The Philadelphia Phillies had star starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez on the mound for the first time since before the All-Star break. There, he was tasked with shutting down one of the best lineups in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are led by Shohei Ohtani.
Sanchez ended up giving the Phillies 5.1 innings and allowed 3 runs. There was some traffic, with 7 hits allowed, and 7 strikeouts. Still, it was enough to put the Phillies in a chance to win, which they’d go on to do 10-7.
On top of that, Sanchez continued to dominate Ohtani head-to-head. He struck Ohtani out in the first inning to open the game up. In the third inning, he’d get Ohtani to ground out, before getting him to strikeout again in the fifth inning.
That made for 25 times in their careers when Sanchez and Ohtani have faced off. During that time, the Phillies’ ace has only given up four hits, all of which were singles. Sanchez also has 12 strikeouts total without allowing a walk. That’s nearly 50% of the time they face off.
After the game, Sanchez addressed that success. However, he also wasn’t interested in sharing how it has happened strategically.
“Same plan as always,” Sanchez said. “I won’t tell you which one it is, but the same plan as always.”
Philadelphia Phillies Ace Cristopher Sanchez had a Short Start
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies SP Cristopher Sanchez
While Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez did enough to put the Phillies in a position to win, it was also far from his best start of the season. In fact, those 5.1 innings pitched amounted to being tied for the fourth-shortest of his season.
All things considered, it wasn’t a shock. Sanchez had labored a bit overall, throwing 99 pitches by the time he came out of the game.
“At that point, we’re pushing Sanchy,” Mattingly said.
When Sanchez came out, he had left men on base. Those inherited runners would come around to score, making the line a bit worse for Sanchez. Of course, he wished he had the chance to have finished stronger.
“I would have liked to finish that inning up in my last inning out, but those things you can’t control,” Sánchez said.
On the other side, getting Sanchez out of the game when they did was a major win for the Dodgers. It gave them a longer crack at the Phillies bullpen, which they nearly took advantage of.
“I thought to get Sánchez out in the [sixth] inning, I thought was a good thing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Phillies SP Sanchez is in the Cy Young Race
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies SP Cristopher Sanchez
It’s been a tight race all season long for the NL Cy Young Award. Still, even with that tight competition, Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez is right in the mix.
Vegas has Sanchez right around second in the race. FanDuel has Sanchez at +700, which are the second best odds behind Jacob Misiorowski, who is at -360 for the season. Not too far behind that for the Phillies is Zack Wheeler, who is fourth at +1400.
Fangraphs similarly has Sanchez second in the Cy Young race. Again, Fangraphs has Misiorowski as the favorite.
Of course, Sanchez has his scoreless innings streak to hang his hat on this year. He threw 50.2 innings without giving up a single run. That would be a Phillies franchise record, falling just shy of the MLB record. In the process, he gave voters a moment or a series of moments to remember when it comes time to decide the Cy Young.
Phillies SP Cristopher Sanchez on Dominance Over Dodgers Star Shohei Ohtani