SAN DIEGO (AP) — Philadelphia pitcher Cristopher Sánchez celebrated with emphatic fist pumps after making baseball history Wednesday, capping off a remarkable month of May where he didn’t surrender a single run while shattering a franchise record that had stood for more than a century.
The left-handed hurler stretched his scoreless streak to 44 2/3 innings during Wednesday’s contest, surpassing Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander’s previous team record in Philadelphia’s 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, completing a sweep of the three-game series.
The historic achievement required four complete innings to eclipse Alexander’s mark of 41 consecutive scoreless innings from 1911. Sánchez continued his dominant performance for three additional shutout frames before exiting after 100 pitches. His line included six hits allowed, nine strikeouts, and zero walks.
His outstanding performance concluded with Philadelphia holding a 2-0 advantage, as he celebrated enthusiastically following a strikeout of pinch-hitter Ty France to close the seventh inning.
“I just went out to compete and give the best of myself,” he said through an interpreter.
Despite feeling his command wasn’t at its peak, Sánchez overwhelmed a San Diego offense that failed to deliver with runners in scoring position throughout the series, going 0 for 20 in such situations while leaving 19 baserunners stranded and recording 32 strikeouts.
Interim manager Don Mattingly noted the team recognized the achievement following the game, with Sánchez speaking to his teammates about the accomplishment.
“I just told them it was something special for me,” Sánchez said. “First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates and everyone around me for their support. It’s really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That’s something I admire with this group.
“This is a game that it’s not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it’s about our group and I think it’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole,” he added.
A tense moment occurred in the fourth inning with Sánchez one frame away from the record, as Manny Machado launched a fly ball toward left field that Edmundo Sosa secured near the warning track. The pitcher then struck out Xander Bogaerts, allowed a double to left by Ramon Laureano, and induced Jackson Merrill to ground out to second base, officially establishing the new record.
Machado had connected for a home run during Tuesday evening’s 4-3 Philadelphia victory.
San Diego left runners in scoring position during both the opening and second innings, while Gavin Sheets hit a fly ball that landed just short of the warning track in right field to end the third.
“There were a couple of hits that I thought were gone off the bat, but thank God they didn’t,” he said.
Center fielder Justin Crawford made an impressive running grab on Machado’s fly ball with one out in the sixth inning, preventing an extra-base hit before colliding with the padded outfield wall.
Sánchez’s remarkable run began during the second inning of the opening game of a doubleheader versus San Francisco on April 30.
He established another franchise milestone by recording at least seven scoreless innings for his fifth consecutive start, joining just five other pitchers in major league history to accomplish this feat.
The streak also represents the longest single-season scoreless innings stretch by a left-handed pitcher in the Expansion Era, surpassing former Los Angeles Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw’s 41-inning run from 2014.
“You just don’t expect him to give up any runs,” said Mattingly, who managed Kershaw with the Dodgers in 2014. “I thought he was a little rough early. I don’t know if this thing’s on his mind at all, you know, he knew he had to get through four. He seemed to settle down a little more after that.
“He’s been amazing from the standpoint of, it just seems like every time out, no matter what team or who it is, he just kind of keeps going.”
