Jonathan Sanchez's performance was sort of lost on Sunday because the Giants' offense, not one of the game's most potent, scored 11 runs.
But the lefty lasted seven innings and gave up one run and four hits. The run came on Jack Cust's second-inning homer. From there, Sanchez retired 17 of 19 batters. While Tim Lincecum gets most of the pub as the Giants' ace, Sanchez is also shining. The Giants are 13-4 in his starts, and he's especially successful on the road, where he's 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA in his past six starts.
While Barry Zito has taken another step back this year, Sanchez is the Giants' most improved starter. Last year, he was 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA in 33 appearances -- 0-3 with a 7.16 ERA in four starts.
He wasn't penciled in to this year's rotation, but he got a spot because of Noah Lowry's forearm ailment. He's no longer as inconsistent or especially wild, and he won for the sixth time in seven starts. He's 8-4 including 5-1 in June.
When he was a reliever, he often lobbied to become a starter. Now we know why.
GIANTS 11, A'S 1: The Giants scored nine runs over the fourth and fifth innings, and they took two of three from the A's. In the fourth, they collected five straight hits. In the end, they won consecutive games over Oakland for the first time since 2006. Before the Giants won Saturday and Sunday, the A's had beaten them seven straight times and 10 of 11.
