Sanchez's historic cycle leads Hops in rout
Yan Sanchez made Hillsboro Hops history Wednesday night in Salem-Keizer. The rest of his teammates joined him.Sanchez hit for the Hops' first cycle as Class A Short Season Hillsboro pounded out a club-record 25 hits in a 17-2 drubbing of Salem-Keizer at Volcanoes Stadium.
Yan Sanchez made Hillsboro Hops history Wednesday night in Salem-Keizer. The rest of his teammates joined him.
Sanchez hit for the Hops' first cycle as Class A Short Season Hillsboro pounded out a club-record 25 hits in a 17-2 drubbing of Salem-Keizer at Volcanoes Stadium.
"A night like this, it doesn't happen very often," Hops hitting coach Franklin Stubbs said. "It was fun to watch. The good thing is the kids were locked in from the get-go into the game. It just kind of snowballed from that point on, but it was good to see they all contributed in one way or another."
Gameday box score
Salem-Keizer dubbed the D-backs infield prospect as Wednesday night's Beer Batter, a promotion tying special beer prices to an opposing hitter -- if he strikes out. Sanchez wasn't the best choice. Hillsboro's leadoff man opened the night with a single to center field in the first inning and added a solo shot to left-center in the third. After walking in the fourth, the shortstop struck out in the fifth, but that set the stage for his impressive finish.
"I thought he did a great job of staying through the ball, staying to the middle of the field and the other way," Stubbs said. "He didn't come off the ball and had better pitch selection tonight. When he got good pitches, he put some real good swings on balls."
Following Stephen Smith's leadoff single in the seventh, Sanchez laced an RBI triple to center to knock out the toughest leg of the cycle chase.
"As we got late in the ballgame, he hit the triple, someone said, 'Man, he only needs a double,'" Stubbs recalled. "I said, 'Well, we need to get back around and give him a shot at it.' (Hops first baseman) Pavin Smith said, 'Don't worry, we will.'"
Hillsboro scored four times in the seventh to garner Sanchez an eighth-inning at-bat.
"He did the rest on his own, got a good pitch to hit in his last at-bat and poked it into left-center field ... and there was his double," Stubbs said. "I told him just embrace it. Enjoy it. And he did that."
The two-bagger marked the Northwest League's first cycle since Boise's Mark Zagunis on July 14, 2014. It was the eighth cycle of the 2017 Minor League season.
Sanchez led the way from the top spot in Hillsboro's lineup, but his teammates did their share of the work. Arizona's 2017 first-round pick Smith continued a stellar start to his professional career by going 4-for-5 with a double and walk.
"He had a great swing," Stubbs said. "He stayed with the ball very well. He doesn't get excited. Nothing gets him rattled. He stays within himself. He kind of understands what he's doing and what he's not doing right, or when he has an at-bat that's not right, he can correct it. He's done a good job. He stays to the middle of the field and doesn't try to do too much. He keeps his swing on a plane pretty well, long through the hitting zone. When he does that, he can hit as good as anybody."
While Smith has batted .349/.391/.419 through his first 11 games, D-backs supplemental first-rounder Daulton Varsho had struggled coming into the game. He was hitting .188 hitter with six knocks in his first 32 professional at-bats. He nearly matched that total on a 5-for-6 night that included a homer, a double and five RBIs.
"It was great for him," Stubbs said. "He did a great job of staying calm tonight in his at-bats and working the middle of the field for them. I think he'd gotten a little pull-happy, a sign of doing too much his first few games in pro ball, wanting to show people some things. Tonight, I thought he started out pretty well, tried to stay within his approach to the middle of the field and really stayed inside the ball well."
The Hops combined for seven extra-base hits and went 11-for-24 with runners in scoring position, a landmark game for players in just their third week together.
"They realize when they stay locked in and do what they're capable of doing and stick with their approach, whether it's middle-away, middle-in or just middle-middle, gap-to-gap, ... and actually allow the pitchers to throw good pitches to hit and don't chase, get outside the zone and try to do too much, they have the ability to do this," Stubbs said. "If they do it again, it won't surprise me because they have enough talent to do it. It's just a matter of staying within themselves and trusting what they do."
Tyler Maun is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @TylerMaun.
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