Cristopher Sanchez Matches Dodgers Legend With Historic Stretch

The Philadelphia Phillies have been receiving some incredible production from several players on the roster to help get back to the .500 mark after being 10 games under .500 when Rob Thomson was fired 28 games into the season.

Under interim manager Don Mattingly, the players have responded in a big way. One who has taken his performance to another level is starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez.

The team’s ace was pitching well with Thomson at the helm, but has taken things to another level since Mattingly took over. Against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his most recent start, Sanchez fired a complete-game shutout, allowing only six hits without issuing a walk and striking out 13 batters.

That performance capped off a historic three-start stretch for the talented lefty. He has not allowed a run in three straight outings, totaling 24 innings pitched. 30 strikeouts have been recorded, and he has allowed only 15 hits and one walk.

Cristopher Sanchez matches Clayton Kershaw's incredible history

Los Angeles Dodgers former player Clayton Kershaw (22) after throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the game. — Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers former player Clayton Kershaw (22) after throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Sanchez is now in rarified air with one of the most dominant stretches in MLB history. As shared by OptaSTATS on X, he is only the second pitcher in the modern era to have a three-start stretch of 24+ innings pitched, 30+ strikeouts, no more than one walk issued and zero runs allowed.

The only other pitcher who has reached those plateaus was future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015.

This stretch started for Sanchez on May 5 against the Athletics. He had his best outing of the season to that point, throwing eight innings while striking out 10, issuing one walk and allowing only three hits.

In his following start, he threw seven innings against the Colorado Rockies. He struck out seven hitters, allowing only six hits.

Cristopher Sánchez of the @Phillies is the second MLB pitcher in the modern era to have a 3-start span with:

24.0+ innings pitched
30+ strikeouts
no more than 1 walk
0 runs allowed

The other was Clayton Kershaw in 2015. pic.twitter.com/3jM72YrWp0
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 16, 2026

Since Mattingly has taken over as manager, Sanchez has been arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball. He has thrown at least 6.2 innings in all four of his starts and has gone 30.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

On the season, his ERA now sits at 1.82, to go along with a 1.20 WHIP across 64.1 innings. He has struck out 80 batters compared to only 14 walks, now combining his pinpoint precision with wipeout stuff to rack up eye-popping statistics.

With him atop the rotation alongside Zack Wheeler, the Phillies have one of the best one-two punches in baseball. As long as they continue performing at a high level, Philadelphia is going to be a tough team to beat.

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