Cristopher Sanchez makes Phillies history, extends scoreless streak to 41 2/3 consecutive innings

Cristopher Sanchez broke Grover Cleveland Alexander’s scoreless innings record on Wednesday afternoon in San Diego. When he retired Jackson Merrill to end the fourth inning against the Padres, his streak hit 41 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, passing Alexander’s 41-inning mark set as a rookie in 1911.

A 115-year-old record held by a Hall of Famer. Gone. Broken by a 28-year-old lefty from the Dominican Republic who the Phillies signed for $135 million because they knew what they had before the rest of baseball figured it out.

Cristopher Sanchez makes Phillies history!!

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Let that settle in for a second. The longest scoreless innings streak in Philadelphia Phillies history since 1893, when the mound moved to its current distance, now belongs to Cristopher Sanchez.

Not Steve Carlton. Not Robin Roberts. Not Cole Hamels. Not Cliff Lee. Not Roy Halladay.

Cristopher Sanchez.

The guy whose changeup makes professional hitters look like they’ve never seen a baseball before just put his name above every legendary pitcher who has ever worn Phillies pinstripes in at least one category.

It Almost Ended in the Fourth

The record-breaking inning wasn’t clean. Manny Machado started the fourth with a towering fly ball to left field that sent Edmundo Sosa racing to the warning track before settling under it at 356 feet.

Two batters later, Ramon Laureano ripped a two-out double to put a runner in scoring position. The streak was hanging by a thread. One hit and 41 2/3 becomes just another stat.

Sanchez got Merrill to roll a groundball to Stott at second base. Record clinched. The streak survives.

Gavin Sheets had hit a loud 339-foot flyout to end the third inning just before that. Two balls hit over 330 feet in consecutive innings. Sanchez was getting hit harder than normal and the Padres were making contact.

The difference between the streak continuing and ending came down to a few feet of hang time on Machado’s flyout and a groundball that found a fielder. That’s how thin the margin is when you’re chasing a century-old record. One bad break and it’s over.

The Timeline of This Streak Is Insane

The last time anyone scored a run off Cristopher Sanchez was the second inning of his April 30th start against the Giants. To put that in perspective, here’s what has happened since then.

The Sixers tipped off Game 6 against the Celtics across the street a few hours after that start. The Sixers then won Game 7 in Boston to complete the 3-1 comeback. They got swept by the Knicks in the second round.

The Sixers fired Daryl Morey. Bob Myers took over the search for a new basketball operations leader. The Flyers got swept by the Hurricanes in the second round. The PGA Championship was played at Aronimink.

The NFL schedule came out. Kyle Schwarber went on a seven-game homer streak. Zack Wheeler came back from surgery and hasn’t lost a start.

All of that happened while Cristopher Sanchez was throwing scoreless innings. The entire Philadelphia sports landscape shifted multiple times and Sanchez just kept putting up zeros every fifth day like nothing else was happening in the world.

When the streak started, the Phillies were 10-19. Mattingly was wrapping up his first series. Wheeler had made one start. Now the Phillies are over .500, Mattingly is 17-7, and Wheeler has a 1.67 ERA in six starts. Sanchez has been the constant through all of it. The one guy you could count on every fifth day to give you zeros regardless of what was happening around him.

The All-Time Phillies Leaderboard

Here’s where Sanchez’s streak sits among the longest in franchise history since 1893:

• Cristopher Sanchez (2026): 41 2/3 innings and counting
• Grover Alexander (1911): 41 innings
• Cliff Lee (2011): 34 innings
• Larry Andersen (1984): 32 2/3 innings
• Turk Farrell (1957-58): 32 2/3 innings

He passed Alexander. He’s nearly eight innings clear of Cliff Lee. He’s nine full innings ahead of Andersen and Farrell. The gap between Sanchez and everyone else on this list besides Alexander is enormous. He’s not just breaking the record. He’s running away from it.

The all-time MLB record is Orel Hershiser’s 59 consecutive scoreless innings with the Dodgers in 1988. Sanchez has a ways to go for that one. But 41 2/3 and counting with no signs of slowing down means the conversation isn’t crazy. If he keeps dealing at this rate through June, the Hershiser record at least enters the periphery.

The Cy Young Race Is Real

Cristopher Sanchez leads the National League with a 1.52 ERA. Wheeler is at 1.67. The Phillies have two legitimate Cy Young candidates on the same staff. The last Phillie to win a Cy Young was Roy Halladay in 2010.

Sanchez and Wheeler are both making a case that the drought ends this year. Having two pitchers from the same rotation in the Cy Young conversation is the kind of pitching depth that wins divisions and carries teams deep into October.

Cristopher Sanchez’s changeup remains the best pitch in baseball. His sinker sits in the mid-90s. His slider generates whiffs at an elite rate. The combination of those three pitches with his command and composure on the mound has made him the most dominant starter in the National League for the better part of two months. The record is proof. Forty-one and two-thirds scoreless innings. The longest streak in Phillies history since 1893.

I’ve been saying all season that Sanchez is pitching like the best starter in the National League. The record book now agrees with me.

UPDATE – THE COUNT IS NOW 44.2

A record that stood for 115 years now belongs to Cristopher Sánchez pic.twitter.com/QZ08Fwpu09

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 27, 2026

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