Cristopher Sánchez's streak of scoreless innings just kept going, as he vaulted into the top 10 and then the top five and dislodged Hall of Famers and, amazingly, topped the half-century mark.
And then suddenly, it was over for the Philadelphia Phillies' indomitable left-hander.
Sánchez's streak died in a manner that perfectly captured the precarity of it all along: A two-out double into the left field corner by the San Diego Padres' Ty France, a seeing-eye single to left by Jackson Merrill, a poor throw by Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh. France slid home, and a silence fell on Citizens Bank Park, before a capacity crowd of 40,453 rose to acknowledge the moment.
And what a run: With six more scoreless innings on Wednesday, June 3, Sánchez ran his streak to 50⅔ innings, ranking fifth all time and coming within nine innings of topping Orel Hershiser's all-time record of 59 spotless innings, coming in the Los Angeles Dodgers' improbable run to the 1988 World Series title.
Little wonder Sánchez responded to their cheers with a wide smile and an expression of gratitude.

Before the streak ended, Sánchez passed a couple more Hall of Famers and set a record for consecutive scoreless innings by a left-hander. His first inning of work against San Diego vaulted him from 11th on the all-time streak list to a tie for No. 6 with Zack Greinke.
He then passed Greinke with a scoreless second inning and Hall of Famer Bob Gibson after pitching around a walk in the third. After posting zeroes in the fourth, fifth and sixth, he pushed his streak to 50⅔ innings − fourth all-time.
Along the way, Sánchez passed a pair of left-handers − Doc White and Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell − for longest scoreless streak by a southpaw. White set his mark of 45 innings in 1904 and Hubbell (45⅓ innings) passed him in 1933.
More: Orel Hershiser was rooting for Cristopher Sanchez to break his scoreless innings record
Sánchez ultimately beat the Padres for the second time in a week: France's double tied the game, but the lefty completed the seventh and home runs in the bottom half by J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber provided the margin in a 3-2 victory.
For several innings, it looked like Sánchez might be all the Phillies needed − he needed just 70 pitches to complete the first six innings, striking out seven.
It looked like he'd survive the seventh, too, as he began the inning striking out Gavin Sheets and inducing a groundout from Xander Bogaerts. Yet France's second hit of the night put a runner in scoring position and Merrill didn't miss.
Sánchez struck out eight in seven innings − seven on his deadly changeup − jumped ahead of eight batters 0-2 and walked one. His strikeout-walk ratio since May 1: 53 strikeouts, four walks.
Longest shutout streaks of all time
Sánchez was ultimately aiming for Los Angeles Dodger Hershiser's streak of 59 innings set in 1988. He could have got as high as fourth place against the Padres, with No. 4 Jack Coombs (53 innings, 1910) within reach.
The Dodgers' Don Drysdale (58 innings) ranks second and Walter "Big Train" Johnson is third, at 55⅔ innings in 1913.
Cristopher Sánchez stats during streak, season
Sanchez entered his June 3 start coming off Pitcher of the Month honors for May, when he gave up no runs, struck out 45 and walked three. He last gave up a run to the San Francisco Giants in the first inning April 30.
His statistics during the streak: 50⅔ innings pitched, 28 hits, 53 strikeouts, six walks, a .155 batting average against and a 0.67 WHIP.
For the season, Sánchez has a 1.46 ERA − it was 2.94 before his streak began − a 1.09 WHIP and 103 strikeouts against 17 walks.
Cristopher Sánchez: Longest streak in Citizens Bank Park history
With his scoreless fifth inning, Sánchez established another mark: Longest scoreless streak in Citizens Bank Park history.
While the ballpark is just 22 years old, it has hosted no shortage of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, such as Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Zack Wheeler. Sánchez passed both Lee (29 scoreless innings, 2011) and Halladay (33 innings, 2010) to seize the ballpark record.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cristopher Sanchez scoreless streak finally ends: Where he stands