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Jonathan Sanchez Throws No-Hitter
He wasn’t even supposed to be on the mound Friday night but a spot in the starting rotation opened when future hall of famer Randy Johnson went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.
Needless to say San Francisco Giants Jonathan Sanchez made the most of his opportunity.
Sanchez struck out 11 and walked nary a batter en route to tossing the first no-hitter of the 2009 season. The Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 8-0 at AT&T Park.
San Francisco Giants Jonathan Sanchez throws first no hitter of season Friday night against the San Diego Padres.
The 26-year old almost hurled a perfect game but a Padre runner reached base in the eighth inning on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe.
The hitless bid was almost ruined in the ninth inning but Gold Glove center fielder Aaron Rowand made a leaping grab at the center-field fence to catch pinch-hitter Edgar Gonzalez’s drive for the second out.
The no-hitter comes on the heels of Sanchez being demoted to the bullpen. The last time he won was way back on May 25th. On the season, Sanchez is 2-8. It’s the fifth-most games below .500 by a pitcher to throw a no-hitter since 1950.
“They gave me a second chance. You see what happened tonight,” Sanchez said.
This feel good story gets even better. Jonathan’s father, visiting from Puerto Rico, was on hand to see his son throw the first no-hitter in San Francisco by a Giant since Ed Halicki held the New York Mets hitless in the second game of a doubleheader on August 24th, 1975.
“This is a gift for him,” said Sanchez. “I feel awesome.”
The left hander finished the game by getting Everth Cabrera to strike out looking. Had it not been a no-hit bid the final pitch probably would have been called a ball.
Sanchez threw just 110 pitches with 77 going for strikes. For a guy whose career was seemingly hanging in the balance his stuff was absolutely nasty.
“On film he throws the ball hard, but it looks like he doesn’t know where it’s going,” San Diego’s Tony Gwynn Jr. said. “Today he looked exactly like he knew where it was going.”
If you were going to pick a Giant to toss a no-hitter your first pick probably would have been reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. Or maybe 10 game winner Matt Cain. Or even 2002 AL CY Young winner Barry Zito. The name Sanchez wouldn’t have even crossed your mind.
“I think if you looked at the staff, he wouldn’t be the one you picked,” said manager Bruce Bochy . “He came out throwing 94-96 [mph]. He just had incredible stuff.”
This was the Giants’ major league-leading 13th shutout of the year
As for Uribe, he felt so bad that his error spoiled Sanchez’s perfect game that he left the stadium as soon as he could. Sanchez holds no grudges.
“It’s the game. It can happen,” Sanchez said. “I could have given up a hit, too. It doesn’t matter. I just want to win.”
Lincecum had a no-hit bid going into the seventh inning a night earlier against San Diego.
The Padres were no-hit for the seventh time. Incidentally, they are one of only two teams to have never thrown a no-hitter.
