Cristopher Sánchez threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday before Jackson Merrill singled to left field, plating Ty France and ending one of the most remarkable pitching streaks in modern baseball history.
The streak stops at 50 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, according to Yahoo Sports. That number is now the record for any left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball history and ranks fourth all time among all pitchers since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.
Sánchez finished the seventh inning before being pulled. He allowed one earned run on four hits, struck out eight batters, and walked one. His ERA sits at 1.46, the best mark in MLB. The performance against San Diego was his seventh start, and the first in which he allowed a run since April 30 against the San Francisco Giants.
That Giants game is where this whole stretch began. Sánchez gave up two first-inning runs that day, then did not allow another score for the next six starts spanning more than two months. The run that ended the streak Wednesday carried a note of symmetry: the April 30 game ended on a Casey Schmitt single to left field scoring Matt Chapman. Wednesday, it was Merrill's single to left that finally broke it. Both were RBI singles to left field.
The Phillies starter had already claimed the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings on May 27, also against San Diego, when he threw seven more scoreless frames. That outing pushed him past the previous Phillies record for any pitcher, regardless of handedness.
Between April 30 and Wednesday, Sánchez made five starts without surrendering a single run, earned or unearned. He had gone from a pitcher who gave up two quick runs to a franchise and league record holder in the span of roughly five weeks.
The streak is over. The record is not.
