Dodgers activate Anderson, starts vs Pirates; McCarthy on DL

“They were out there”.

LOS ANGELES Brett Anderson’s long-awaited comeback was almost over Sunday before it began.

The club would do well to hold things together until Kershaw comes back, though nobody can say that one player is all the club needs to run the table in October, even if that player is as wildly talented as the team’s left-handed staff ace. Bases loaded twice against McCarthy, a ball in the gap would have been nice. “There’s no broken bones or tears or anything, so hopefully we flush the inflamation out and get back out there”. We’ve just been playing good baseball. He retired 11 Pittsburgh batters in a row before Mercer led off the seventh with his seventh homer of the season.Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager went 2-for-4 and extended his streak of multi-hit games to four in a row.The Pirates plated three runs in the first.

“Those were probably the two worst pitches I made all night”, Stripling said. “In Coors Field, there’s a lot of baserunners, but this is an outlier here”.

Los Angeles has dropped consecutive games, with an off day sandwiched in between. “There was a lot of traffic out there”, he said. But his 30-pitch outing only further taxed an already busy bullpen that had to pick up 7 1/3 innings on Saturday, when McCarthy had to leave the game. “I thought we did that”. I’ve done everything I can to get out there and get ready. “You never expect to dive and hurt your wrist, especially with all the time you put in to get back to a big league mound”.

“I think that Clayton’s always going to be the aggressor and the training staff is always mindful of him wanting to get back sooner than later”, manager Dave Roberts said before Kershaw’s throwing session Sunday. They managed to keep the score respectable until right-hander Josh Fields imploded in the ninth inning, allowing four runs.

The Dodgers needed their second successful challenge — and a 2:29 review — to take a 6-3 lead in the fifth. Dodgers LHP Julio Urias celebrated his 20th birthday Friday. An umpire’s review overturned Pederson bouncing into a double play after it was determined that Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier failed to touch the bag. Kang was charged with two errors on the same play when he could not field or throw the ball cleanly in the third. He also got eight ground-ball outs. “Some of my trainers were able to see it, noticed it as well”. C Chris Stewart was expected to make his second rehab start for Double-A Altoona on Sunday. Cervelli returned to the lineup after missing two games with left wrist discomfort. The Pirates have beaten Los Angeles in four of five games this season and improved their record to 14-4 against the Dodgers since the beginning of the 2014 season.

Moved to the 60-day DL on August 3, Kershaw is eligible to return to the Dodgers on August 27. Pittsburgh is also 5-0 in Kuhl’s last five starts, and 5-0 in Kuhl’s last five starts on grass. The Dodgers have won five of their last seven games but may have lost another starting pitcher Saturday when Brandon McCarthy exited with a hip injury.Anderson had back surgery for a bulging disc in early March but hopes to make an immediate impact on a rotation that has been plagued by a series of injuries.

The final note on his entrance song, “Throne” by Bring Me the Horizon, was still floating through Dodger Stadium when the Pittsburgh Pirates started their onslaught: a leadoff single, then a two-run home run, later a three-run home run.

The Dodgers have their starting pitchers set for Tuesday and Wednesday when they begin a seven-game trip in Philadelphia, but have holes to fill after that.