Phillies pitcher Sánchez's consecutive scoreless innings streak ends at 50.2, fifth longest in history, first among left-handers

Few pitchers would get a standing ovation when allowing a game-tying hit in the seventh inning. But then again, few have accomplished what Cristopher Sánchez has done over the last five weeks.

In today's contest at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies edged the Padres 3-2, Sánchez's historic scoreless streak concluded in the seventh. The Phillies' ace left-hander gave up an RBI single in that inning, ending his remarkable run of 50.2 consecutive scoreless frames. This marks the longest such streak in Phillies history and the fifth-longest single-season streak in the majors since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.

Sánchez had been rolling along, seemingly headed for another scoreless start, until he finally ran into trouble in the seventh. Ty France hit a two-out double down the left-field line, and then scored on a line-drive single to left by the next batter, Jackson Merrill.

The action paused briefly as Phillies fans gave Sánchez a heartfelt ovation. He eventually had to step off the mound, at last showing some emotion as he smiled toward the home dugout. Sánchez then quickly finished the inning, ending his night with seven innings, one run allowed, and eight strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 1.46.

"You don't see that very often," interim manager Don Mattingly said before the game. "In franchise history, the Phillies have never had a streak this long, and neither has the rest of baseball. So it's extremely rare... I'm not sure I've ever seen a better performance than this."

In this latest masterpiece, Sánchez surpassed legends including Cy Young (45 innings), Zack Greinke (45.2), and Bob Gibson (47). Only four pitchers have longer streaks, and two of them came from the dead-ball era. The longest single-season scoreless streaks since 1893 are: Orel Hershiser (59 innings in 1988), Don Drysdale (58 in 1968), Walter Johnson (55.2 in 1913), Jack Coombs (53 in 1910), and Sánchez (50.2 in 2026).

"There's nothing better than this," said Dave Dombrowski, President of Baseball Operations. "This is one of the greatest records in baseball history. I've seen many great pitchers, including him. But what he's doing right now is unbelievable."

Teammate Bryce Harper noted that the guys in the clubhouse haven't really thought much about the streak because it's just what Sánchez does. "I mean no disrespect to the record," Harper said before the game, "but he's been doing this for so long that it feels like it's been going on for years, you know what I mean?"

Sánchez's streak ended just hours after he was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for May. In May, he threw 39 scoreless innings with 45 strikeouts and only three walks, joining Hershiser (September 1988) as the only true starting pitchers in MLB history to go an entire calendar month without allowing a run. However, as far as scoreless streaks go, Hershiser will remain untouchable for now... at least for the moment.