Tommy Hanson struck out 11 batters last night on his way to his fifth win of the season. Hanson, who has yet to be pegged with an L, looked like he might be in line for a no-decision in the seventh inning, when Braves centerfielder Nate McLouth lost a ball in the lights that fell for a lead-off triple by Giants two bagger Juan Uribe. Credit to Uribe for busting his ass around the bases on a ball that should have been caught pretty easily (seriously, MLB needs to address the rule that keeps this from being an error, or at least a runner eligible to be an earned run). He went on to score the tying run, and when Hanson left the mound at the end of the top half of the seventh the score was tied. Not for long, as the Braves picked up their pitcher with a six run bottom half, putting Hanson in line for the win.

Hanson, who started out rusty, walked Giants’ starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez to load the bases on the second inning. Randy Winn made him pay for that, lacing a two out, two run scoring double later that inning. After that, it was pretty much lights out for the Giants as Hanson sat down 13 hitters in a row.

With a 36:23 K:BB ratio through 48 innings of work, Hanson obviously has had some control issues since being called up to the Bigs. Those walk totals are being juiced by a three game stretch in mid-June that saw Tommy issue five, four and five walks respectively. He has issued at least one free pass in every start so far, and more than one in all but two of his eight starts. His K total is obviously helped out by the 11 strikeout performance last night. So while it is not time to start clamoring for the NL Rookie of the Year award yet, Hanson is starting to work his name into the discussion. Right now, it’s J.A. Happ’s award to lose.