Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies holds a 44 2/3-inning scoreless streak, the longest in franchise history. The left-hander is scheduled to start Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park, where three more scoreless innings would place him third in the Live Ball Era.
Sánchez's streak began in April and includes a scoreless May in which he posted a 0.00 ERA over 39 innings with 45 strikeouts and three walks. That performance made him only the second starter in MLB history, alongside Orel Hershiser, to complete an entire month without allowing a run in at least four starts. The streak ranks seventh in the Live Ball Era since 1920. Sánchez trails Orel Hershiser's 59 innings from 1988, Don Drysdale's 58 from 1968, and others including Zack Greinke and Bob Gibson. He is one inning from the longest such streak in the Wild Card Era. During a start last week against the Padres at Petco Park, Manny Machado hit a ball that would have been a home run in several parks, including Citizens Bank Park, but it was caught for an out. Sánchez later said of several close calls, “There were a couple hits that I thought were gone off the bat. But, thank God they weren’t.” Sánchez leads the majors with a 1.47 ERA and tops the league in innings pitched this season.
