A Career Built on Details
Philadelphia's left-hander had not allowed a run in nearly two months. That ended Wednesday night, but the win still mattered.
Jackson Merrill poked a two-out RBI single to left field in the seventh inning, driving in Ty France, who had doubled down the left field line. The run ended Sánchez's streak at 50⅔ scoreless innings—the first run he had allowed since the first inning against the San Francisco Giants on April 30.
The numbers are doing most of the announcement work here, which is usually how teams prefer it.
"My vocabulary is probably not good enough for him, but he's just been amazing to watch," Phillies manager Don Mattingly said after the 3-2 victory.
The Record He Leaves
Sánchez held the Padres to four hits and one walk in seven innings, striking out eight. He has thrown at least seven innings in an MLB-leading six starts this season. The Phillies acquired him as a minor leaguer in a 1-for-1 trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Nov. 20, 2019, sending Infielder Curtis Mead the other way. He made his MLB debut in June 2021.
Including the Dead Ball Era, Sánchez's streak ranks fifth all-time. Walter Johnson went 55⅔ innings without allowing a run for the Washington Senators in 1913, and Jack Coombs logged 53 scoreless innings with the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics. Only those two, plus Orel Hershiser and Dodgers Don Drysdale, are ahead of him in MLB history.
In May, Sánchez joined Hershiser as the only non-openers in baseball history to start five games in a calendar month and not allow a run. He threw at least seven innings in each of those five May starts and was named the NL's Pitcher of the Month.
The Part People Remember
Sánchez, 29, was the NL Cy Young runner-up behind Paul Skenes last season, when he threw 202 innings with a 2.50 ERA and led all pitchers with 8.0 WAR, per Baseball Reference's calculations. Wednesday's start gives him a 1.46 ERA through 13 starts and an MLB-leading 86⅓ innings this season.
Philadelphia signed him to a six-year, $107 million contract extension in March, ensuring he will remain one of the biggest bargains in baseball.