Major League Baseball

Sanchez adds to mastery of rotation in postseason

Published Oct. 11, 2010 10:06 a.m. ET

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- The rotation carried the Giants to the postseason, and those pitchers have not dropped the load.

"Did you expect anything less?" catcher Buster Posey asked. "They've been outstanding all year. They come in and keep pounding the zone and let the defense work behind them."

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez together have allowed one earned run in 23 innings, with 11 hits, four walks and 31 strikeouts.

Sanchez has been a revelation. In his last eight starts, including Sunday's 7 1/3 -inning gem, his earned runs surrendered were one, zero, zero, one, one, two, zero and one. He took a no-hitter into the sixth against the Braves. In his last three starts, when it really has mattered, Sanchez has allowed three runs in 18 1/3 innings with 22 strikeouts.

Sanchez's simple answer is he is throwing strikes early in the count, then feasting on hitters who are on the defensive by throwing sliders and splitters out of the zone.

"That's what I did today," he said. "Just get aggressive. Throw the first pitch for a strike and use my breaking balls. They were swinging."

Bochy's decisions: Had the Giants lost, manager Bruce Bochy would have been besieged by second-guessing, particularly his decision to pull Sanchez with one out in the eighth and a man at first. The move backfired when Eric Hinske hit a pinch-homer against Sergio Romo. Without a move, Sanchez would have faced right-handed pinch-hitter Troy Glaus.

"That's what we've done all season," Bochy said. "We had a fresh reliever, and Romo's been the guy we've gone to in that situation."

Also, Bochy did not use a pinch-runner for Travis Ishikawa after his one-out walk in the ninth. When asked why, Bochy said, "Who do I have who's faster?"

Bochy's most successful move was playing Mike Fontenot over Pablo Sandoval. Fontenot tripled off Tim Hudson and scored the Giants' first run, and made a nice play to his left on an Omar Infante grounder to end the third inning. Fontenot will return to third base tonight.

Tight ones: Brian Wilson on why the Giants play well in close games: "We've been playing one-run ballgames since I came up in late '07, and every single game when we're ahead is a must-win. You have to rely on pitching in the postseason. They're close ballgames. The guy who's harped on that is Bochy, and he's right."

No Guillen: Jose Guillen, left off the Division Series roster, elected not to travel with the team, though Barry Zito and the others did. Guillen's short stay with the Giants is done, barring injury to an outfielder. His legacy will be a Sept. 19 grand slam against Milwaukee, which gave the Giants a 4-0 first-inning lead in what became a 9-2 win.

Briefly: This was the Giants' seventh win in 2010 when they trailed after eight innings. ... History favors the Giants. Home teams won 21 of 24 Division Series from 2004 through '09 when they won the first game. ... The Giants finished their only Division Series victory, in 2002, in Game 5 at Turner Field.

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