Andy Sonnanstine

Infobox MLB player
name=Andy Sonnanstine

---

width=250
position=Starting Pitcher
team=Tampa Bay Rays
number=21
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1983|3|18
debutdate=June 5
debutyear=2007
debutteam=Tampa Bay Devil Rays
statyear=July 23, 2008
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=16-15
stat2label=Earned run average| stat2value=5.22
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=171
teams=
*Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays (by|2007-present)

Andy Sonnanstine (born March 18, 1983 in Barberton, Ohio) is a starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. He attended Kent State University.

Sonnanstine made his first Major League start against the Toronto Blue Jays, receiving a no-decision. He picked up his first major league win on June 10, by|2007, in a game against the Florida Marlins.

Sonnanstine demonstrated strikeout potential in 2007 when, through seven innings of work against the Marlins, he struck out ten batters, including a franchise-record seven in a row, while allowing two runs on seven hits. He also went 2-for-3 as a batter, scored his first run and drove in his first career RBI.

Sonnanstine has impressed many by his mental approach to the game, as he is a fierce competitor who takes a mental approach similar to that of Greg Maddux. [http://www.sportsnet.ca/thewire/baseball/2008/03/24/sonnanstine_s_best_pitch/]

One of Sonnanstine's best starts came on August 31, 2007 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, where he pitched 8 innings, allowing 2 hits and no earned runs (1 unearned run) with 5 strikeouts and no walks. He ended his rookie campaign with a 6-10 record, pitching 130 2/3 innings with an ERA of 5.85.

In another career night, on April 19, by|2008, Sonnanstine pitched a complete game shutout against the Chicago White Sox. He allowed just 3 hits and struck out 4 batters while walking only one. [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080419&content_id=2556406&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb]

On October 6, 2008, Sonnanstine pitched 5 2/3 innings of 2 run baseball against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago. The Rays prevailed putting up six runs of their own and clinching the American League Division Series. The champagne soaked Rays cheered valiantly into the October night as they proved to be first in succeeding to the 2008 American League Championship Series.

Andy is a graduate of Wadsworth High School in Wadsworth, Ohio.