Jonathan Sanchez: 3-8 Pitcher Pitches No-Hitter
Jonathan Sanchez pitched the first no-hitter of the season enroute to the Giants defeating the Padres 8-0 on Friday night.
Jonathan Sanchez entered the game last night with a 2-8 record and a 5.30 ERA. He had not won a game since May 25 and had been relegated to bullpen duty since his last start on June 22.
He would be one of the last pitchers in baseball expected to throw a no-hitter last night but that is exactly what he did defeating the Padres 8-0.
Sanchez has a lifetime record of 16-26 so wasn’t a prime candidate for a no-hitter.
Making the night even more special was the fact that his father Sigredo Sanchez was watching him start a major league game for the first time.
It would have been a perfect game if not for an eighth inning error by Juan Uribe who was three for four in the game and drove in a run.
Pablo Sandoval hit a three run homer for his 14th homer of the season while Aaron Rowand also drove in three runs.
Sanchez is tied for the lead in losses among Giants pitchers with Barry Zito with both pitchers having eight losses.
He was 14th in ERA on the team this season among all pitchers who have pitched for the Giants this season but ended game 11th on the team.
It was the second no-hitter by a Puerto Rican pitcher with Juan Nieves hurling the other no-hitter on April 15, 1987.
The Giants are first in the NL in ERA with a 3.47 mark and fourth in batting average with a .262 average.
They are still seven games behind the Dodgers in the NL West but would be leading the NL East or NL Central with their 48-38 record. They are two games ahead of the Rockies in the NL wild card race.
Jeff Francoeur Traded For Ryan Church
The Braves have traded Jeff Francoeur to the Mets for Ryan Church. Francoeur was born in Atlanta and was a member of the Parkway High baseball and football teams. Both teams won two state championships while Francoeur attended the school.
Francoeur had slugged 48 homers combined during the 2006 and 2007 seasons but has hit only 16 in the last season and a half for the Braves. His slugging average starting with the 2005 season when he slugged .549 has dropped in the last four seasons with percentages of .449, .444, .359 and .352 so far this season.
Church has a .273 lifetime average and was hitting .280 when the trade was made. The Mets may have gotten the best of the deal considering that Francoeur has a much better arm and that Francoeur is more of a run producer.
The change of scenery may help both players. It is not easy to compare the two players this season because Church has not been an everyday player like Francoeur.
Yesterday’s Highlights
Edwin Jackson 7-4 pitched the Tigers to a 5-1 win over the Indians in his first win since June 6 after a loss and four no decisions….Jon Lester 8-6 pitched the Red Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Royals….Jeff Niemann 8-4 pitched the Rays to a 6-0 complete game shutout win over the A’s with Carlos Pena hitting his AL leading 24th homer.
The Twins took an early 4-0 lead over the White Sox but the White Sox tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning before losing 6-4….The Yankees led the Angels 4-1 after two innings but Joba Chamberlain and the bullpen let the Angels take a 10-6 win.
Scott Feldman 8-2 pitched the Rangers to a 6-4 win against the Mariners and matched the eight wins of Kevin Millwood this season.
Albert Pujols hit his major league leading 32nd homer and drove in his 84th and 85th runs batted in of the season in a 8-3 win for the Cardinals over the Cubs who are tied for fourth place with the Reds. Rich Harden 5-6 took the loss for the Cubs and is 0-2 and has posted an ERA of 14.14 in July.
Bronson Arroyo 9-8 pitched a complete game four hit shutout topping the Mets 3-0. The Mets fell to five games under .500 and are six and a half games behind the first place Phillies in the NL East.
Trevor Hoffman blew his second save of the season when the Dodgers tied the Brewers 6-6 in the ninth inning and then went on win 12-8 in ten innings. Matt Kemp hit a grand slam in the tenth inning to seal the victory….Dan Haren 9-5 pitched a complete game four hit shutout as the Diamondbacks defeated the Marlins 8-0 lowering Haren’s major league best ERA to 2.01.
Baseball Notebook 
I am always talking about the A’s, but the Giants have something special going on this year. The Dodgers got out to a big lead and have maintained it, and the Giants hitting can be suspect, but their pitching is strong. If Randy Johnson can come back from his injury and Zito can just win and many as he loses, they can make a run for the division or wild card and their pitching could carry them a long way in a series. This is not the Barry Bonds Giants anymore and once you get past that, they are fun to watch.
The Giants are in good position at the halfway mark with their pitching staff leading the majors in ERA. Like you wrote they need for Zito to at least break even and if Sanchez pitches this well the rest of the season they should be the NL wild card team.
I am surprised that Jonathan Sanchez pitched a complete game. Wasn’t he over the mythical pitch count?
Pitch counts go out the window when a pitcher has a chance at a no-hitter. Harvey Haddix didn’t have to worry about a pitch count in his 12 perfect innings.
Honestly, if the Giants were planning on trading him for a hitter, they might want to do it now, because his value might never be higher. He was highly rated despite his bad numbers, but so are a lot of pitchers. Clay Buchholtz threw a no-hitter in his 2nd Major League start in 2007 and went 2-9 the next year. It’s hard to say what this all means for his future as a pitcher, but some team could get overly excited about this no-hitter and give up more than would otherwise be available.
I agree that the Giants need one more solid hitter in their lineup and in four years with the Giants Sanchez has never had a good earned run average. He might get bombed in his next start since after all he is a 16-26 lifetime pitcher.
Sanchez reminds me of Virgil Trucks who had a 5-19 record in 1952 but two of those wins were no-hitters when he was with the Tigers. He struck out 418 batters in the minors in 1938.