Sánchez impresses with parade of ground balls (Nats lose 2-1)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - This is exactly what the Nationals had in mind when they signed Aníbal Sánchez this winter. A bunch of zeroes on the scoreboard. A bunch of different types of pitches thrown at different speeds. And a bunch of groundball outs.

Whether Sánchez can carry the success he enjoyed tonight in a Grapefruit League outing against the Marlins into a regular season start a few weeks from remains to be seen. But the veteran right-hander certainly put forth a template tonight that had to look awfully enticing to the Nats.

Sanchez-A-Pitch-White-ST-sidebar.jpgMaking his third appearance of the spring, Sánchez tossed four scoreless innings, scattering three singles and a double and departing having thrown 36-of-55 pitches for strikes.

The results were impressive, but so was the process. Working quickly and efficiently, Sánchez kept the ball down in the zone and thus kept the ball on the ground. Of the 12 outs he recorded, 10 came via groundballs.

This was Sánchez's longest outing of the spring, and his most successful appearance on the mound in three starts. In addition to the groundballs he induced, he struck out Curtis Granderson with a slider. He also made a couple of nice defensive plays, racing to the third base line to snag a Lewis Brinson bunt and then firing a strike to first base to record the out.

The Marlins did get on the board in the top of the fifth, when Granderson snapped his 0-for-10 spring slump by launching a 2-0 fastball from Aaron Barrett deep to right field. That was the only blemish on Barrett's inning of relief.

Update: Erick Fedde gave up an RBI single to Miguel Rojas to extend Miami's lead to 2-0.

Update II: Not that the results of spring training games matter at all, but here's one result you don't ever want to see: your team having a perfect game thrown against it. The Marlins' pitching combo of Pablo López and Wei-Yin Chen has faced 21 Nationals batters through seven innings, and it has retired all 21 batters. There were a couple of well-struck balls, including drives to the warning track by Anthony Rendon and Carter Kieboom and a scorching comebacker by Brian Dozier. But all were caught in the air, and so the Nats are six outs away from a pretty ignominous moment, spring training or not.

Update III: History has been averted. Pedro Severino ripped a sharp single to right-center with one out in the eighth to give the Nationals their first baserunner of the night. So there will be no perfect game here at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

Update IV: That'll do it. The Nats managed three hits, including Kieboom's solo homer with two outs in the ninth, but that's all they managed. They lost 2-1. It'll be a short night, with an hour lost to daylight saving and then a 1:05 p.m. game against the Astros.

Some postgame quotes from the clubhouse ...

DAVEY MARTINEZ
On Sánchez's start: "He was really, really good. As you know, he was pounding the strike zone. He was very efficient. And for him, that's what he likes to do. He likes to get ahead of hitters, get quick outs. He wants the game to keep going."

On not having a baserunner until the eighth inning: "I was just saying, that says a lot about playing all the day games down here, and then all of a sudden to have to play a night game. It's different. Until you get your body used to it, it's different."

On Fedde: "I liked the way Fedde pitched today. He gave up a couple hits, but he threw the ball OK. The biggest thing for me with him is strike one. He didn't get ahead of too many hitters today. It was always ball one, ball one, ball one. I really want him to get strike one and work ahead of hitters."

ANÍBAL SÁNCHEZ
On his outing: "The good thing is I was able to throw the four innings. It's an opportunity to continue to build my arm up to the season."

On whether it matters to him that he got so many groundball outs: "No, but the quick innings. Especially that first inning, I don't remember how many pitches I threw, but it was less than 10 pitches. Those kind of innings, that's what I look for every time I go outside."

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