San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
New hands lift Astros to a no-hitter over Mariners.
Pitching eclipses second straight offensive outburst
HOUSTON — After completing the sixth inning, Aaron Sanchez bounded from the mound to receive a job-well-done handshake from manager A.J. Hinch in the dugout at Minute Maid Park on Saturday. Sanchez’s start, his first with the Astros since they acquired him in a trade with the Blue Jays, was over.
He had not allowed a hit. Relievers Will Harris, Joe Biagini—also in the trade with Toronto—and Chris Devenski combined to complete the no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Mariners.
The Astros (72-40) had inducted an inaugural class into its Hall of Fame before the game and honored several players on the field. The ceremony included three pitchers who had thrown no-hitters for the franchise: Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott and Larry Dierker.
They got to watch the Astros throw the second no-hitter combined and 12th overall in franchise history. Only the Dodgers have more no-hitters, with 13.
The Mariners (47-66) have been on the losing end of two combined no-hitters this season. Both have been by at least nine runs.
Sanchez (4-14, 5.76) struck out
six batters and walked two. He earned his first win since April 27. He had lost 13 consecutive decisions before Saturday, which is the longest losing streak before a start of at least six no-hit innings since 1900, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“This is everything you dream of,” Sanchez, flanked by the three relievers, said in a postgame news conference.
Sanchez did not think much about the no-hitter until Harris cleared the seventh.
“There was a little edge to the dugout because we knew what was going on,” Hinch said.
Some fans appeared not to know. Astros starter Gerrit Cole saw then walking up the stairs in the ninth inning.
“Why are you leaving?” Cole shouted.
Pitching overshadowed a second consecutive offensive outburst. The Astros had relied on six home runs Friday. Of their 15 hits Saturday, only Jose Altuve’s cleared the wall, which was his 18th homer of the season. Michael Brantley went 3 for 5 with two doubles and four RBIs. George Springer was Houston’s only starting batter without a hit.
Acquired hours before the July 31 trade deadline as a likely fifth starter, an afterthought to the blockbuster trade for Zack Greinke, mostly to ensure the staff is well-stocked in the final months of Houston’s playoff-bound season, Sanchez, a 27-yearold right-hander, looks like a brilliant act of thievery by general manager Jeff Luhnow.
“Those no-name pitchers we got did pretty great,” Astros owner Jim Crane said.
Seattle’s lineup, stacked with four left-handed hitters at the top, was cedar. Sanchez was the chainsaw. He induced 20 strikes looking and 12 swinging.
Sanchez showed emotion. He glistened with sweat down his neck before first pitch. He chewed gum feverishly.
A sellout crowd embraced him to a near ravenous extent. By the fifth inning, with each strike that mounted, cheers grew louder for anticipated strikeouts and validation for the trade grew stronger.
He sagged when he walked the second batter in the sixth.
“They always seem to come back and bite you,” he said.
Two batters later, he skipped off the mound, watching a ground ball reach Altuve and slapping his mitt with anticipation, as he stranded the runner at third.
“I like to pitch with emotion,” he said. “I work hard to go out there and do my thing. In big situations, I just let it go.”
Hinch had made a plan to remove Sanchez after six innings, and later said that he did not think twice about it.
“I get the dilemma,” Hinch said. “It hits you in the stomach a little bit, but my responsibility is to take care of him, take care of our team, take care of our pursuit to win the division. I know his history. I know he’s battled to get himself back on the field. It was a no-brainer for me.”
Sanchez would get a chance to calm down in the trainer’s room, but he did not get to exhale until the final out harmless sailed into Josh Reddick’s mitt.
After the trade, Sanchez took out an ad in a Toronto newspaper to thank Blue Jays fans for supporting him. In 2010, the franchise drafted him in the first round out of Barstow (Calif.) High School. He was 17 years old.
“That’s a door that’s shut in my career,” he said. “It’s been an unbelievable 48 hours. For it to end like it did today, I’m so happy.”