Cristopher Sánchez’s scoreless innings streak ends, but not before he made history in Phillies’ 3-2 win

Cristopher Sánchez gave up the tying run — the first run of any kind, actually, that he allowed in 50⅔ innings over 34 days — and was back atop the mound, ready to face the next batter.

But the applause wouldn’t stop.

Wait, what? Applause? For giving up a run in a nip-and-tuck game? Surely, Sánchez never before got such a reaction from the home fans in his four seasons in the Phillies’ starting rotation.

Then again, he never made history like this, either.

» READ MORE: From 2024: The Phillies’ ‘longer-term bet’ on Cristopher Sanchez looked like a misstep. Then he found his pitch.

And so, one start after eclipsing the longest scoreless streak by a pitcher in Phillies history, six innings after passing a Hall of Famer for the longest streak by any lefty ever, what was Sánchez to do Wednesday night when at last he was revealed to be … human?

Shrug and laugh, of course.

“I think I’m going to need a little time to embrace this, to fully acknowledge that it happened,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter after the Phillies edged the Padres, 3-2, for their seventh win in 10 games. “As of right now, I still can’t believe that it did.”

Oh, believe it. Before allowing a two-out RBI single to Jackson Merrill in the seventh inning, Sánchez put up six more zeros against the punchless Padres to pass Sal Maglie, Doc White, Cy Young (Cy Young!), Hall of Fame lefty Carl Hubbell, Zack Greinke, and Bob Gibson (Bob Gibson!) for the fifth-longest scoreless streak since at least 1893, when the mound moved to its current distance.

The final tally from Sánchez’s streak: 50⅔ innings, 28 hits, six walks, 58 strikeouts.

Let those numbers wash over you.

“Definitely the most special run that I’ve been a part of with a starting pitcher,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto, who hit a go-ahead solo homer to ease the sting from calling the sinker that Merrill lined to left field. “To be able to go that many innings without giving up a run, it’s not something that I’m sure I’ll see again in my playing days. So, definitely something I’ll remember.”

OK, some big-picture details: At 32-29, the Phillies are three games over .500 for the first time. Even after Kyle Schwarber‘s majors-leading 23rd homer in the seventh inning, they still haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since May 18. But the pitching has gotten them to within a half-game of a wild-card spot.

And no pitcher, not even star closer Jhoan Duran (14-for-14 in save opportunities after a scoreless ninth inning) has been better than Sánchez.

“I don’t know what else you ask,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “I know my vocabulary is probably not good enough for him. Amazing to watch.”

The streak began April 30 in the second inning against the Giants. It covered a lot of miles, from two more home starts against the Athletics and Rockies, to Pittsburgh for a six-hit complete game, back home for an eight-inning gem in a 1-0 loss to the Guardians, and all the way to San Diego last week, where he surpassed Grover Cleveland Alexander’s 115-year-old franchise mark of 41 scoreless innings.

If Sánchez felt the weight of history, his teammates never sensed it. Bryce Harper said they barely talked about it because “it just seems simple and normal for him to go out there and just do his thing.”

Needing only to get through the first inning at home against the Padres to top Hubbell’s lefty mark of 45⅓ innings, Sánchez uncorked his last warmup pitch and bobbed his head to “Coronao,” the song that precedes his starts at home.

On the edge of history, he was cool as ever.

“I’m not going to say that it didn’t come through my mind,” Sánchez said. “At some points it did. You know, I thought about it. And sometimes it crossed my mind during the outings.

“But I tried to not distract myself too much about it. I even told my family, ‘Hey, let’s not talk about this.’ But I mean, I enjoyed it a lot. I loved every minute of it.”

It took 13 pitches — plus, one confirmed replay review and one confirmed ABS challenge — for Sánchez to get through Fernando Tatis Jr., Miguel Andujar, and Manny Machado and pass Hubbell.

Next up: Greinke at 45⅔ innings. No problem. Sánchez retired the side in the second inning.

Then came Gibson at 47 innings. Sure thing. Sánchez sidestepped a two-out walk in the third.

» READ MORE: Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez is approaching history, and Orel Hershiser knows the feeling well

“All I know about him is he was a great player, one of the best ones,” Sánchez said of Gibson. “I haven’t studied him yet or his career, but I’ll have to take some time and look into it.”

Sánchez will have time to reflect. He struck out Tatis and Machado in the sixth inning to reach the 50-inning mark. And he retired the first two batters in the seventh, too.

But Ty France doubled to left field on a changeup to bring up Merrill.

“Probably could’ve called anything else [other than the sinker] and it would’ve been a swing and miss, maybe,” Realmuto said. “He didn’t quite get it where we wanted to, the location, but at the end of the day, if we throw something else, it probably works out a little better.”

And once the shock of Sánchez allowing a run wore off, the ovation grew from most of the 40,453 paying customers. They got so loud that umpire Hunter Wendelstedt stepped out from behind home plate to let it continue.

“That’s who our fans are,” Realmuto said. “They appreciate greatness. And for [Wendelstedt] to have that feel and give our fans the opportunity to really celebrate him was special.”

Sánchez looked at Merrill and laughed.

What else could he do?

“It felt incredible,” he said. “There was so much going on in my mind at that point. I’ll be forever grateful to these fans, to the city, best fans in the world. Whether I’m here or not, they’ll forever be the best fans in baseball.”

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