Rusty Simmons - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)
A lot will be made today of the Giants' breaking out for 11 runs on 13 hits, but Sunday's game might have taken its biggest turn when the A's scored their run.
When A's designated hitter Jack Cust crushed a full-count fastball from Jonathan Sanchez over the center-field fence in the second inning, the Giants' starter didn't react negatively. The left-hander just called for another baseball from the umpire and quickly got the next three outs.
"Sanchez has got a different look to him, and he doesn't lose his focus anymore," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He used to start over-throwing and have trouble repeating his delivery, but now, he just keeps his poise."
Sanchez retired 17 of the next 19 batters after the homer, and he allowed only four hits and one walk total in seven innings to lead the Giants to an 11-1 win in front of 33,841 fans at McAfee Coliseum.
The victory marked the first time the Giants recorded back-to-back wins against the A's since May 2006. The A's had won 10 of the last 12 in the series, using three shutouts and a 1.11 ERA in the last nine meetings.
After scoring only two runs in the last 47 innings against the A's, however, the Giants busted out for nine runs in a two-inning span Sunday. Every Giants starter except for shortstop Omar Vizquel got a hit, and all but Vizquel and third baseman Jose Castillo scored.
"Our bats came to life," Bochy said. "Once we got a guy on base, it got contagious. Sometimes, it takes one guy to get a big hit and it just loosens you up."
The big hits came one after another in the fourth and fifth innings. Second baseman Ray Durham, who left the game and is day-to-day with a leg contusion, smacked a one-double into the right-center-field gap in the fourth. After Right fielder Randy Winn grounded to first base, the Giants rattled off five consecutive hits and scored four times.
It continued in the fifth inning, when the first three hitters reached safely and ran A's starter Joe Blanton with the ugly line of seven runs on eight hits in four-plus innings. Reliever Andrew Brown didn't fair much better, allowing three inherited runners from Blanton to score and adding his own on first baseman Rich Aurilia's two-run single. Aurilia, who went 3-for-5 and tied his career-high with five RBIs, also had a two-run homerun off Santiago Casilla in the seventh inning.
"I think it's huge for us, because it gives us the boost and the confidence that we need offensively," said catcher Bengie Molina, who had to lobby Bochy to let him start the day game after Saturday's night game.
The Giants, who are a team-best 13-4 in his starts, already had that confidence in Sanchez. He's undefeated in six consecutive road starts, going 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA. He's been knocked for seven runs in three separate starts this season, but since April 11, he's allowed more than three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 10 starts.
"He trusts himself a lot more because he sees that his ball moves a lot and hitters are having a hard time putting good wood on it," Molina said. "He's probably unknown for now, but he's going to be known soon because people have to realize the pitcher he is. If he takes advantage of this, this could be the turning point of a great career."
Sanchez, 25, was tabbed the 2006 USA Today Organizational Player of the Year and was deemed the Giants' second-best prospect by Baseball America. However, that hadn't translated into major-league success until this season.
Last season, he was 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA, and he was demoted to Triple-A Fresno two times after making his first Opening Day roster. He showed dominating signs in the majors, striking out 62 in 52 innings, but he also had a wild side, walking 28.
Sanchez has added a sinker to his repertoire this season and has seemingly gotten over the control problems that plagued him. Since allowing 18 walks in a five-start stretch that spanned April and May, he has gone six consecutive starts without issuing more than three free passes in a game.
"That's the difference," Sanchez said. "I'm getting better with my command and throwing more strikes."
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