Florida pitcher keeps Washington in check again
Nationals starting pitcher Livan Hernandez does not care who is opposing him on the mound. It could be a Cy Young Award winner or a lowly recall from the minor leagues. That doesn’t change the veteran right-hander’s approach.
But in the case of Florida Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez, maybe it’s time to make an exception. The 27-year-old righty has dominated Washington for four years running now. And despite a fine effort from Hernandez, Saturday afternoon’s contest at Nationals Park was no different.
Sanchez tossed eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and five base runners total, and a solo home run by Florida slugger Mike Stanton in the seventh inning proved more than enough in a 1-0 Marlins victory.
| Nationals notes |
| » Washington has lost three games in a row and four of six, dropping to 18-21. Florida improved to 23-15. |
| » Nats catcher Wilson Ramos threw out two Marlins runners and is now 6-for-12 on the season when the opposition tries to steal a base. |
| » Right-handed relief pitcher Cole Kimball — just recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday morning — made his major league debut against Florida. Kimball struck out Gaby Sanchez and walked one batter in a scoreless ninth inning. |
Sanchez entered the game with 15 career starts against Washington and a 6-0 record with a 2.16 ERA. That mark only dropped after Saturday’s performance, his third start of the year already against the Nats, who would probably prefer not to see Sanchez again this season. They have 10 games left against Florida, though, so that seems a forlorn hope.
“I don’t know nothing about [the other pitcher],” said Hernandez, who himself pitched seven strong innings with just that one run allowed on six hits and two walks. “I don’t think [about] who pitch on the other side. Got to do my job. Always I go on the mound and pitch my game. Some days you pitch good and some days bad. But I don’t think who is on the other side [matters].”
But you can’t question the success Sanchez has had against Washington. Only four other active pitchers are undefeated against an opponent they have faced at least 10 times — one of them teammate Josh Johnson, who is 7-0 lifetime vs. the Nats. The others: Boston’s Jon Lester (14-0 vs. Baltimore), Atlanta’s Derek Lowe (10-0 vs. Pittsburgh) and Chicago’s Jake Peavy (6-0 vs. Cincinnati). In his last 15 innings against Washington, Sanchez has allowed five hits, walked two and struck out 20 batters.
“[Sanchez has] been like that against us pretty much every time,” Washington manager Jim Riggleman said. “You can play the tape. The comments I’ve made in the past about him apply again today.”
The Nats did have a few chances. They left Laynce Nix stranded at second base with two out in the second. They had runners at first and second with two down in the seventh. And in the ninth — their best chance — Marlins closer Leo Nunez escaped a first-and-second, nobody out jam thanks to a fielder’s choice, a strikeout and a pop out to left.
