Phillies, Guardians Starting Pitchers Made History in Duel

A pitcher's duel between the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Guardians was historic.

May 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The weekend series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Guardians had the makings of some incredible pitching performances.

Both teams have had their struggles offensively, and their best arms were going to be featured as starting pitchers at Citizens Bank Park. In Game 1, a must-see matchup between Cristopher Sanchez and Gavin Williams was set.

Boy, did it live up to expectations. Anyone who enjoys watching offense, this was not the game for you, with each team’s respective ace showcasing their elite ability on the mound. What ended up as a 1-0 victory for the Guardians, courtesy of a Kyle Manzardo pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth inning off Jhoan Duran, turned out to be historic.

Sanchez threw eight shutout innings before being relieved, running his scoreless streak to a near-historic level. He allowed only four hits and issued two walks to go along with six strikeouts, throwing 96 pitches, 60 of which were strikes.

Cristopher Sanchez, Gavin Williams make history in duel

May 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Opposing him, Williams was even more dominant. He also threw eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits and not issuing a single walk, while racking up 11 strikeouts with 99 pitches thrown.

As shared by OptaSTATS on X, the ace starting pitchers combined to do something that has never been accomplished before. Since 1988, when pitches were first tracked, there had never been a game in which both starters went 8+ innings, allowed zero runs, struck out 6+ batters and threw fewer than 100 pitches, before Sanchez and Williams did it.

It was a truly special evening for a pitching enthusiast, watching two of the game’s best go toe-to-toe against each other in Game 1 of the series. It was a shame that one of them wasn’t going to come away with the victory because both of them certainly deserved a win on their record.

Since pitches were first tracked in 1988, tonight's @CleGuardians - @Phillies game is the only MLB game where both starting pitchers:

pitched 8.0+ innings
allowed 0 runs
struck out 6+ batters
threw under 100 pitches pic.twitter.com/tIsLo9aWaf

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 23, 2026

This season, Williams has made 11 starts, which is the most in baseball. His seven wins, 69.1 innings pitched and 84 strikeouts are all the best in the American League entering play on May 24. He also has a 3.25 ERA, 126 ERA+ and 3.35 FIP, with a 1.6 bWAR.

Sanchez has also made 11 starts, and leads the MLB with a 3.7 bWAR, one complete game, one shutout, 72.1 innings pitched and 296 batters faced. His 1.62 ERA, 264 ERA+ and 1.96 FIP are all tops in the National League.

Both players are putting together Cy Young Award-caliber campaigns and will be in the running for the prestigious award. They could also face off again against each other as starters for their respective leagues in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, which will be played in Philadelphia.