PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez finally allowed a run after 663 pitches, 190 batters faced and 50 2/3 scoreless innings — a feat that placed the Phillies’ ace among Hall of Fame company.
After a run scored against the left-hander for the first time since late April, more than 40,000 fans at Citizens Bank Park stood and gave him an ovation that lasted more than a minute. Yes, those Phillies fans were cheering after a run was scored against the home team.
Sánchez held his stern demeanor for as long as he could, wanting to throw the next pitch. Finally, he cracked a smile. He raised his cap, wiped his forehead and Phillies fans and his teammates kept applauding Sánchez, celebrating a rare milestone in baseball history.
“It was a big moment, a huge moment for me,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “I think that I just had to do something for the fans and react to the love that they brought it.”
Sánchez pushed his consecutive shutout innings streak to just short of 51 innings Wednesday night before allowing a two-out RBI single to San Diego’s Jackson Merrill in the seventh and earned the win after J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber homered in the seventh inning, leading the Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Padres.
“It’s something I never imagined in my life that I would do,” Sánchez said.
Sánchez’s streak ranked as the third-best overall dating to the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Orel Hershiser, with a record 59 straight scoreless innings in 1988, and Don Drysdale with 58 in 1968. He struck out San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. and set the Padres down in order in the first to pass Carl Hubbell at 45 1/3 innings and become the career leader among left-handers.
Sánchez breezed through six scoreless innings before Ty France doubled with two out in the seventh. Lefty-swinging Merrill then punched a single to left that accounted for the only run allowed by Sánchez in more than a month.
“I know my vocabulary is probably not good enough for him right now,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “You could feel it every inning, they knew exactly what was going on.”
Sánchez also passed Sal Maglie, Zack Greinke, and Bob Gibson on the shutout streak list since 1920. He surpassed Gibson’s 47 consecutive shutout innings in the same 1968 season as Drysdale, dubbed the year of the pitcher.
Sánchez — throwing a changeup that averages 86.5 mph and holding hitters to a .153 average — hadn’t been in any serious jeopardy of allowing a run since permitting two runs in the first inning of a 3-2 Phillies win over the Giants on April 30.
He worked seven shutout innings in his last start against the Padres to eclipse the Phillies’ franchise record of 41 innings, set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander.
“You don’t get to see things like this very often,” Mattingly said. “It’s one of those things that’s not happened very often. It’s hard to categorize it. I don’t know if I’ve seen anything that’s really been better than this.”
Sánchez, who had had thrown at least seven shutout innings in five straight starts, struck out eight. He improved to 7-2 and lowered his ERA to an MLB-best 1.46.
Sánchez was named NL pitcher of the month for May earlier Wednesday. He went 4-0 and struck out 45 — with only three walks — over 39 innings in the month.
“It’s pretty cool what he’s doing,” Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said. “Lot of punch-outs, as well, so that helps us on defense.”
Sánchez also set a Citizens Bank Park scoreless streak record at 34 2/3 innings, topping Cliff Lee (29 innings) and Roy Halladay (33) and he became the second pitcher this season to reach 100 strikeouts.
Sánchez was the NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2025 when he went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and struck out 212 in 202 innings. He signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent in 2013 and was traded to the Phillies six years later for infielder Curtis Mead in a little-noticed offseason transaction. He made his big-league debut in 2021.
“I remember they were talking about releasing him in 2020,” Harper said. “I’ve seen it from the jump, just kind of the way he approaches it. Just super special.”
Drysdale threw a major-league record six straight shutouts as part of his streak from May 14- June 8, 1968. Hershiser pitched six scoreless starts in September 1988 as part of his record-breaking streak. Hershiser, now a broadcaster for the Dodgers, said last week he was fine if Sánchez broke his record.
“I’m pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,” said Hershiser, who still holds the record.
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