'It means a lot to me': Anderson thankful to stay put following Deadline

ANAHEIM -- Veteran lefty Tyler Anderson dealt with his name swirling around trade rumors last month, only for the Angels to opt to not deal him leading up to Tuesday’s Trade Deadline.

Anderson, who remains under contract next season at $13 million, instead remained with the organization and made his first start since the Deadline in a 5-1 loss to the Mets on Friday night at Angel Stadium. Anderson dealt with a high pitch count and was hurt by a two-run homer from Pete Alonso, as he allowed three runs over five innings on 100 pitches. Anderson, though, said he was happy to put the trade rumors behind him and remain with the Angels.

“It means a lot to me,” Anderson said. “I like to be here. I like everyone here. I love this place. I love all my teammates. I'm just glad to be here.”

Anderson, an All-Star for the second time in his career this season, has been the club’s most dependable starter this season and the Halos expected to count on him again next year after deciding not to trade him to a contending club. He's posted a 3.05 ERA in 22 starts but fell to 8-10 on the year.

Manager Ron Washington felt it was simply a good job by Mets hitters to foul off several of Anderson’s offerings and make him work.

“They really battled [Anderson] during their at-bats and made him throw some pitches through five innings,” Washington said. “At times, it looked like we were facing the Yankees with the way they fought for their at-bats and laid off his pitches. They didn’t really have any hard hits except for the one [Alonso] hit out but in the game of baseball, base hits are base hits and they got things going.”

The lefty found himself in trouble early, putting two runners on in the first inning after allowing a one-out single and a walk. But he struck out three in the opening frame to escape any damage. Anderson wasn’t as fortunate in the second, however, as he gave up a leadoff double to Jose Iglesias and an RBI single to Francisco Alvarez to give the Mets an early lead.

The Angels tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Jo Adell but Anderson couldn’t keep the game level in the third. He gave up a leadoff single to Brandon Nimmo before surrendering a go-ahead two-run blast to Alonso on a first-pitch cutter that caught too much of the zone.

“They had a lot of hits but I felt like a lot of them were on good pitches and the one mistake was the cutter that backed up to Alonso there,” Anderson said. “Obviously the one that costs you. But the ones before that, for the most part, they're mostly good pitches. I think they're in a good spot right now. When you’re making good pitches, they’re spoiling them and when they get the bat on it, they’re finding a hole.”

He allowed two more hits in the fourth but got J.D. Martinez to fly out to right to end the potential scoring threat. It was more of the same in the fifth, but this time he was helped by a sensational defensive play by second baseman Luis Guillorme to end the inning. With runners at the corners and two outs, Alvarez lifted a pop-up to shallow right field that looked like it was going to drop in for an RBI single. But Guillorme raced over and made a diving catch to end Anderson’s outing on a positive note.

“That was huge,” Anderson said. “That was an awesome play. I feel like he makes that a lot but that one came out of nowhere. It was great.”

Anderson, though, didn’t get much help from the offense, as the Angels struggled against right-hander Paul Blackburn. Third baseman Luis Rengifo, who has been the club’s most consistent hitter, also left the game in the fifth inning with right wrist irritation. It was his first game back after also leaving Wednesday’s game in the eighth inning with the same ailment. It’s a recurrence of the same wrist that had him on the injured list from July 5 to July 23.

“Right now, all we know is we removed him because he had a little flare up and we’ll see what the trainers say tomorrow,” Washington said. “We just didn't make some plays on the defensive end and again, we just didn't supply any offense.”