Cristopher Sánchez ignores blister, gets 10th win

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.

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.

Sánchez gave up five hits, walked one and struck out five. He improved to 9-3 with the win. Sánchez is an ace pitcher headed to another All-Star game this summer, but was just a footnote in the Phillies’ 15-3 win over the Mets. He cruised through six innings, allowing one run. Sánchez has a 1.80 ERA. He’ll face the Nationals on the road next weekend.

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.

Sánchez extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 50 2/3 innings before Jackson Merrill delivered an opposite-field base hit in the seventh, one of just four he allowed on the evening. The streak finishes as the fifth-longest in baseball since 1920, including the longest by a lefty. He fell shy of matching Orel Hershiser’s 59-IP record, but he still holds a 1.46 ERA and sits at the center of this year’s National League Cy Young race. He’ll look to continue that bid in his next outing, a road game in Toronto.

Sánchez struck out nine. Manny Machado made a bid to end the scoreless streak in the sixth, but his drive to right-center was caught at the wall by Justin Crawford. Statcast says it would have been a homer in 16 ballparks. Sánchez’s May concludes without him allowing a run in 39 innings of work. He’s potentially two starts away from challenging Orel Hershiser’s record streak of 58 scoreless innings from 1988. He’s one inning away from matching Zack Greinke’s streak of 45 2/3 scoreless innings in 2015, which is the longest since Hershiser’s. He’ll face the Padres again next week in Philadelphia.

Sánchez is on another level right now. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 37 2/3 innings after this start, which broke the Phillies’ franchise record set by Cliff Lee. This was also one of those beautiful outings where he had literally everything working. He dotted his sinker exactly where he wanted it bearing down on righties and that pitch beautifully set up both his changeup fading away and slider crashing on the back-foot of the Guardians’ right-handed batters. All in all, he forced 22 swings-and-misses, which was one off his season-high, and the vast majority came via his slider and changeup. Sadly for Sánchez, Guardians’ starter Gavin Williams matched him with eight scoreless frames, so he left this gem with a no-decision. Still, he’s firmly one of the best pitchers in the league and is scheduled to face the Padres next time out.