Phillies Lose First Series in June Behind Rare Off Day From Cristopher Sanchez

It’s still a long season, and one series won’t decide an award race, but after this weekend, Jacob Misiorowski has officially jumped Cristopher Sanchez in the NL Cy Young race.

The Phillies have been on a roll through the first half of June, winning all three series they’ve played in the month and going 7-2. Before heading back home to start a 13-game stretch against only division opponents, the Phillies had to take care of business up north in Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers.

Unfortunately for them, the series didn’t kick off the way they’d hoped, as they ran into Jacob Misiorowski in the opener, who had one of the best starts from a pitcher this season. Philadelphia bounced back for a sluggout in Game 2, but the finale came up all Milwaukee once again, with the Brewers winning 4-0.

The loss wasn’t the shocking part; it was that the Phillies ace, Cristopher Sanchez, had his worst start in nearly two months, going just 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, striking out just three, and allowing two homers. Sanchez, unfortunately, just didn’t have his usual stuff, and add in the fact that the Phillies offense is going every other game without scoring a run.

Kyle Harrison got the start on the mound for the Brewers, and from the jump, started rattling off Phillies batters one by one. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper used just eight to fly out and roll into two groundouts for the first three outs of the game.

In the bottom half of the inning, things felt off for Cristopher Sanchez nearly right away. Just four pitches into his start, Jackson Chourio smoked a leadoff home run to center field for the first run of the game. Despite a double off the bat of William Contreras, Sanchez was able to pick up a pair of groundouts to end the first, giving up just one run.

The Phillies’ bats continued to run dry through the second, third, and fourth innings, picking up just one hit in those two frames while Sanchez was sending Milwaukee down in order. However, in the fourth, Sanchez once again ran into trouble.

Contreras and Gary Sánchez led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and after an out on a fielder’s choice, Blake Perkins, who was 4-for-4 against Sánchez coming into today’s game, lifted a slider into the left field seats for a three-run home run, extending Milwaukee’s lead to four.

Trailing 4-0, the Phillies needed offense and quickly. While they picked up a baserunner on a Bryston Stott single in the fifth and a Kyle Schwarber single in the sixth, the Phillies’ bats continued to disappoint against Harrison, wasting both opportunities.

In the bottom of the sixth, Sanchez was attempting to push through the inning despite his pitch count in the nineties. He picked up two quick groundouts from Luis Rengifo and Garrett Mitchell, but the pain in Sanchez’s side was named Blake Perkins, who smacked a double to center field, knocking Sanchez out of the game after just 5.2 innings. Perkins is now 6-for-7 in his career against Sanchez with three doubles, a home run, and five RBIs.

In for Sanchez was Chase Shugart, and he managed to get out of the sixth-inning jam. The Phillies added a fourth hit on the day in the seventh on a pinch-hit off the bat of Justin Crawford, but once again spoiled any chance of getting any run support for their pitching staff.

Both teams went scoreless in the eighth inning, and Aaron Ashby was on the mound to finish off the Phillies in the ninth. Harper led off the inning with a strikeout, Alec Bohm flew out, and Brandon Marsh, who was coming off a three-hit game the night prior, grounded out to first to end the game, with the Phillies getting shut out by the Brewers for the second time this series, losing 4-0.

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