Cristopher Sanchez rights the ship, Phillies shutout Orioles in 5-0 win
The Phillies finally got a night where everything worked. Cristopher Sanchez outdueled Baltimore’s Shane Baz, the defense played clean baseball for a change, Bryan De La Cruz kept mashing, and the bullpen actually closed the door, all of it adding up to a 5-0 shutout win over the Orioles on Saturday night that snapped a four-game losing streak.
After weeks of finding new ways to lose, the Phillies put together the kind of complete game they’ve been missing since before the All-Star break and it all started with Cristopher Sanchez.
Sanchez Was Excellent Even Without His Best Command
Sanchez was coming off two starts against the Dodgers and Yankees that were good but not great, and after each one he was unhappy with his changeup. Saturday, he made sure it was sharper, and it showed.
He threw 99 pitches over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking five, and striking out 11, with three of those punchouts coming on the changeup that helped set up his sinker and slider in key counts.
It wasn’t his cleanest night command-wise. Sanchez walked five and had to work around traffic, and the sixth inning became his biggest test as his command started to drift, the Orioles put runners on, and the game was still just 1-0.
The good news, is that Sanchez never blinked and wiggled out of it, which is exactly the kind of grit you want from your ace on a night the offense was slow to get going.
Cristopher Sanchez
Need more of this from the Phillies…
Sanchez brought some fire on top of the dominance. After escaping the sixth, he appeared to yell toward the Orioles’ dugout, later saying one of Baltimore’s coaches had said something to him.
Sanchez wasn’t happy with the Orioles dugout
I love it. This team has been playing lifeless, deflated baseball for weeks, and seeing the ace get fired up and let an opposing dugout hear about it is exactly the kind of edge that’s been missing. Play with some emotion. Let people know you’re still here.
Thankfully, the Phillies defense showed up too
The Phillies defense actually caught the ball. After a stretch of dropped fly balls, botched basket catches, and errant throws, the defense was steady and even spectacular behind Sanchez.
Alec Bohm made a leaping catch to end the second, Justin Crawford made a sliding grab to open the fourth and in the fifth, Trea Turner made one of his best plays of the season, diving to his left, popping up, and throwing to first in one smooth motion.
That last one matters, because Turner’s defense at short has been a genuine problem all year with his league-leading error total.
Sanchez entered Saturday with a .337 BABIP against him, the highest of any qualified Phillies pitcher, which tells you how little help he’s gotten. On this night, the guys behind him made the plays, and it made all the difference.
De La Cruz Keeps Making a Case
The breakthrough came in the fifth, and it came from exactly the kind of bat this team has been hunting for two years. Bryson Stott worked a one-out walk, Crawford moved him over with a groundout, and then Bryan De La Cruz, who entered the night hitting .500 through his first 14 at-bats with the Phillies, got a center-cut fastball and ripped it right back up the middle at 109.2 mph to score Stott.
Bryan De La Cruz
The Phillies have spent the better part of two years searching for right-handed offense, so when a right-handed bat joins the club and starts producing, it stands out.
Lately, that’s been De La Cruz. The 29-year-old played for Mattingly in Miami and has always produced when given regular at-bats, averaging 22 homers and 78 RBIs per 162 games across his last two full seasons with the Marlins and Pirates.
After a rough 2025 that ended in Triple-A, he won Dominican Winter League MVP, signed a minor-league deal with Philadelphia, and forced his way up before he could opt out. He’s now posting a 1.117 OPS since joining the club.
So far, so good.
Alec Bohm RBI makes it 2-0
Stott’s 15-Pitch At-Bat Was a Thing of Beauty
Bryson Stott added another gem in the seventh. With Baz nearing the end of his night, Stott worked a marathon 15-pitch at-bat that included a near-homer down the right-field line and ended with a base hit, and that at-bat finally chased Baz after 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball.
Getting Baz out of the game and into Baltimore’s bullpen is exactly what set up the Phillies to blow it open late.
The Bullpen Actually Held
Everyone thought that the Phillies were going to lose that game last night. After Sanchez exited, that familiar uneasy feeling around the bullpen crept back in.
This time, it didn’t last.
Jonathan Bowlan, Jose Alvarado, and Jhoan Duran handled the seventh, eighth, and ninth cleanly to finish off the shutout. After the bullpen has torched so many games lately, seeing them slam the door on a shutout was a genuinely welcome sight.
The eighth gave them breathing room, too. The Phillies drew three walks and collected three hits in the inning, with Bohm and Brandon Marsh adding RBI singles and Crawford lacing a two-run knock against the Baltimore bullpen. For a team that’s spent the entire second half searching for answers, a comfortable, clean, complete win was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Justin Crawford Clutch UP
A Chance for the Series and a Deadline Looming
The Phillies get a shot at the series on Sunday against the Orioles, and then comes Monday’s trade deadline with all the same questions still hanging over this roster. One
good night doesn’t erase the need for bullpen help, a right-handed bat, and rotation depth. But it’s a start, and after four straight losses and weeks of ugly baseball, the Phillies desperately needed a night where the pitching, the defense, and the offense all showed up at once.
Sanchez dealt. The defense sparkled. De La Cruz keeps raking. The bullpen held. Take the series on Sunday, and let Dombrowski go finish the job on Monday.
Join The Chase
Read More
Randy Arozarena is reportedly available and he’s exactly what this Phillies lineup needs
The Seattle Mariners entered 2026 with World Series expectations, and…
Feast or Get Exposed: The Phillies schedule in August is about as soft as it gets
The Phillies just stumbled through the dog days at 3-10…
Orion Kerkering blows 2-run lead in the seventh, Phillies drop to 3-10 since the All-Star Break
The Phillies called up Andrew Painter to start Friday in…
Comments (0)