Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sanchez will get an opportunity to demonstrate he still deserves a spot on the National League All-Star team when the Phillies open a six-game California swing against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.
Sanchez (7-2, 2.68 ERA) was high on many lists of snubs when the All-Star pitching staffs were announced Sunday for the July 15 game in Atlanta. In addition to his stellar record and ERA, Sanchez has 108 strikeouts over 17 starts this season.
On top of that, few in baseball have pitched as well as the 28-year-old of late. Sanchez has allowed two or runs or less in each of his last seven starts, going 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA.
It likely will take an injury to earn Sanchez a berth in the All-Star Game, but one spot already has opened with the selection of Atlanta’s Chris Sale, who is hurt.
Sanchez made his first All-Star team last season, when he was 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA at the break. He said he believes he’s a better pitcher this season, thanks to an improved changeup.
“In the minor leagues, it was more like throwing hard, throwing the fastball a lot,” Sanchez explained. “It wasn’t like it is now, like I truly understand what it is to be a pitcher, and what it takes.”
Sanchez limited the San Diego Padres to one run and five hits over seven innings Wednesday in a 5-1 home win in his most recent start. He’s never lost to the Giants in his five-year major league career, going 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA in four games (two starts).
Sanchez will face a Giants team that’s undergone a rejuvenation in its last five games, when the offense has totaled 28 runs en route to four wins.
Willy Adames, who was struggling with a .211 batting average entering play Wednesday, has led the five-game stretch with nine hits, including two doubles and a home run, to go with eight RBIs and four runs.
He’s also mixed in four walks as his average has improved to .226.
“We’re not trying to do too much right now; just try to do the little things,” Adames said. “We’re taking walks, taking deep (counts) and making the other pitcher work. That’s giving us a lot of results. Hopefully. we can continue to play that baseball and continue to win games.”
Hoping to benefit from the beefed-up support will be right-hander Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.48 ERA), who has pitched the Giants to wins in each of his last three starts, allowing just two earned runs over 15 1/3 innings. The Giants are 10-7 in his starts this season.
Roupp faced the Phillies for the only time of his career in the Giants’ visit to Philadelphia on April 14, getting the win despite allowing four runs in five innings in a 10-4 victory. Nick Castellanos had a home run off Roupp.
–Field Level Media
