Sanchez Searching For Answers After Giving Up 9 Runs In Loss To White Sox
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT -- It all unraveled quickly for Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez on Saturday. In only 3 1/3 innings, Sanchez allowed nine earned runs on nine hits -- including two home runs.
The Tigers lost, 12-3, to the Chicago White Sox. The defeat was only the second of the season for Detroit. The team's other loss also came with Sanchez on the mound. On Monday, he allowed five earned runs on eight hits -- including three home runs -- against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"The ball's up again," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said after Saturday's game. "Same thing in Pittsburgh. Gets the ball up in the zone. He has the ability to pitch up at times, but there's that fine line between pitching above the batter's bat and pitching at the batter's bat or swing zone. So if they're a tick higher, he probably gets the pop-ups like he did early in the game."
Sanchez has now allowed more homers in two starts this season (five) than he did in all 21 of his starts last season (four). Catcher Alex Avila suggested no one should be too concerned with that, however.
"Chalk that up to weird stuff that happens in baseball, I guess," Avila said.
Avila also noted the previous start was not nearly as bad an outing as Saturday's start, and not just because of the discrepancy in earned runs allowed.
"I thought his last start he pitched really well," Avila said. "This start, just didn't locate as well.
"His last start it was basically two pitches that he made mistakes on," Avila added. "Today, there was a lot of aspects that kind of snowballed on him."
Sanchez did not offer much in the way of answers after the game. He did not know what had happened, but he planned to look into it soon.
"I'm not that kind of pitcher that I just go there and they don't care what happens," Sanchez said. "Yeah, I care, and I'm really frustrated right now, but like I say, tomorrow is another day. I'm going to just put my face up and continue to work.
"I'll come tomorrow and figure out what's going on, figure out what happened, figure out if [it] was trouble with my sequence, trouble with my mechanics, trouble with my location," Sanchez continued. "Something happened, and I for sure am going to go and work on that."
Ausmus and catcher James McCann both expressed confidence Sanchez will be fine in his next start.
"It's just one of those days where he makes a pitch and they either foul it off and move on to the next pitch or ... with Melky [Cabrera], he hit those balls off the ground," McCann said. "Sanchez will be fine. It was just of those days where you tip your cap to the other team and move on."
The pitcher himself, while visibly upset at how the day unfolded, was similarly determined.
"I don't know what's going on today," Sanchez said, "but for sure everything's going to change soon."
Sanchez is next scheduled to start Thursday against the New York Yankees.
