Brett Anderson ends regular season strong, beats Giants

Brett Anderson ended his regular season on a high note, killing worms all day and leading the Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Giants in their series finale at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Anderson allowed just four singles and didn't allow a run until the eighth inning. Anderson struck out three, got 15 ground ball outs, and threw an efficient 91 pitches. He retired 14 straight before a leadoff single in the eighth inning.

By pitching 7⅔ innings on Thursday, Anderson reached 180⅓ innings on the season, earning a pair of bonuses totaling $750,000. On the season, Anderson earned $2.4 million of a possible $4 million in incentives, bringing his 2015 salary to $12.4 million.

Anderson reached career highs this season in starts (31), innings (180⅓) and batters faced (750), not bad after totaling 206 innings in the previous four years combined.

So this is what pitching a full season feels like.

— Brett Anderson (@BrettAnderson35) October 2, 2015

Anderson even contributed at the plate with a single in the third inning, then moved up to second on a single by Howie Kendrick.

After Kendrick's single, starter Tim Hudson was removed for the final time in his 17-year career, and got a long and well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd as well as players in both dugouts.

Adrian Gonzalez greeted relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt with a bloop single to left field to score Anderson, the first run scored of Anderson's career. It was also the only time Anderson has ever been on second base when somebody hit a single, so he is 1-for-1 in scoring in those situations.

Kendrick would score on a ground out by Andre Ethier, giving the Dodgers a second run in the inning and a 3-0 lead.

Ethier scored the Dodgers' first run of the game after hitting a triple to the right center field gap in the second inning. It was the second triple of the series for Ethier and his seventh of the season, tying a career high set back in his rookie season of 2006.

It was the 494th career extra-base hit for Ethier, who passed Matt Kemp for sole possessions of 10th place on the all-time Los Angeles Dodgers triples list, with 34.

San Francisco rallied for two runs in the eighth inning, but Chris Hatcher got the final out of the frame.

Kenley Jansen retired the Giants in order in the ninth for his 35th save of the season.

The win made the Dodgers 2-8 in San Francisco this season, avoiding becoming the first Dodgers team since both clubs moved west in 1958 to win just once in a season in SF.

NLDS thoughts

With the win and the Mets' earlier loss in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York are tied at 89-70 with three games remaining. Since the Mets hold the tiebreaker, the Dodgers need four of six outcomes to go their way for home field advantage in the National League Division Series.

Up next

The Dodgers return home to close out the regular season with three games against the Padres, with Alex Wood starting Friday night's series opener at Dodger Stadium. San Diego will counter with Casey Kelly.

The Mets end their regular season at home as well, hosting the Nationals.

Thursday particulars

WP - Brett Anderson (10-9): 7⅔ IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 strikeouts

LP - Tim Hudson (8-9): 2⅓ IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

Sv - Kenley Jansen (35): 3 up, 3 down