Braves' Sanchez faces Cardinals in storybook year
ATLANTA -- Anibal Sanchez was released by the Minnesota Twins in the middle of spring training and the 34-year-old right-hander needed another team to give him a chance.
The Atlanta Braves did just this, signing Sanchez to a minor league contract, and the former National League and American League standout has been an important rotation member for a team on top of the NL East.
Sanchez (6-5, 3.01 ERA) will make his 23 appearance and 22nd start for the Braves on Tuesday night, facing the St. Louis Cardinals in the middle of a three-game series at SunTrust Park.
The Cardinals, fighting for a wild-card spot in the National League, will start rookie left-hander Austin Gomber (5-1, 3.78 ERA) opposite Sanchez.
St. Louis (83-68) blasted four homers and won the series opener 11-6, but the Braves (83-67) had their magic number for winning the NL East reduced to seven when second-place Philadelphia also lost.
The Braves, who lead the Phillies by 7 1/2 games, have won just four of their past 17 games at SunTrust Park and are just 38-37 at home.
Sanchez last got credit for a victory on Aug. 3, but he has been as consistent as any member of the Braves rotation, never allowing more than four earned runs in any start.
Despite transitioning from a power pitcher to a finesse one, Sanchez has 118 strikeouts in 119 2/3 innings.
Sanchez has had issues with home runs, but none against him have come in the past four starts. Opponents are batting only .217 against him.
Sanchez got a no-decision in the Braves' 2-1 victory at San Francisco last Wednesday, yielding one run in six innings. He worked out of bases-loaded situations in the first and fourth innings thanks to double plays.
"Bend and not break," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He made some really good pitches when he had to, and to some really good hitters."
Gomber joined the Cardinals for good in late July and joined the rotation fulltime in early August.
The 24-year-old's first loss came in his most recent start, when he gave up seven runs in three innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers in St. Louis last Thursday.
Gomber had given up just eight earned runs in his previous six starts.
"Sometimes it just doesn't go your way," he said afterwards. "I felt like so far since I've been in the rotation I've given us a chance to win, and tonight I didn't. Five days from now, hopefully, we are having a different conversation."
The Braves swept a three-game series in St. Louis but has lost seven in a row to the Cardinals in Atlanta.
