door all season. That’s what having a good bullpen is about and that’s kind of how baseball has gone.

"As a starting pitcher, you want to pitch the whole game if you can but it’s a numbers game and usually averages go up as you face guys 3-4 times through the lineup. I’m thankful to have a bullpen like we have."

It was pointed out to Anderson after the game that he didn't have to pitch from the stretch even once. 

"That’s what (bench coach Pat Murphy) said when he came over and we were giving high fives – ‘When’s the next time you’re going to pitch six innings and not out of the stretch?’ " Anderson said. "Hopefully every time I go out there the rest of the season. That’d be nice. That’s a good thing."

Anderson is now 8-7 with a 3.92 ERA, and getting him into a groove down the stretch would be a huge boon for a Brewers team that has really only been able to count on Jhoulys Chacín in its starting rotation.

"I think it was a big stepping stone to build on to trust myself that I can do it again," Anderson said. "When you struggle a little bit you kind of second-guess yourself mentally. But for this whole season I’ve just tried to stay strong up top.

"It’s tough at times, but I think this game tonight was something to build off of and hopefully I can continue that and get to 6-7 innings every time."