Phillies Shutout Padres To Complete Sweep, with Cristopher Sanchez Making History in the Process
Denis Poroy/Imagn Images
The Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres, shutting them out for the second time this series in a 3-0 win, their eighth of the season, all under interim manager Don Mattingly.
But this game was all about Cristopher Sanchez. The left-hander made Phillies history on Wednesday afternoon, setting the longest scoreless streak in the team’s history, which was previously held by Grover Cleveland Alexander since 1911.
Sanchez’s dominance is something that hasn’t been done from a Phillies pitcher since the likes of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Cliff Lee. Three years ago, Sanchez was considered a DFA candidate if things hadn’t worked out for him. But that all changed in 2024, when he completely changed things around and broke out. 2025 was another step in his fantastic career, finishing 2nd in Cy Young voting, and now, in 2026, becoming one of, if not the, best left-handed pitchers in all of MLB.
Cristopher finished his afternoon with seven scoreless innings and extended his scoreless streak to 44.2 innings. It is the 7th-longest streak in baseball since 1920. He ended the month of May with zero runs in 39 innings, with a strikeout to walk ratio of 45-3. He joined Orel Hershiser as the only starting pitcher with an entire scoreless month with a minimum of four starts.
Last time Sanchez started, he threw eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians due to a lack of offense, and his offense did not really help him at all in this game. All his offense gave him was two runs, but when you have a pitcher as dominant as Sanchez, it’s easy to stay calm. Former Phillie Walker Buehler got the nod for the Padres and held them scoreless up until the 6th inning when he was eventually removed.
With the offense going quiet for the first four innings, it was all eyes on Sanchez, with the hope that he would make Phillies history, but it wouldn’t be an easy task. The Padres would leave a runner in scoring position in the first after some poor defense by the Phillies. Then in the second, he would work around runners on first and third, and after a 1-2-3 third, there was only one inning left.
Manny Machado looked like he was going to break the streak leading off the inning, hitting into a 356-foot flyout that was mere inches away from being a homerun. After a two-out double, he got Jackson Merrill to ground out and complete history as the game still remained scoreless after four.
After a scoreless 5th from both sides, the Phillies would finally break through in the sixth. After a base hit and a hit batter, the Padres went to the bullpen to create a lefty-on-left matchup for Kyle Schwarber. But he ended up making him play, lining out a single to right field, which scored Justin Crawford. One batter later, Trea Turner would add on the second Phillies run, hitting into a fielder’s choice.
And Cristopher would back it up with yet another scoreless inning, with Machado being robbed for the second time on a fantastic running catch from Crawford.
Sanchez decided to end his start in style, picking up one more scoreless inning and showing much emotion as he picked up his 9th strikeout. He also passed Zac Gallen’s scoreless streak, which he set in 2022 at 44.1 innings. His five consecutive scoreless outings of seven or more innings ties him with Brandon Webb and Bob Gibson.
The Phillies got an insurance run in the ninth inning, with Trea Turner homering in back-to-back games off the third deck of the Western Metal Company building to make it 3-0 Phillies.
Jonathan Bowlan and Jose Alvarado held down scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, with the Phillies getting the 3-0 win to advance them to being two games over .500.
The Phillies will head up to Los Angeles to face the two-time defending world champion Dodgers, with Zack Wheeler scheduled to start at 10:15 p.m.
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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