Phillies Offense Shut Out By Guardians, Wasting Eight-Inning Masterpiece From Cristopher Sanchez
May 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians in the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
At this point, it’s comical how dominant Cristopher Sanchez has been in the month of May, and it’s embarrassing that the Phillies’ offense couldn’t provide him with one run of support.
Coming into Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, Sanchez needed just one out to become the ninth different Phillies pitcher to throw 30 consecutive scoreless innings or more, and instead of getting just one out, Sanchez decided to pick up 24 of them, tossing eight innings of scoreless pitching.
The 37.2 scoreless innings put Sanchez in second place all-time in the Phillies franchise history, with Grover Cleveland Alexander currently in first with 41 consecutive scoreless innings in 1911. Sanchez will have an opportunity in his next start to break Alexander’s record, needing just 3.1 innings to tie, and 3.2 innings to pass. He’s scheduled to start on Wednesday in San Diego.
Sanchez also struck out six batters, extending his number of strikeouts this month to 36, jumping him back into second most in the league behind Jacob Misiorowski. The strikeouts and eight innings of shutout ball helped Sanchez pass Cam Schlittler to take over sole possession of the top WAR mark among starting pitchers with 2.8 this season.
Unfortunately for Sanchez, the Phillies provided just four hits of offense all night, getting shut out 1-0, for their fifth shutout loss of the season. It’s also the third consecutive loss for the Phillies, the first time interim manager Don Mattingly has lost three games in a row since taking over as manager.
The first inning kicked off a good start for another start for Sanchez as he picked up not one but two strikeouts, one to rising star Angel Martinez and another to former Phillie Rhys Hoskins. Despite a two-out double from Bryce Harper, the Phillies suffered a similar fate to the Guardians in their half of the first, with Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm striking out.
Both teams got runners aboard in the second, but neither did anything with it. 1-2-3, the Phillies and Guardians went down in the third inning, and in the fourth, Sanchez picked up a big inning-ending double play after walking Hoskins.
The offense continued to disappoint in the fourth from Philadelphia, but thankfully, the battery mates of Sanchez and J.T. Realmuto picked them up in the fifth. Sanchez picked up two strikeouts for two of the outs, and after allowing a single from Brayan Rocchio, Realmuto gunned him down at second on a steal to get to the bottom of the fifth.
Despite a one-out single and a stolen base from Bryson Stott putting a runner in scoring position, Realmuto and Justin Craawford failed to bring in Stott from second for a run. The scoreless baseball from both teams continued through the sixth and seventh innings, with Sanchez and opposing pitcher Gavin Williams dominating. Sanchez’s strikeout numbers were low compared to Williams, who had 11 through seven innings.
In the eighth, both pitchers walked out back out for their eighth inning of work, and both starters made quick work of the opposing offenses. Sanchez needed just seven pitches to work around an Austin Hedges single, and Williams needed just nine to send the Phillies down in order.
After eight innings of scoreless baseball, extending his consecutive streak to 37.2, Sanchez was pulled for the Phillies’ closer Jhoan Duran, and in a very unlike Jhoan Duran fashion, the Phillies’ closer allowed a crucial one-out homer, giving up the lead.
After getting Jose Ramírez out to start the inning, a pinch hitting Kyle Manzardo lifted a ball to left field, just clearing the wall for a solo bomb, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead. One run was all the Guardians scored, but now their closer, Cade Smith, was tapped with picking up the final three outs to secure the win.
Facing the top three of the Phillies order, Smith needed just eight pitches to send Trea Turner, Schwarber, and Harper down in order, ending the game in a 1-0 loss. It’s the first three-game losing streak for the Phillies under interim manager Mattingly and the fifth time they’ve been shut out this season.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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