Four Houston Astros pitchers on Saturday combined to no-hit the Seattle Mariners in a 9-0 win in front of the home crowd.
After losing 13 decisions in a row with the Toronto Blue Jays, Aaron Sanchez was looking for a fresh start and a way to turn things around in his move to the Houston Astros, but, even with their history of improving the performance of pitchers, it would have been hard to imagine his Houston debut would go as well as Saturday did.
Sanchez looked like a reinvented pitcher, throwing six stellar innings.
Photo: AFP
“It’s hard to come to a team and feel like you can contribute right away when they’re already so good,” Sanchez said. “So for tonight to end the way it did, these guys coming in behind me and doing their part, too ... I’m so happy.”
Sanchez was an All-Star in 2016 and led the American League in ERA, but he had struggled badly this season and was leading the majors with 14 losses. However, three days after he was acquired from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline, the 27-year-old right-hander teamed with Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski to shut down Seattle.
Sanchez (4-14) kept the Mariners off balance with a steady stream of fastballs at about 145kph coupled with slow curves that often froze batters for strikes as he worked with veteran catcher Martin Maldonado, picked up by Houston in a trade with the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week.
“He certainly wasn’t dominating anybody coming into the game, so we expected to do a lot more against him and just weren’t able to get it done,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
Sanchez was replaced by Harris to start the seventh inning.
Harris and Biagini, also obtained from the Blue Jays in the same deal that netted Sanchez, each worked one inning before Devenski tossed a perfect ninth.
Devenski retired All-Star slugger Daniel Vogelbach on a routine fly for the final out, setting off an Astros celebration on the field after the club’s 12th no-hitter.
“This is awesome,” Sanchez said. “You can’t write it up any better than this.”
Also on Saturday, it was:
‧ Yankees 9, Red Sox 2 (Game 1)
‧ Yankees 6, Red Sox 4 (Game 2)
‧ Diamondbacks 18, Nationals 7
‧ Cubs 4, Brewers 1
‧ Twins 11, Royals 3
‧ A’s 8, Cardinals 3
‧ Braves 5, Reds 4 (10 innings)
‧ Dodgers 4, Padres 1
‧ Giants 6, Rockies 5
‧ Mets 7, Pirates 5
‧ Phillies 3, White Sox 2
‧ Rays 8, Marlins 6
‧ Indians 7, Angels 2
‧ Rangers 5, Tigers 4
‧ Orioles 6, Blue Jays 4
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