PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez dominated through another four innings without allowing a run Wednesday evening against San Diego, pushing his remarkable scoreless streak to 48⅔ consecutive innings and claiming third place on the all-time list.
Only Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who achieved a record 59 straight scoreless innings in 1988, and Don Drysdale with 58 in 1968 stand ahead of Sánchez on the record books dating back to 1920’s Live Ball Era beginning.
The left-handed pitcher struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. and retired San Diego’s batters in order during the first inning Wednesday evening, surpassing Carl Hubbell to become the all-time leader among southpaws.
Sánchez recorded strikeouts against Xander Bogaerts in the second frame and Jase Bowen in the third, maintaining the scoreless contest.
The 29-year-old hurler also moved past Sal Maglie, Zack Greinke, and Bob Gibson on the shutout streak rankings since 1920. He topped Gibson’s 47 consecutive scoreless innings from that same 1968 campaign as Drysdale, known as the year of the pitcher.
Sánchez — featuring a changeup that averages 86.5 mph while limiting opposing batters to a .153 batting average — hasn’t faced significant danger of surrendering a run since giving up two runs in the opening frame of Philadelphia’s 3-2 victory over the Giants on April 30.
In his previous outing against San Diego, he completed seven scoreless frames to surpass Philadelphia’s franchise mark of 41 innings, established 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 contest. “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 took the mound against San Diego carrying a 6-2 record and baseball’s lowest 1.47 ERA. He has delivered at least seven shutout innings across five consecutive starts.
“At some point this year, he’s going to give up a run,” Mattingly said. “I’d love to see him break the record. He’s pitching great, he’s handling it.”
Earlier Wednesday, Sánchez received recognition as NL pitcher of the month for May. During that span, he compiled a 4-0 record and struck out 45 batters while issuing just three walks across 39 innings.
“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 finished as the NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2025 after posting a 13-5 record with a 2.50 ERA and 212 strikeouts over 202 innings. Sánchez originally signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent in 2013 before being dealt to Philadelphia six years later for infielder Curtis Mead in an overlooked offseason deal. He reached the major leagues 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 recorded six consecutive complete-game shutouts during his streak spanning May 14 through June 8, 1968. Hershiser delivered six scoreless outings in September 1988 while establishing his record-setting run. Hershiser, currently working as a Dodgers broadcaster, expressed last week that he would welcome Sánchez breaking his mark.
“I’m pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,” Hershiser said.
