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As Garret Anderson exits, Jay Gibbons comes on the scene

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Not long after veteran Garret Anderson left Dodger Stadium on Sunday morning, his big-league career perhaps finished after 2,529 hits, his successor Jay Gibbons walked into the Dodgers clubhouse.

A few hours later, Gibbons — resurrecting his major-league career as the Dodgers’ newest left-handed bat off the bench — singled home a run in his first big-league at-bat in three years in the Dodgers’ win over the Washington Nationals.

“I was just fortunate enough to sneak one up the middle and it just made for a perfect ending” to the day, Gibbons said. “It definitely felt like a while — too long.”

Anderson was designated for assignment, removing him from the team’s active roster, after the 38-year-old former Angels star continued to struggle. Anderson was batting .181 with 12 runs batted in, while Gibbons was batting .347 for Albuquerque with 19 home runs and 83 RBIs.

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre, who had supported Anderson despite his problems at the plate, acknowledged that it was a hard decision.

“As tough as this was to do, for me because of how I respect this guy’s career and respect him as a person, we just felt we wanted to try something different,” Torre said.

Torre was asked what Anderson said when he got the news. “He said, ‘Thanks for the opportunity,’ and with that just slid away,” Torre replied. “I just wished him well.”

If Anderson clears waivers, the Dodgers have 10 days to trade him, release him or send him to the minors if he’s willing to accept an assignment.

Gibbons, 33, spent several years with the Baltimore Orioles but had not played in the major leagues since 2007 after the Mitchell Report linked him with using performance-enhanced human growth hormone.

He toiled in the minor leagues and mulled retirement but said he “just couldn’t give it up. I went to play winter ball and the Dodgers saw me over there. I’m just very grateful that the Dodgers gave me an opportunity to show I can play again.”

And when he was asked to pinch-hit Sunday, “once I got on deck, I was trying to take it all in and enjoy the moment,” he said. “It turned out to be very good.”

Balanced rotation

After months of experimenting with different pitchers in the fifth spot in their rotation, the Dodgers seemed to have solved the problem with the acquisition of Ted Lilly from the Chicago Cubs.

“Pitching-wise, this is as good as we’ve been for a while,” Torre said after Lilly won his second game in as many starts since being acquired at the non-waiver trade deadline July 31. Lilly, he said, gives the Dodgers “a very formidable rotation.”

One reason: The Dodgers now have two left-handers, Lilly and Clayton Kershaw, along with right-handers Chad Billingsley, Vicente Padilla and Hiroki Kuroda that provides “more balance to our rotation,” Torre said.

Short hops

Reliever Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless seventh inning and now has not allowed a run in the first six innings of his big-league career . . . The six runs of support that Lilly received Sunday were three more runs than he had received in any of his prior 19 starts this season.

james.peltz@latimes.com

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