PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez 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.
Sánchez's streak ranks 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 and become the career leader among left-handers.
Sánchez 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 Sánchez since the end of April.
Sánchez received a load standing ovation after the run scored, and the 29-year-old lefty stood on the mound until the applause died down.
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 — 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 Phillies' franchise record of 41 innings, set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander.
“You don’t get to see things like this very often,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said before Wednesday's game. “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 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.
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 before the game. “Lot of punch-outs, as well, so that helps us on defense.”
He 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. Sánchez 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 owns the record.
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