Sanchez Pitches Eight Scoreless and Strikes Out 10, Harper Homers Twice as Phillies Blow Out Athletics
Cristopher Sánchez #61 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on against the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park on April 13, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Cubs 13-7. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The Phillies continue to keep winning under interim skipper Don Mattingly. They are now 7-1 since last Tuesday and are rolling, opening their series against the Athletics with a 9-1 win.
The players of the game are Cristopher Sanchez and Bryce Harper. Sanchez was absolutely magnificent. He pitched eight scoreless innings, while striking out 10 Athletics. He had full control of all his pitches tonight, compared to other starts where he struggled with the changeup and sinker. That was not the case Tuesday night. The Athletics were free-swinging, and Sanchez took advantage of that, recording 22 whiffs. He also becomes the first pitcher in MLB this year to reach 60 strikeouts.
Although the offense all around Harper was magnificent tonight, Harper just continues to heat up, and he’s been playing some of his best baseball in such a long time. He added two home runs tonight to go along with his home run Monday in Miami, with him now going yard three times in the last two games. Bryson Stott also had a homerun, which was his third homer in five games, to add on with a double he hit earlier in the game.
Through the first three innings, Sanchez was rolling, throwing just 35 pitches: nine in the first, seven in the second, and 19 in the third after escaping with runners on first and third. His opposition for the A’s, Luis Severino, was also keeping the Phils scoreless, although he was being worked at by the Phillies hitters, having 69 pitches through the first three.
The Phillies put runners on during those innings, but could not score. They left the bases loaded in the first and left runners on second and third in the second. It wouldn’t be until the third inning that they break through. Harper, continuing his hot streak, hit his eighth home run of the season. He recorded his fourth extra-base hit in his last five games.
Although Severino’s pitch count was already super high, he remained in the game for two more innings. He ended his night with five innings and three strikeouts while throwing 102 pitches. Sanchez, however, threw twice as few as Severino, with just 50 pitches over five shutout innings for him.
He finished the sixth by retiring the Athletics in order before getting into some trouble in the seventh. Back-to-back singles from Colby Thomas and Zack Gelof put runners on first and second, but Sanchez was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout, groundout, and another K to end the inning, as he showed his emotion as he left the mound.
The bottom of the inning is when the Phils went to pour it on. With former Phillie Mark Leiter Jr. in, he gave a first-pitch double to Trea Turner and advanced him to third on a wild pitch. Adolis Garcia drove him in with a sacrifice fly, Brandon Marsh followed with a single, and then J.T. Realmuto cleared the bases, scoring both Harper and Marsh with a double that took a hop right off the Giant sign in left center. Leiter was pulled for Tyler Ferugson, who gave up a first-pitch homerun to Stott, giving the Phils five runs in the inning.
The machine that Sanchez was on Tuesday night continued into the eighth inning, picking up two more strikeouts, and ending his night with eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts.
The Phillies decided to add more insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. After Thomas misread a ball that Justin Crawford lined out to right field for a double, Turner brought him in to extend the Philadelphia lead to seven. Harper also hit his 2nd homerun of the game after everyone thought that Gelof almost caught it in center field, with even Harper himself thinking he robbed it.
The newly reinstated Jhoan Duran came in for the ninth inning solely just to get work in, and struggled a little loading the bases and losing his command on all of his pitches, and ended up walking in a run to make it 9-1. Duran was able to retire the last hitter he faced, ending the game and giving the Phillies the blowout win.
The Phillies will go for their third straight series win on Wednesday night, with Zack Wheeler scheduled to take the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM EST.
Andrew Glover
Andrew is in his first year covering sports for Philly Sports Reports. He is a podcaster and a digital content creator. Right now, he is in his second semester at Temple University pursuing a degree in Media Studies and Production. He has a certificate in Broadcast Journalism from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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