Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Clayton Kershaw, who’s 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA, goes for the Dodgers. Chase Anderson, 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA, pitches for the D-Backs. The two have come close to meeting before, years ago.

Anderson is from McKinney, Texas, about 30 minutes from where Kershaw grew up in Highland Park.

The pair came within one game of facing each other in the Texas State High School playoffs, but Anderson’s team came up one game short.

“I threw the regional finals my senior year, we lost the game 2-1 or 3-2,” Anderson said. “I had 15 strikeouts. I would have pitched against Kershaw’s team in the first round of the playoffs in 2006, our senior year of high school, so that would have been a lot of fun.”

The two also came close to crossing paths on two other occasions.

“He was on the same summer ball team that following summer, but he got drafted so he went with the Dodgers and I went to play summer ball,” Anderson said. “He worked out at API [Athletes’ Performance Institute] a couple of offseasons ago where I worked out, but we never really ran into each other. We’re both Texas boys.”

That’s kind of startling. This is the 26-year-old Anderson’s second start in the major leagues. Kershaw, also 26 years old, will be making his 186th start in the bigs this evening. However much we appreciate Kershaw’s talent, it’s not enough.

Yasiel Puig now has an extra-base hit and an RBI in seven consecutive games. That feat is a subset of a fifteen-game hitting streak.

Lineup when available.