DETROIT -- Anibal Sanchez reached a new low Thursday afternoon.
In this case, that was a very good thing.
Sanchez pitched eight innings, allowing one run on five hits and a walk in Detroit's 13-1 rout of the Twins.
"He had everything working today, but the key was that he was dominating with his fastball down and in," said Bryan Holaday, who made his season debut behind the plate. "His breaking stuff was great, but everything was working off the fastball down in the zone."
Sanchez's career has been built on his ability to get ahead in the count, get groundballs and, more than anything, avoid home runs. In 2013 and 2014, he was the toughest starting pitcher in baseball to homer against, allowing only 13 in 50 starts.
So when he gave up six in his first seven starts of 2015, something was obviously wrong, and it was reflected in his 2-4 record and 5.44 ERA.
"I've really felt good all year, but even in my good starts, the ball has always been a little bit too high, and guys have been able to hit it," Sanchez said. "Today, everything was working because I threw all my pitches down. That's why it was hard for the hitters."
Sanchez was impressive enough to get two called third strikes against Joe Mauer, owner of one of the best batting eyes in baseball.
"The first time, it was a fastball away when I knew he was waiting for an off-speed pitch, which is what I usually throw him," Sanchez said. "The second one was a sinker in. That's hard for anybody -- that pitch running in and hitting the insider corner. It freezes everybody. Joe Mauer is a great hitter. Everybody knows that."
Sanchez also got some early help from Detroit's spectacular double-play combination. In the first inning, when the Twins still had hopes of a low-scoring game, Kurt Suzuki hit what looked like a single up the middle.
Jose Iglesias, though, fielded the ball behind second base, and with his momentum taking him into rightfield, he gloved a perfect toss to Ian Kinsler. Kinsler bare-handed the ball, allowing him to fire instantly to Miguel Cabrera, who played the short hop to finish the 6-4-3 highlight-reel double play.
"They saved me with the double play, and they do that all the time," Sanchez said. "That was probably the biggest play of the game."
For Kinsler, the most impressive part was Iglesias's flip with the glove -- something that he's had to get used to this season.
"The adjustment I have to make with Jose isn't how many balls he can reach; it is how many ways he has of delivering them to me," Kinsler said. "For one thing, he can throw the ball as hard with his glove as most people can with their arm, so I have to be ready for that."
When Sanchez keeps the ball down, he gives Iglesias and Kinsler more chances to make plays, and when that happens, Brad Ausmus knows he's got a much better chance to win games.
