SAN FRANCISCO — Jonathan Sanchez is not a Cy Young award winner like Randy Johnson or Barry Zito. He is not going to the All-Star game like Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain.

When he took the mound Friday night, he was the problem child in a rotation of pitching prodigies.
But suddenly, surprisingly, and in the span of nine no-hit innings, Sanchez earned a venerated and lasting place in Giants history.
Excuse the dust, though. Nobody has inhabited it in 33 years.
With a called third strike to Everth Cabrera, Sanchez became the fifth pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the club’s San Francisco era — and the first since John “The Count” Montefusco on Sept. 29, 1976. Only third baseman Juan Uribe’s error in the eighth inning separated Sanchez from the 18th perfect game in major league history as the Giants beat the San Diego Padres 8-0 at AT&T Park.
Returning to the rotation after a three-week banishment to the bullpen, Sanchez (3-8) struck out 11 while overwhelming the Padres with his darting, mid-90s fastball and wicked breaking ball.
“All I want to do is pitch,” said Sanchez, who has been the target of constant trade rumors this season. “Tonight, everything went right.”
The Giants had been no-hit by opponents seven times since one of their own had accomplished the feat. And the pitcher who broke the streak did it while throwing his first complete game in the major leagues.
In 13 starts before Sanchez’s demotion, the inconsistent 26-year-old had a 5.62 ERA, he’d completed six innings just twice and had retired a total of two batters in the seventh inning.
“We had a toast in there and he said, ’I hope I won’t go back to the ’pen,”’ said beer-soaked Manager Bruce Bochy, with a wry smile. “We saw history. He made history.”
“He always had the equipment. We know it. He had a rough first half, he had his ups and downs, but tonight he had everything working.”
Including a clairvoyant visit from his father, Sigfredo, who traveled from Puerto Rico and was sitting in the stands at AT&T Park for the first time. Sigfredo Sanchez had seen his son pitch one other time in the major leagues, out of the bullpen against the Mets in New York.
He had never seen his son start a major league game before.
“I’m very proud,” the elder Sanchez said in Spanish. “I was expecting him to get tired. He didn’t.”
Center fielder Aaron Rowand saved the day in the ninth inning, making a leaping catch at the wall to take a hit away from Edgar Gonzalez for the second out. Just prior to that, shortstop Edgar Renteria made a throw from deep in the hole to retire Luis Rodriguez.
Plate umpire Brian Runge pumped his arm as Cabrera took a pitch on the outside edge, sending a standing crowd of 30,298 into elation as the Giants streamed to the mound.
“Standing out there watching him work, throwing that breaking ball ...” Rowand said. “It’s a night I’ll never forget.”
About the catch, Rowand said, “I was going to go up and over and land on the other side if I had to. I’m just glad the ball landed in my glove.”
Every no-hitter is a confluence of events, many unexpected, and that included Sanchez’s batterymate. Minor league journeyman Eli Whiteside was a last-minute addition to the lineup because Bengie Molina’s wife went into labor.
“We sat in the corner before the game and talked about the hitters,” Whiteside said. He said, ’I’ll stick with you.’ I was just putting down fingers. His pitches were moving. He made it easy for me.
“In the sixth or seventh inning, I realized I hadn’t looked over to the dugout for the signs. Nobody’d been on base.”
Sanchez retired the first 22 hitters he faced, surviving a scare when All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit drives to the warning track in the second and eighth innings.
The crowd was fully aware in the seventh, when Sanchez struck out the side. The stadium roared as he fanned Tony Gwynn Jr., who had broken up Lincecum’s no-hit bid a night earlier with a single in the seventh inning.
Sanchez fell behind 3-0 to Gonzalez in the eighth before throwing a called strike. Gonzalez tagged the 3-1 pitch, but left fielder John Bowker was playing deep and ran underneath it.
With San Diego’s best hitter dispatched, Sanchez had five outs and a clear road to perfection. But almost before that thought could settle in, Chase Headley hit a bouncing ball that deflected off Uribe’s chest for an error.
Uribe scrambled in vain to pick up the carom, then flipped the ball back to Sanchez with a pained expression on his face.
Uribe had moved from second base to third in the seventh inning. He replaced Pablo Sandoval, who hit a three-run home run but was taken out as a precaution because of a sore back.
Rowand said he and several players pulled aside Uribe, who was distraught at the error.
“Everybody went up to him and said what they had to say,” Rowand said. “I told him, ’The only thing you can do is your best. That’s all we can ask for and that’s all Johnny can ask for.”’
Said Sanchez: “This is the game, it can happen. It doesn’t matter. Just the win.”
Sanchez got that, and more.
He was making his first start since June 22, when he couldn’t escape the sixth inning at Oakland. He had walked 46 in 64 2/3 innings, he didn’t seem to try hard to control the running game and coaches and teammates wondered if he’d ever learn to compete with an edge.
So the Giants promoted Ryan Sadowski and put Sanchez in the bullpen, as much to get his attention as to give him an opportunity to step back and work on his erratic delivery with pitching coach Dave Righetti. He had thrown three scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Sanchez’s opportunity to start came because Johnson went to the disabled list with a strained shoulder.
And now he is a part of franchise lore.
“(Freaking) awesome,” shouted Lincecum. “And if you guys can print it, print it. He showed a lot about his character. He was on the wayside, but he came out tonight and just shut up everybody.”