One bad pitch, minimal offense spoil Sixto Sanchez’s start in Marlins’ loss to Blue Jays
Sixto Sanchez could only watch as Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s fifth-inning line drive sailed over the wall in left-center field. Gurriel clapped his hands as rounded first base and began his trot home. Sanchez walked back onto the mound, wiped sweat off his face with his jersey, and got ready for the next hitter.
Sanchez has rarely made mistakes early in his big-league career. Gurriel took advantage of one of the few miscues he was offered, turning on an inside slider for that two-run home run that lifted the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-1 win at Marlins Park to split the two-game set.
“Those things happen,” Sanchez said after the game. “I was trying to throw the pitch low and outside and it actually did the opposite and went low and inside. It happens.”
The loss drops the Marlins to 16-16. The Blue Jays improve to 19-16.
The home run served as the only runs Sanchez gave up over seven innings on Wednesday. He struck out five, scattered six hits and did not issue a walk while throwing 79 pitches, 56 of which went for strikes.
Three starts into his career, the top prospect in the Marlins’ organization has a 2.37 ERA with 19 strikeouts against one walk in 19 innings of work. All five runs Sanchez has given up so far have come on home runs.
“I’m just trying to keep it simple,” Sanchez said Tuesday. “Every day, I go out there, I work out and prepare myself for the outing and just work on my pitches and location and get ready.”
Sanchez did that on Wednesday, the Gurriel home run that resulted in the loss notwithstanding. Even though his command wasn’t as sharp as usual, he made plays when he needed to and relied on his defense to help him get out of a few innings as well.
He needed six pitches to work through the first and 10 to get through the third. He struck out the side in the fifth. Jorge Alfaro picked off Gurriel to end the second and Jonathan Villar at third base to end the fourth to eliminate a few Blue Jays scoring chances. Villar was also tagged out trying to turn a two-out single to shallow left in the first into a double.
“He got away with some stuff,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “but he hangs in there. He changes speed. It tells you what kind of guy he is.”
Sanchez also had little help from his offense for the second consecutive start. Garrett Cooper cut the Marlins’ deficit in half in the fifth with a two-out RBI single that scored Jon Berti, but Miami otherwise went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday. Blue Jays starter Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out eight and held the Marlins to the one run over his six innings of work before turning to the bullpen.
“As the game went on, it seemed like we had a couple more chances,” Mattingly said. “But he’s a guy that’s not going to give in. ... Just have to understand that.”
Praise from Pedro Martinez
Like so many other up-and-coming Dominican pitchers, Sanchez grew up idolizing Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
Well, Martinez, the eight-time All-Star and five-time MLB ERA leader, had some high praise for the 22-year-old Sanchez.
“He has the spirit to compete,” Martinez said Wednesday on MLB Network. “He knows what he’s carrying. He knows that any of his pitches, at any level, he’s going to be superior. So there’s confidence. I love to see him attacking the strike zone, and I was the same way. I wanted to attack the strike zone because I thought that, man-to-man, I could handle you. If I didn’t handle you the first time, I was going to find a way. I see that in him. He attacks the strike zone. He’s aggressive. He’s got the tools.
“I’m really impressed with this kid,” Martinez continued. “Mechanically, he’s going to have to close a little bit that landing in order for him to save his arm and not fall into that awkward position that he falls, but with time, when this kid finds the right mechanics, this kid is going to be scary. I’m extremely excited for the Marlins and what they have.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 9:17 PM.
.JPG)