Phillies keep rolling as early offense backs Cristopher Sánchez in Toronto originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies kept their foot on the gas north of the border.
And by doing so, they gave Cristopher Sánchez run support, which in 2026 almost feels unfair.
Philadelphia faced longtime NL East foe Patrick Corbin, a lefty the Phillies have historically handled well. The 36-year-old made his 12th start of the season for a Blue Jays rotation decimated by injuries.
Toronto has leaned heavily on Corbin, who signed on April 4, a week into the season, made his first start on April 10 and has not missed a turn since.
That reliance caught up to the soft-tossing lefty Monday in Philadelphia’s 5-2 victory at Rogers Centre.
The Phillies ran Corbin after just three-plus innings. They grinded at-bats again and again, pushing his pitch count to 79.
That has become a common theme during the Phillies’ recent surge.
After lulling the Phils to sleep with his low-80s slider through the first five batters, Corbin ran into Bryson Stott. In a left-on-left matchup, Stott worked a long plate appearance while Corbin kept pitching him to the outer half.
Stott fouled off five of the eight pitches.
After Corbin delivered a slider and sinker below the zone, he went back to the same spot with a cutter. Stott flicked it to right-center field for a two-out double.
His aggressiveness on pitches out of the zone has shot up this year. Lately, it has worked for him.
Adolis García came up next, got ahead 2-1 and saw Corbin float a slider middle-low. García got his arms extended, stayed back on the 78.2 mph breaking ball and drove it 104.8 mph off the bat.
The ball traveled 406 feet into the left-center field seats for his third homer in his last five games.
“Adolis is getting us going,” Don Mattingly said. “Stott gets the hit there with two outs, just to keep that inning alive, and then Adolis gets a pitch. He’s been working hard. It’s good to see it when a guy works and has struggled and is coming out of that.”
Even through the Phillies’ offensive struggles, they have been one of the best two-out offenses in baseball. Entering Monday, they had the fourth-highest OPS in those spots.
They had more answers in the third.
Another part of their offensive surge has been the ability to string baserunners together. Corbin lost the zone against Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, walking both with one out. He then drilled Brandon Marsh.
With the bases loaded, Alec Bohm laced a 2-2 pitch for an RBI single. J.T. Realmuto ambushed a first-pitch sinker for another run-scoring single. Then Corbin lost the zone again, walking Stott with the bases loaded.
The Phillies made Corbin throw strikes. When he did not, they took the free bases. When he did, they made him pay.
“We did a nice job right there,” Mattingly said. “Scoring some early there with Sánchez, it’s obviously a good feeling with him.”
Before the Phillies’ matchup with White Sox lefty Anthony Kay, opposing left-handed starters, excluding openers, had produced a 2.04 ERA against them with a .566 opponents OPS.
In their last two games against lefties, the Phillies have scored 11 runs in seven innings and posted a 1.149 OPS.
Their right-handed bats have gotten going against southpaws. That is a key piece if the club is going to maintain the success that has driven its turnaround.
After scoring five runs in the first three innings, the Phillies could not muster much against Toronto’s bullpen.
So they turned to Sánchez.
For a pitcher who had just gone 50 2/3 innings without allowing a run, this was not his best outing from a stuff standpoint.
He allowed a leadoff double in the first, which later came around to score. He allowed a solo homer to Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement in the fifth. Then he allowed another leadoff double in the sixth.
But the way Sánchez responded to trouble made this edition of his season impressive.
In the sixth, after the double, he struck out the side.
George Springer swinging.
Nathan Lukes swinging.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looking.
Runner left on third.
Sánchez walked off the mound screaming in excitement.
“Not only because it was Vladdy, but it was more about having a runner, nobody out, and then striking out the side,” Sánchez said.
He came back out for the seventh, and Toronto put together another threat. The Blue Jays brought the tying run to the plate with two outs.
At 101 pitches, Sánchez wanted one more batter.
He made that clear to Mattingly.
“I don’t like leaving guys on base,” Sánchez said. “That’s one of the main reasons. And I felt great today, even though I had close to 100 pitches.”
Mattingly stayed in the dugout.
“It was almost a visit and see where he’s at,” Mattingly said. “But he made that easy. He wanted one more, so always go with him.”
Sánchez went right after pinch-hitting catcher Brandon Valenzuela and got a groundout to end the inning.
A gutsy seven innings.
Two runs. One walk. Ten strikeouts. 107 pitches.
His sinker was hit hard, but he leaned on his slider and changeup for big outs. Both pitches generated whiff rates above 40 percent.
Over Sánchez’s last seven starts, he has walked just five of the 195 batters he has faced.
Tremendous.
Even after allowing two runs in seven innings, Sánchez’s ERA still sits at 1.54.
The Phils got into trouble with Brad Keller in the eighth, but held on behind Jhoan Duran’s 16th save in 16 opportunities this season.
They keep finding new ways to win, and they are now sitting comfortably in the National League Wild Card picture.
