Aníbal Sánchez threw 94 pitches in five innings last time out before taking on the New York Mets on Wednesday, giving up three hits, four walks, and two runs, receiving no decision in what ended up a 7-6 win over the Miami Marlins.
“My early command with every hitter wasn’t there,” Sánchez told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Byron Kerr.
“I tried to fight with every at-bat. So, when I got in a situation with runners in scoring position just tried to get an out. I don’t want to leave the game with a lot of scores. I just wanted to keep the score that we are winning.”
Sánchez left the game with a 3-2 lead, and the Nationals held on, so the veteran extended an unbeaten streak to 17-straight outings, over which he’d posted a 3.16 ERA, 28 walks, 77 Ks, and a .225/.286/.356 line in 94 IP.
On Wednesday afternoon in the nation’s capital, the 35-year-old, 14-year veteran tossed two scoreless innings to start, but Juan Lagares led off the third with a home run, and Robinson Canó’s two-run shot in the fourth put the Mets up 3-1.
The two home runs off Sánchez matched the total he’d given up in his previous seven starts and 40 1⁄3 IP, and Pete Alonso took the Nationals’ starter deep to left with one out in the fifth for a third long ball off the Nats’ starter, 4-1.
Canó walked to start the sixth, and took third on a grounder by J.D. Davis that bounced off the third base bag and shot over Anthony Rendon’s head, and both runners scored on a fly ball to right-center by Amed Rosario, with the second run scoring only when Victor Robles misplayed the ball on the outfield grass, 6-1.
That was in for Sánchez’s outing, in what ended up an 8-4 loss.
Aníbal Sánchez’s Line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks, 3 HRs, 74 P, 46 S, 8/4 GO/FO.
“When you’ve got that kind of lineup that you face, you’ve got to execute the pitches and make it happen,” Sanchez said after the game, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“Today, the ball was a little bit high and they took advantage of that. A lot of first pitch (hits) and they put it in play.”
“He was up,” his manager said. “He was up a little bit. He threw one ball over someone’s head, and that’s not him. He just made couple mistakes, but other than that he settled down. That one inning he had a broken bat, ball off the base, another broken bat, just unfortunate.”
As well as he’s pitched since coming off a DL stint in May, Martinez said, he was willing to write this one off as an aberration.
“Yeah. The three home runs were three mistakes, and he knows that, but I thought he pitched well after that.”