As of Wednesday, Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez was riding a scoreless streak that was closing in on a 115-year-old franchise record held by Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander, who had thrown 41 consecutive scoreless innings. Sanchez was dominant throughout May, and in his final start of the month, he dismantled the San Diego Padres, officially surpassing Alexander for the most scoreless innings in Phillies history.
By retiring the Padres in the fourth inning, Sanchez broke the record and extended his streak to 44.2 innings (still active). The 2024 All-Star pitched seven frames, gave up six hits, and struck out nine on 100 pitches (67 strikes).
Wednesday’s game marked the third time in May that Sanchez didn’t walk a batter; he issued only three walks all month. He nearly lost his scoreless streak twice, as Padres third baseman Manny Machado lined two loud outs to left field in the fourth and sixth innings.
Cristopher Sanchez called the “special” moment even better shared with his Phillies teammates
A humble player, Sanchez said it was “special” to experience the historic outing alongside his teammates, whom he called a “tremendous group.”
“It was incredible,” Sanchez told MLB.com’s Paul Casella after the game. “It’s really special what we have here as a group, as an organization as a whole the players, the staff, the medical staff. So it’s just really special to share things like this with this tremendous group that we have here.”
Sanchez is among the early favorites for the National League Cy Young Award, and his performance against the Padres shows why he could unseat Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. He’s also making a strong case to be the NL’s starting pitcher in this summer’s All-Star Game, which will take place in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 14.
Now that Sanchez has passed Alexander, he’ll aim for a place in MLB history by chasing Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser’s record of 59.0 innings. If Sanchez throws one more scoreless frame in his next start, he’ll surpass three pitchers: Zack Greinke (45.2 scoreless innings in 2015), screwball legend Carl Hubbell (45.1 in 1933), and Sal Maglie (45 in 1950).
Sanchez and Hershiser are the only two pitchers in MLB history to go an entire calendar month without allowing an earned run.
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