Cam Sanders earned his third win of the season on Friday in a comeback victory for Iowa against the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field. Iowa went into the ninth inning down 5-2 and scored five runs, winning the game 7-5.
Sanders entered the game in the seventh and spun three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out five. He shut down the Saints to keep Iowa in the game and eventually allow them to comeback for the win.
He said to have that comeback on the road was really fun because the (Saints) crowd was really into the game cheering and yelling so to silence them at the end was a special feeling.
“It was an electric atmosphere,” Sanders said.
After the eighth inning, the righty came into the dugout and was told by Pitching Coach Ron Villone that if they tied the game or came back to take the lead, he was going back out for the ninth.
Down three runs, Iowa was down to their last strike and that is when Sanders said he felt that something special was going to happen.
“I got up on the rail cheering on my teammates hoping to spark a little comeback,” he said. “Pitch by pitch I could feel the energy creeping in the dugout.”
Once the offense scored the five runs and it was Sanders’ turn to go back out there and shut it down, he quickly got two outs before allowing a rally.
The 26-year-old walked the next batter and then allowed a double to Elliot Soto, who celebrated on second base. Sanders said he saw the celebration as the tying run came into scoring position and realized it was go time.
He said he let those two hitters get away from him once he got to two outs and it gave him more adrenaline and drive to just gear up and put everything he had into getting the final out.
Everything he had was enough, as Sanders sat down Andrew Stevenson with three straight fastballs, the last one coming in a 99 miles per hour.
After the final strike, he turned and replicated the celebration to Soto on second base as he celebrated the win. Sanders said without the offense having so much poise at the dish late in the game, they could’ve never come back so it was a great feeling to win like that.
“As soon as Dom (Nuñez) caught that last pitch it was just silent,” Sanders said. “There was nothing better than just hearing my teammates and the Cubs fans scream while everybody else was silent.”
The three scoreless innings was a great thing to see for Sanders, as he hopes to build off that success in the future. He has had his ups and downs this year, pitching to the tune of a 3-0 record with a 5.47 ERA in 20 relief appearances.
His biggest struggle has been with command, allowing 34 walks in his 26.1 innings pitched. Over that span, he has allowed 16 earned runs on 16 hits while striking out 42 batters along the way. Nine of his 16 earned runs have come from two outings on May 24 (4) and June 2 (5).
About June 2 against Columbus, Sanders said he just tries to block out that outing and focus more on getting in the zone early with his good pitches.
“I was thinking too much about the strike zone and not trying to hang pitches,” he said.
Getting early contact and getting ahead in the count is the main focus for him, because he said once he gets ahead, he can use his put away pitches that he knows guys have trouble hitting.
“If I nail down that first strike and getting ahead it makes my life so much easier,” Sanders said.
The former starter is still getting used to coming out of the bullpen and adjusting to a different pitching style and mentality.
As a starter, you are focused on lasting as long as you can throughout the game and facing the lineup multiple times through, so you may not show your best pitches the first time you face players. It is also key as a starter to not throw as hard as you can from the beginning because you will get tired and empty the tank in the first couple of innings and not be able to go deeper into games.
As a reliever, it is completely different, Sanders said instead of easing into the game he just has to come in and throw his best stuff right away.
“Coming out of the bullpen I have to hit you with my best stuff early so we can get in and out of this inning and get it over to the next guy” he said.
To help him get through each outing, Sanders has the phrase “butta” across his glove. For the young right-hander, it brings him back to his high school days when he and some friends back home made shirts, jerseys and merchandise with their intramural team name, “butta”.
He said he brought the movement to pro ball and would wear his shirt all the time and “butta” became his nickname. Sanders said it just gives him the mentality every day of going out on the mound and being smooth as “butta”.
“It makes me feel like I have all my people with me, all my boys from back home this is for them too.”