Cristopher Sánchez strikes out five in win

Sánchez drew the starting assignment for the National League in front of his hometown fans and labored through a 34-pitch opening frame. He struck out Mike Trout with a devastating changeup before giving up a sharp single to center field to Yordan Alvarez and walking Shea Langeliers on four pitches. After coaxing a harmless ground out from Junior Caminero, he issued a free pass to Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases. Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run single to center field and Ben Rice tacked on an RBI single before Sánchez escaped the inning by striking out Riley Greene. The 29-year-old southpaw put together a remarkable 50 2/3 scoreless innings streak and finished the first half with a 2.62 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 144/25 K/BB ratio across 127 1/3 innings. He’s lined up to face the Dodgers at home in his second-half debut next week.

Sánchez will be opposed by Dylan Cease, who gets the nod for the American League squad. In 20 starts this year, Sánchez has forged a 2.62 ERA while whiffing 144 batters over 127 1/3 innings against 27 walks. The game taking place in Philadelphia likely helped his cause, but Sánchez has certainly pitched well enough to deserve this honor for the overwhelming majority of 2026.

Sánchez gave up 10 hits, walked one and struck out seven. He improved to 11-4 with the win. After allowing nine runs against the Royals earlier this week, Sánchez brought his A-game against the Tigers on Saturday. He allowed 10 hits, but consistently pitched out of trouble. Sánchez has a 2.62 ERA heading into the All-Star break.

It’s hard not to wonder how much differently things would have gone if Trea Turner hadn’t botched an easy double play relay that would have resulted in Sánchez throwing 15 pitches in a scoreless first inning. He went on to give up six runs and throw 31 pitches in the frame. Still, as unfortunate as that was, it seemed pretty clear that Sánchez just didn’t have it today. He gave up three homers on his changeup, which is just nuts. It matches the number of homers he’d yielded on his previous 1,753 changeups since the beginning of 2025. Sánchez failed to last five innings for the first time since May 24, 2025 and gave up more than six runs for the first time since Aug. 2024. He’d never before surrendered three homers. The performance took his ERA from 2.00 to 2.62, dropping him from second to 10th on the MLB leaderboard. Sánchez is expected to make his next start Saturday against the Tigers.

Joining them on the NL squad are starters Chase Burns, Max Meyer, Jacob Misiorowski, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, Paul Skeens, Logan Webb and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and relievers Raisel Iglesias and Mason Miller. Shohei Ohtani might also be available, but it seems less likely that he’ll pitch after Friday’s biceps issue. Misiorowski is also expected to be scratched because he’s slated to start the Sunday before the game. That would make Sánchez the overwhelming favorite to start for the NL.

Sánchez got checked out by the trainer in the second after he was seen wiping blood on his pants. Fortunately, though, the blister didn’t seem to be in a particularly bad spot. It might have somehow even helped his changeup, which he was throwing harder than usual. He used it 44 times tonight and got 15 of his 23 whiffs with the pitch. Sánchez moved to 10-3 with a 2.00 ERA. He’s still one win behind Aaron Ashby for the major league lead, but he is the first starter to double figures. He’ll likely face the Royals on Monday.

It’s going to be a tough decision for the National League skipper since Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski and Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez both are deserving candidates to start the Midsummer Classic. There’s no scenario where Ohtani will be able to pitch in relief since he’s in the lineup at DH and won’t be able to warm up during the game. Simply put, Ohtani is either going to start the game or not pitch at all. There might not be a decision either way for a couple weeks.

The star southpaw struck out six batters on the night while issuing one free pass. He served up a solo homer to Curtis Mead that ignited a four-run uprising in the first inning for the Nationals. They also scratched out a run in the third before Sánchez settled in. He got 17 swings and misses on 92 pitches in the game — eight on his devastating changeup — while posting a CSW of 28 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he totes a 2.13 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and a 127/21 K/BB ratio (110 innings) into Tuesday’s showdown against the Pirates.

It’s the first time that Sánchez has allowed more than two runs since April 23. The normally-dominant left-hander gave up a solo homer to Jackson Chourio, and a three-run shot to Blake Perkins. It’s a disappointing effort, but Sánchez has been far too good in 2026 to have any real concerns based on one bad effort against a good baseball team. It’s likely he’ll rebound against the Mets next weekend.

Sánchez authored another masterful performance, notching his fourth double-digit strikeout effort, while limiting Toronto’s lineup to just five baserunners over seven frames. He gave up only four hits, including a fifth-inning solo shot to Ernie Clement, which was just the fourth round-tripper he’s allowed this entire season. The 29-year-old southpaw continues to bolster his NL Cy Young Award case after putting together a remarkable 50 2/3 scoreless innings streak earlier this month. He’ll face a tough challenge his next time out with a road matchup against the Brewers on Sunday.