Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres come from the same land, but not the same mold. Sanchez ekes his brief sentences in whispers, unable or unwilling to betray what he is thinking. Torres' words and thoughts flow like a swollen river overflowing its banks.
Manager Bruce Bochy believes both players from Puerto Rico have been fighting their thoughts. In Friday night's 4-3 comeback victory against Cleveland, the Giants' third win in a row, Torres seemed to be winning his fight. Sanchez clearly was losing.
After Sanchez needed 94 pitches to finish 4 2/3 innings, placed the Giants in a 3-0 hole, walked six and broke Shin-Soo Choo's left thumb with a fastball, Bochy said he and his staff will think about moving Sanchez to the bullpen when Barry Zito rejoins the rotation next week.
"What we'll end up doing, I don't know," Bochy said. "We may keep throwing him out there. We may hold him back a bit. Getting Zito back will give us that option."
Sanchez, asked if the pressure of keeping his job might be affecting him, said softly and with no hint of defiance, "There's no pressure. I'm the second starter in the rotation."
Torres, in contrast, felt the pressure of a mind so full of thought that he could not sleep. Hitless in 14 at-bats, and 3-for-31 over a longer haul, he told Bochy he needed to relax but had no idea how.
Bochy sat Torres for two games. The leadoff hitter who takes medication for attention deficit disorder turned to sleeping pills as well, and he rejoined the lineup a different man.
He bunted for a single in the first inning, which allowed him to exhale. He then homered in the fourth inning against hot Indians starter Carlos Carrasco for the Giants' first run and singled to load the bases in the decisive three-run sixth inning. Two errors by first baseman Carlos Santana made the sixth-inning runs unearned.
"Sometimes my head never stops thinking," Torres said in his mile-a-minute patter. "I tried to relax, go home and play with my kids. I was able to get some rest. Thank God I'm making adjustments.
"I'm just trying to calm my mind. Sometimes there's a lot of stuff going on. I don't try to make excuses. I was just being honest. If there's a problem, you've got to say what's happening."
Torres' sixth-inning single followed Chris Stewart's leadoff single and Santana's throwing error on a force attempt with Nate Schierholtz batting. With the bases loaded, Emmanuel Burriss hit a dribbler that Santana bobbled for another error, with Stewart scoring.
Pablo Sandoval tied the game with a traditional sacrifice fly before Torres scored the decisive run with his legs. He tagged from third on Aubrey Huff's foul pop near the Giants' bullpen and scored easily as third baseman Jack Hannahan stumbled backward after catching the ball.
Santiago Casilla got a much-deserved win. He kept the game close by striking out Austin Kearns to end the fifth inning after Sanchez walked the bases full.
Sanchez offered no easy answers for his struggles, the way Torres did. The lefty simply said, "I'm fine. I'm healthy. I'm just having a hard time."
Bochy sees a lack of confidence in Sanchez's pitches, his rhythm, even his slow gait back to the dugout.
"It's fair to say Jonny's searching right now," Bochy said.
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