Perhaps being surrounded by Greinke, Verlander, Cole and Miley will help Sanchez improve his ghastly 3-14 record and 6.07 ERA and regain the form which led the AL in ERA in 2016.
Well, Sanchez is well on his way to regaining that form. In his Astros debut, Sanchez threw six no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners. Relievers Will Harris, former Blue Jay teammate Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski pitched an inning apiece to combine on a no-hitter en route to a 9-0 win.
This combined no-hitter comes exactly three weeks after Los Angeles Angels pitchers Taylor Cole and Felix Pena pulled it off also against the Seattle Mariners during a tribute to the late Tyler Skaggs. It is also the third no-hitter of the 2019 season. Mike Fiers fired the first no-hitter back in May for the Oakland A's against the Cincinnati Reds. Interestingly, until tonight, Fiers had been the last Astros pitcher to toss a no-hitter back in August 2015 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is also the second time the Astros pitchers have combined for a no-hitter. In June 2003, Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner no-hit the New York Yankees.
My Dad wondered if Blue Jays fans were thinking, "Why couldn't have Sanchez done that for us?" However, I think Sanchez needed a change of scenery and it never hurts to be traded to a team like the Astros where one is already surrounded by elite pitchers. It also didn't hurt that Sanchez took out a full page ad in The Toronto Sun to thank Jays fans for their support. Sanchez endeared himself to Blue Jays fans on his way out and has now endeared himself to Astros fans on his way in.
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