Brett Anderson makes his way back to Dodgers

The Dodgers go for a series win against the Pirates on Sunday afternoon, and welcome back Brett Anderson to the mound to make his 2016 debut.

The left-hander with a long injury history made a career-high 31 starts and pitched a career best 180⅓ innings in 2015, but his return was nipped in the bud with back problems during spring training. The injury was a return of what wiped out the remainder of his 2014 season with Colorado, and required arthroscopic surgery to repair a bulging disc in his back in early March.

Anderson made three minor league rehab starts — two with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and one with Triple-A Oklahoma City — and progressed from three, to four, then to five innings. He struck out 11 and walked one in his 12 innings on rehab, and was at his ground-ballingest with 20 ground outs and two fly ball outs in his three minor league games.

Anderson will be the 29th different pitcher to appear in a game for the Dodgers in 2016, two shy of the franchise record set one year ago. Anderson will be the 13th starting pitcher for the Dodgers this season, tied for fifth-most in club history, three behind last year and six behind the franchise mark of 19 set by Brooklyn during World War II in 1944.

The Dodgers are 5-3 so far on the homestand, scoring 40 runs during this stay, averaging exactly five per game including half of their games with at least eight runs scored, including Saturday.

Chad Kuhl, who beat the Dodgers in his major league debut on June 26 in Pittsburgh, starts the series finale for the Pirates. Pittsburgh is undefeated in his five starts.

Game info

Time: 1:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA