Sanchez, Smoltz and Hamels

Last night, MLB Network cut to the 5th inning of the Giants-Padres game because Jonathan Sanchez had a perfect game going.

I wanted to stay up to see how far he'd take it, but it was getting late and I was planning to take a long, early-morning bike ride before mowing the lawn. And I'm old. So I went to sleep.

I forgot all about Sanchez until the middle of the afternoon when I heard a radio report that he did it.

Christine and I both forgot to mention it to each other until later in the evening. She stayed up and watched the whole thing. She felt bad for Sanchez when he gave up his only baserunner. It was an error by the third baseman, Juan Uribe, after her Rookie of the Year pick Pablo Sandoval had been removed - probably for defensive reasons to help Sanchez. Christine said she felt bad, but the error maybe saved a possible hit, so it wasn't that bad for Sanchez.

Funny - Sanchez, whose career thus far has been most similar to failed Mets prospect Bull Pulsipher, pitched a no-hitter in his 52nd career start. That's something neither Cole Hamels nor John Smoltz, a pair of more decorated and accomplished pitchers, has done in their 571 combined starts.

I picked those two because that's who took the mound for the SoxandPhils tonight. Which one do you have more confidence in right now? Correct answer is Hamels, but he gave up five runs in six innings against the lowly Pirates. That's five times this year he has given up at least five runs. The Pirates lead in the 8th, 7-3.

Smoltz, however, pitched decently, giving up just one run. Unfortunately, he needed 97 pitches to get through five innings, so he yielded early to a bullpen that has been gone from shutdown to floodgate in recent weeks. In the 6th, Justin Masterson was charged with five earned in one-third of an inning. Manny Delcarmen couldn't end the inning, but Hideki Okajima did. Red Sox 9, Royals 6 in the 7th.