Sanchez (10-3) picked up the win Tuesday, scattering three hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings in an 8-0 rout of the Pirates. He struck out nine.
The southpaw became the first starting pitcher in the majors this season to reach double-digit wins, although the Dodgers' Justin Wrobleski joined him later Tuesday night, and Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby has an MLB-leading 11 victories. Sanchez fired 66 of 92 pitches for strikes in a dominant performance that wasn't even derailed by a small cut on the top of his left thumb he picked up in the second inning. Over 11 starts and 76.2 innings since the beginning of May, Sanchez has dialed up a 1.53 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 86:10 K:BB to emerge as one of the frontrunners for the NL Cy Young Award. He'll look to keep rolling in his next outing, which is scheduled to come on the road early next week in Kansas City.