Detroit Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez, who found himself flirting with twenty strikeouts, was convincingly dominant tonight while making the Atlanta Braves look like the Gashouse Gorillas of the old Looney Tunes cartoon, Baseball Bugs. Sanchez, who couldn’t be happier he’s out of Miami, managed to strike out 17 Atlanta Braves hitters in just eight innings of work. Only 18 pitchers have struck out more batters in a 9-inning game, with Ben Sheets being the last to break the 18+ strikeout plateau (in 2004, also versus Atlanta). Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman were victimized four times each and, surprisingly, B.J. Upton only struck out once. Sanchez, who now sports a minuscule 1.34 ERA, hopes to continue his hot streak as he currently is matched up versus the lowly Astros for his next start – who earlier this season set strikeout records of their own.
