Sánchez's shutout streak ends as 5th-longest ever, LHP record

Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez is now etched in the annals of baseball history.

Sánchez became just the fifth pitcher since 1893 - when the mound was moved to its current distance - to record a 50-plus inning shutout streak when he started Wednesday's game with six scoreless frames against the San Diego Padres.

His run finally came to an end during the top of the seventh when Jackson Merrill ripped an RBI single to tie the game 1-1. Although Sánchez got two outs to start the seventh, his streak officially goes into the books as 50 2/3 innings - the fifth-longest since 1893 and a new record for left-handed pitchers.

Sánchez's flawless first inning moved him past Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell, who had a 45 1/3-inning run in 1933, for the longest shutout streak by a left-hander. His performance also propelled him into the top 10 longest shutout stretches in MLB history after the top of the first, and he jumped six pitchers to get into the top five all time during Wednesday's game.

Top 5 longest scoreless streaks since 1893

"You don't get to see things like this very often," interim manager Don Mattingly said, according to Dan Gelston of The Associated Press. "It's one of those things that's not happened very often. It's hard to categorize it. I don't know if I've seen anything that's really been better than this."

Sánchez's streak began on April 30, during the first game of a doubleheader against San Francisco at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed two runs in the top of the first that day but managed to record the final two outs of that frame to begin his streak.

The 29-year-old pitched at least seven innings during his five full starts that comprised the streak, and he worked into the eighth twice. Included in the run was a 13-strikeout shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 16. Sánchez tallied 60 Ks over the streak while walking just seven.

For the season, Sánchez owns an MLB-low 1.46 ERA along with a 1.09 WHIP and 103 strikeouts across 13 starts. He and Milwaukee Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski are the only pitchers in baseball with 100-plus Ks so far in 2026.

Sánchez was removed after throwing 84 pitches across seven innings with the score tied 1-1. Philadelphia then scored a pair in the bottom of the seventh to make him the pitcher of record in a 3-2 Phillies win.