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Sunday, Oct. 3 4:05pm ET
Anderson makes case for playoff start | |||||
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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks won their 100th game and completed the biggest-one-year turnaround in baseball history, and Brian Anderson was there from the start. The first player Arizona picked in the 1998 expansion draft, Anderson pitched five shutout innings Sunday as the Diamondbacks completed their regular season by beating the San Diego Padres 10-3. In the process, Anderson (8-2) enhanced his chances of being picked as the fourth starter in manager Buck Showalter's playoff rotation. Showalter said he will announce his choice Monday. The Diamondbacks will face either the New York Mets or the Houston Astros in the NL Division Series beginning on Tuesday night in Arizona. The Mets will play the Cincinnati Reds in a one-game playoff to determine the NL wild card representative on Monday night. "I'd a lot rather be here waiting than out there wondering," Showalter said. Anderson talked about the ups and downs of his career, pitching for Cleveland, near his hometown, then being left off the Indians' playoffs roster only to come back and pitch in the World Series. After that season, he was shipped out in the expansion draft "to this team that wears purple and didn't even exist,." he said. He went through the rough expansion season, lost his spot in the rotation when the team loaded up on free agents this year, then made a triumphant return when given a chance down the stretch. "Not many people get to ride a roller coaster like that, but it's been an awesome ride," Anderson said. The NL West-champion Diamondbacks, the first team to reach the playoffs in just its second year, went from 65-97 in 1998 to 100-62 this year. The 35-game turnaround beat the previous best of 34½ games, set by the 1903 New York Giants, who went from 48-88 in 1902 to 84-55 the following year. "Anytime you preface something by saying 'the first time in baseball history' it means something," Showalter said. "But remember, you had to be pretty shaky on the front end of those two seasons for that to happen." Rod Barajas hit his first major league home run and had an RBI double for Arizona. Bernard Gilkey and Jay Bell also homered for the Diamondbacks. "I don't know if any of us thought about the biggest turnaround thing," Bell said, "but the 100 wins are pretty special. A lot of us have been fortunate to get into a divisional series, but I don't know if any of us had won 100 games." San Diego is headed in the other direction. After going 98-64 last year and winning the NL pennant, the Padres dropped to 74-88. "Coming off a season like we did last year, it makes it a little tougher to have a losing season," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "We knew it was going to be different with the changes we made. But I'm proud of them. They came out playing all season." Anderson, 6-0 in his last nine starts, allowed three hits, struck out three and walked one. The other candidate for the fourth starting spot, Andy Benes, relieved Anderson in the sixth and gave up a leadoff homer to Ruben Rivera in the seventh. Gilkey and Barajas hit consecutive homers off Heath Murray (0-4) in the second. Gilkey's homer, which drove in two runs, was his eighth. Bell led off the fifth with his 38th home run, his career best by 17. Arizona scored a run in the third on Luis Gonzalez's RBI double. Barajas' RBI double highlighted the Diamondbacks' five-run sixth inning as Arizona blew open a 10-0 lead.
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard San Diego Clubhouse Arizona Clubhouse   | |||||