Giants Video

Sanchez's 12 strikeouts

Sanchez strikes out nine

Cubs Video

Wells' strong outing

Wells wins it on his birthday

Just enough offense, and more than enough pitching.

"We don't do anything easy," manager Bruce Bochy said after their latest nail-biter, a 1-0 victory Tuesday over the Cubs won on a homer by rookie catcher Buster Posey.

While Bochy and Co. no doubt would like a little more offense the next time around, they have another pitcher ready to go who can certainly help keep the opposition down.

Jonathan Sanchez will take his hot September roll to the Wrigley Field mound in the second game of the three-game set Wednesday, meeting the Cubs' Randy Wells.

The Giants have gone 19-11 in Sanchez's starts thus far, including winning 10 of the last 14. He has done his part in a big way his last four starts, going 2-0 with a 0.67 ERA, allowing just two earned runs over 27 innings pitched.

Sanchez set a career high with 12 strikeouts in his last outing, and he didn't have any three-ball counts the entire game, a first in his career.

In sum, he's become the type of pitcher the Giants want on the mound in another important road game in the postseason chase.

"Johnny's been very consistent. I think he has really grown as a pitcher," Bochy said. "It started last year. ... The kid's got a lot of confidence. There's no fear in him."

Giants: Torres continues to improve
Once thought lost for at least the regular season, Andres Torres continues to make progress toward an early return from an appendectomy. In fact, Bochy said "he wouldn't rule it out" that the speedy center fielder might even return this weekend in the crucial series at Colorado. Said Bochy, "It really depends on how the next couple of days go." For the first time since being sidelined, the switch-hitter took 15 "soft toss" swings from each side of the plate prior to Tuesday's game. Torres said he has been running and moving better but still is a little tender in his midsection. He said he's feeling "positive" about getting back as early as this weekend, but he also wants to be cautious. "You don't want to push it so hard," he said. "I want to make sure I'm 100 percent when I start playing. I can't go up there with 80 [percent]."

Cubs: Gorzelanny set for Friday
Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, sidelined after taking a line drive off his left hand, will return to the Cubs rotation Friday for the first time since Sept. 1. The Cubs' rotation for the final home series against the Cardinals will be Gorzelanny on Friday, Casey Coleman on Saturday and Jeff Samardzija on Sunday. Also, Carlos Silva, scratched from his Sept. 13 start with a shoulder strain, keeps working toward getting one more start this season. ... Tyler Colvin remained hospitalized in Miami in stable condition after being struck Sunday under the collarbone by the bat. Cubs catcher Welington Castillo called Colvin to apologize after his bat broke and pierced the Cubs outfielder in the chest. "I feel really bad," Castillo said Tuesday. "I hope he's doing good and gets out of there real soon. I talked to him and he sounds real good. I said, 'I'm sorry.'"

Worth noting
The Giants are 40-36 on the road this season with five away games remaining, putting them in position for their first winning road record since they went 44-36 in 2004.