Mercury News
How's about trading Jonathan Sanchez for a bat now?
The Giants sure didn't appear to need any mercenary hitters in their 10-0 battery stamping of the Colorado Rockies Tuesday night. And Sanchez sure didn't pitch like an expendable trade chip.
In fact, he etched his name into franchise lore again. Barely a year after pitching the first no-hitter by a Giant since 1976, Sanchez struck out seven consecutive hitters to tie the San Francisco-era record.
He shares it with none other than Juan Marichal, the Dominican Dandy himself, who struck out seven consecutive on Sept. 6, 1964, at Philadelphia. Until Tuesday night, no Giants pitcher had equaled it for nearly 46 years.
With fastballs hitting the black, curveballs snapping at the back door and his changeup fluttering, Sanchez fanned Miguel Olivo, Brad Hawpe and Clint Barmes in the second inning. Then he threw swinging third strikes past pitcher Aaron Cook, Ryan Spilborghs and Todd Helton in the third.
Catcher Buster Posey held onto a foul tip third strike on Carlos Gonzalez to lead off the fourth inning and secure Sanchez a place alongside a Hall of Fame legend.
In fact, Posey also held onto a foul tip to register Cook's strikeout an inning earlier.
Sanchez (8-6) struck out nine while holding the Rockies to three hits in six innings. And in concert with a rat-a-tat first inning, the Giants flushed some bad memories of theirIndependence Day nightmare here. The Giants returned to Coors Field for the first time since July 4, when their crushing, 15-inning loss ranked as the longest game in the ballpark's history. Of course, the Giants responded by rattling off 20 wins in 25 games to vault into contention. They certainly looked like a different team Tuesday. They suddenly have so many hot hitters that Giants Manager Bruce Bochy elected to rest Juan Uribe for a third consecutive game, even though his tight right hamstring was improved. Uribe was 1-for-17 in his career against Cook while several other players had numbers that jumped off the matchup sheet. Edgar Renteria was 8 for 19. Travis Ishikawa was 4 for 5. And Pat Burrell's .591 average (13 for 22) was higher than any major leaguer with at least 10 at-bats against Cook. It meant covering the vast outfield at Coors with the "Wild Kingdom" outfield defense — self-described water buffaloes Burrell and Aubrey Huff at the corners, with gazelle-like Andres Torres in center. But it proved worth the risk. The Giants strung together six singles against Cook in a four-run first inning. Burrell had one of them, then smacked a solo home run when he faced Cook again in the third. More 19-hit nights like these will lessen the urgency for another hitter on the trade market. The Giants will remain watchful for waiver deals this month, though — and according to reports, the Washington Nationals placed Adam Dunn on the waiver wire Tuesday. The Giants are likely to put in a claim. But even if another club doesn't block that claim, they'd still have to strike a deal with the Nats, who aren't expected to give Dunn away. Prior to July 31, Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner were the asking price for nearly every decent hitter on the trade market, Dunn included. "We like Johnny," said Bochy, asked prior to the game about resisting chances to trade Sanchez. "We're in a pennant race here and didn't want to lose him." Derailing the Rockies was no easy feat. They entered with momentum, having scored 31 runs during a three-game home sweep of the Chicago Cubs. But center fielder Dexter Fowler bruised his ribs while making a wall-crashing catch Sunday and isn't likely to play in this series. That's no problem for the Giants. Fowler destroyed them during the series here July 1-4, going 10 for 16 with four triples while also drawing seven walks. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez helped preserve the Giants' third shutout in this lively ballpark, leaping to snag Gonzalez's line drive with the bases loaded in the seventh.
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