“That wasn’t a very good idea to piss him off,” Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Using an elite sinker-slider-changeup mix that has made him one of the best pitchers in baseball, S\u00e1nchez had his way with just about every batter in a sensational scoreless May.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez went 4-0 and struck out 45 \u2014 with only three walks \u2014 over 39 innings in May and broke a 115-year-old franchise record along the way. S\u00e1nchez has pitched 44 2\/3 consecutive scoreless innings headed into Wednesday’s start against San Diego to top the mark of 41 innings set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander<\/a>.<\/p>\n Up ahead, a shot at the major league record held by former Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser, who threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings for the World Series champions from Aug. 30 to Sept. 28, 1988.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher S\u00e1nchez celebrates after the last out of the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Wednesday, May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n Gregory Bull<\/p>\n “I’m pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,” Hershiser said. “’88 and the 59 scoreless changed my life. The only time I’m not going to root for him is when he’s pitching against the Dodgers.”<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez missed the Dodgers’ series during the Phillies 4-2 road trip, and they are now 21-10 under interim manager Don Mattingly.<\/p>\n He hasn’t missed much else, except maybe a lot of bats.<\/p>\n “It’s something special,” S\u00e1nchez said through an interpreter. “Something really important. I never imagined something like this. So, I’m really happy and proud of myself.”<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez has thrown at least seven shutout innings in five straight starts \u2014 he would need to reach that minimum in two more starts, plus one inning to top Hershiser \u2014 and only six other pitchers are ahead of him on the consecutive shutout innings list dating back to the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920.<\/p>\n Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen is the only other active pitcher who understands what S\u00e1nchez is feeling on the mound over a lengthy scoreless streak. Gallen \u2014 just passed by S\u00e1nchez \u2014 had six straight scoreless starts of six-plus innings and finished at 44 1\/3 innings overall in 2022.<\/p>\n “When you’re on a streak like that, it’s fun,” Gallen said. “It’s kind of like walking around, I wouldn’t say on eggshells of, ‘Oh man, you never know when this thing’s going to end.’ But it’s fun when you’re out there and you’re in flow state and the zeros start to stack up. So, it’s awesome for him. I hope he can take down the record.” <\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez is 6-2 with an MLB-low 1.47 ERA overall headed into Wednesday’s start against a Padres team he just beat last week with seven brilliant innings<\/a>. Should S\u00e1nchez start the game with three scoreless innings, he would pass Sal Maglie, Carl Hubbell, Zack Greinke, and Bob Gibson on the scoreless streak list.<\/p>\n Only Don Drysdale and Hershiser would be left.<\/p>\n “What I do watch, he’s very, very special,” Hershiser said. “His changeup, his athleticism, his ability to change speeds to both sides of the plate. I just think he’s a real special pitcher. You can’t do what he’s doing without repeating your mechanics and having some deception and making a lot of good pitches. He’s putting it all together.”<\/p>\n Each of S\u00e1nchez’s last 28.2 innings at Citizens Bank Park have been scoreless and he has the third-longest scoreless streak in ballpark history, trailing only Roy Halladay in 2010 (33 innings) and Cliff Lee in 2011 (29).<\/p>\n The 29-year-old S\u00e1nchez has inched toward greatness each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n 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. S\u00e1nchez was rewarded in March with a guaranteed $104 million over a six-year contract<\/a> through the 2032 season in a deal that contains $20 million in deferred money payable from 2035-44.<\/p>\n The Phillies put a lot of financial faith in S\u00e1nchez, and the early returns have been significant \u2014 he made his first Opening Day start and could lead to the lanky lefty earning an All-Star start in July on his home mound.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez 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 few-cared winter transaction. Mead never caught on as an everyday player and is batting .242 in 45 games this season with the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez \u2014 throwing a changeup that averages 86.5 mph and holding hitters to a .153 average \u2014 and Zack Wheeler have formed a formidable 1-2 punch in the rotation and helped the Phillies play their way out of a 9-19 start to get back into wild card contention.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez has pitched largely to weak contact, and the scoreless streak has never been in any serious jeopardy since he last allowed two runs in the first inning of a 3-2 Phillies win over the Giants on April 30.<\/p>\n The defensive highlight of his run came in his last start when centerfielder Justin Crawford raced after Manny Machado’s deep drive and crashed into the wall<\/a> to make the catch.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez stood on the mound and applauded the effort.<\/p>\n And if S\u00e1nchez gets to 60 scoreless, so too, will Hershiser.<\/p>\n “If Cristopher would break it, that would be an honor to be mentioned and I would treat him the same (respectful) way that Don Drysdale treated me,” he said.<\/p>\n![\"Cristopher](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap26147796869219.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n