PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥� Phillies ace Cristopher S谩nchez extended his consecutive shutout innings streak to 50 2/3 before allowing a two-out RBI single to San Diego’s Jackson Merrill in the seventh on Wednesday night.
S谩nchez’s streak ranks as the third-best overall dating to the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers鈥� 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 and become the career leader among left-handers.
S谩nchez breezed through six scoreless innings against the Padres before allowing a two-out double in the seventh to Ty France, and Merrill followed with a hit that accounted for the only run allowed by S谩nchez since the end of April.
S谩nchez received a load standing ovation after the run scored, and the 29-year-old lefty stood on the mound until the applause died down.
S谩nchez 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.
S谩nchez 鈥� throwing a changeup that averages 86.5 mph and holding hitters to a .153 average 鈥� hasn’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 of 41 innings, set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to see things like this very often,鈥� Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said before Wednesday’s game. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things that鈥檚 not happened very often. It鈥檚 hard to categorize it. I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e seen anything that鈥檚 really been better than this.鈥�
S谩nchez entered the game against the Padres with a 6-2 record and an MLB-low 1.47 ERA. He had thrown at least seven shutout innings in five straight starts.
S谩nchez was named NL pitcher of the month for May earlier Wednesday. He went 4-0 and struck out 45 鈥� with only three walks 鈥� over 39 innings in the month.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool what he鈥檚 doing,鈥� Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said before the game. 鈥淟ot of punch-outs, as well, so that helps us on defense.鈥�
He was the NL in 2025 when he went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and struck out 212 in 202 innings. S谩nchez 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.
鈥淚 remember they were talking about releasing him in 2020,鈥� Harper said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen it from the jump, just kind of the way he approaches it. Just super special.鈥�
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 S谩nchez broke his record.
鈥淚鈥檓 pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,鈥� said Hershiser, who still owns the record.
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