Anderson (5-7) allowed three runs on five hits across six innings to take the loss Tuesday against the Nationals. He struck out five.
Anderson mostly pitched well but served up two home runs to CJ Abrams, including a two-run shot in the seventh inning, to account for all of the damage in an eventual 3-1 loss. The righty tossed five scoreless frames in his last outing and has a tidy 2.76 ERA across 45.2 innings since the beginning of August. Overall, Anderson now has a 3.67 ERA and 114 strikeouts in a career-high 108 innings this season split between the bullpen and rotation. He's not currently in line to make any more 2026 starts, though it's unclear exactly how the Tigers will deploy their pitchers over the final four games of the year with the team eliminated from the playoff race. Either way, Anderson has shown some promise as a starter down the stretch, which figures to put him in the mix for a 2027 Opening Day rotation spot.