The pitching was a mess, in dire need of a starter that would step up and pitch well enough that the bullpen wouldn’t be an issue. At the very least, the Phillies needed some length out of their starter, avoiding the bullpen as much as possible.
Enter Cristopher Sanchez.
Sanchez stopped the bleeding for the Phillies, leading them to a badly needed win in New York, where they can head home needing to clinch a final spot in the playoffs. He was buoyed by an offense that showed some signs of life early
and often. It started in the first inning when the team pushed across two runs off starter Jonah Tong. A sacrifice fly by Luis Arraez brought home Kyle Schwarber, followed by an RBI single by Alec Bohm to score Bryce Harper and Sanchez had a lead.
Even Trea Turner decided to get in on the action, notching an RBI double to score Schwarber once again.
Arraez had another RBI when he singled home Turner and a 4-0 with Sanchez on the mound was in their possession. From there, Sanchez was good. The first blemish on his record was a home run by Bo Bichette in the sixth inning. He would be replaced by Alex McFarlane in the seventh after allowing a one out single, who then allowed two straight singles to make the score 4-2 with a lone out in the inning. He would settled and get the final two outs to send it to the seventh.
In that inning, the Phillies would load the bases for Justin Crawford, one out only. Crawford saw a Kodai Senga fastball he liked and laced a triple up left/center alley, clearing the bases and salting the game away.
From there, the game slowly marched to the end, Chase Shugart and Jose Alvarado making the game entirely too uncomfortable for a five run, but they were able to preserve the win.
The magic number is at 3.
