SAN DIEGO — The last time a runner came around to score against Cristopher Sánchez came in the first inning of the Phillies’ April 30 game against the Giants. With one out, San Francisco’s Casey Schmitt blooped a base hit into left field off the end of the bat, scoring the Giants’ second run of the inning. Since then, nothing. Sánchez has not just been dominant. He has etched his name into Phillies history. With four scoreless innings to begin his outing Wednesday against the Padres at Petco Park, the Phillies’ left-hander broke the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings in the modern pitching era. Sánchez reached 41 2/3 scoreless innings, passing Grover Cleveland Alexander’s mark of 41 straight innings from 1911. That record had stood for 115 years. Alexander, then a 24-year-old rookie beginning his Hall of Fame career, was in the middle of a 28-win season when he put together his streak. To that point, he had thrown 306 innings, completed 25 games, before a September run that included shutouts against Boston, Brooklyn, Cincinnati and Chicago. Two of those starts came on three days’ rest. The streak finally ended Sept. 24 against the Cardinals. Alexander allowed two runners to reach in the sixth inning, one of them pitcher Bob Harmon, before Rebel Oakes brought in the first run on a fielder’s choice. Alexander still went the distance that day. Some of those numbers feel otherworldly in 2026. But Sánchez has built his own place in the Phillies’ record book in a very different era, one where complete games are rare and starting pitchers are handled far differently. He already fired a complete-game shutout during this streak, striking out a career-high 13 against the Pirates on May 16 in Pittsburgh. In his four starts after the Giants outing, entering Wednesday, Sánchez had gone at least seven innings each time while allowing six or fewer hits, two or fewer walks and striking out at least six. Sánchez’s rise with the Phillies has been unlike almost any in recent franchise history. The Phillies acquired him from Tampa Bay in November 2019 for Curtis Mead, then a touted Australian-born prospect. Sánchez was 22, listed at 6-foot-5 and 165 pounds, and coming off a strong year at Single-A. COVID wiped out the 2020 Minor League season. Sánchez then skipped Double-A and went straight to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2021, where he struggled with command. He made one start and six relief appearances in the Majors that year, but ran into the same issues. He improved at Triple-A the following season, but again struggled out of the Phillies’ bullpen. Then came the opening. In 2023, the Phillies needed help at the back end of the rotation. Sánchez got the chance and took it. His improved command, built around the tunneling of his sinker and changeup, helped him break out and pitch to a 3.44 ERA while working mostly as a starter. He carried that into 2024, and the Phillies moved quickly. In June of that year, they bought out his arbitration years with a four-year, $22.5 million extension that included club options for 2029 and 2030. That deal has become one of the biggest bargains in baseball. Since the start of 2024, entering Wednesday, Sánchez has made 74 starts with a 2.68 ERA. That run earned him another extension this past offseason, one that guaranteed the option years and tacked on $27 million over the following two seasons, with a $32.5 million club option for 2033. The Phillies once hoped Sánchez could stabilize the back end of their rotation. Now, he is one of the best starters in baseball. His rise carries some similarity to Johan Santana, another left-handed changeup artist whose path was hardly linear. Santana was a Rule 5 pick who broke into the Majors in 2000, struggled early while working mostly out of the bullpen, then got a larger chance to start in 2002 and 2003. From there, he became one of the best pitchers in the sport. Santana’s career was later derailed by injuries, but at his peak, he was a two-time Cy Young Award winner, a three-time ERA champion and a four-time All-Star. Sánchez is not Santana yet. But he has put himself into that kind of conversation with the way he has pitched. After a phenomenal 2025 season, this is his clearest chance yet to win the National League Cy Young Award. He could also start the All-Star Game for the National League at Citizens Bank Park, a stage that would bring him the national attention his performance has already earned. Through 11 starts, Paul Skenes, last year’s Cy Young winner and the early favorite entering the year, has a 3.00 ERA. Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, another young arm with premium stuff, has posted a 1.83 ERA through 11 starts. Sánchez has put himself right there. Through four scoreless innings Wednesday against the Padres, Sánchez carries a 1.53 ERA in his 12th start of the season. He is not just in the race. He has a real case to be at the front of it when the 2026 season is all said and done. If Sánchez has his sights set beyond the Phillies’ record, the next number is one of the most famous pitching marks in baseball history. Orel Hershiser holds the Major League record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings for the Dodgers in 1988. That is still a long way away. But doubting Sánchez has not worked out well for anyone. He has had long odds stacked against him since he broke into pro ball. He has gone from skinny Rays prospect, to command question, to bullpen arm, to back-end starter, to franchise-record holder. He just keeps answering. ...read more read less