Cristopher Sánchez's latest Pirates shutdown adds to historic home stretch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Nine righties? No problem.
It did not seem to matter what the Pirates ran out against Phillies left-handed ace Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday night.
And if it was not already clear, Sánchez has a strong handle on Pittsburgh’s offense.
He was going to bounce back after his rough outing last week in Washington.
Forty-five days ago, Sánchez was in the midst of one of the most dominant scoreless stretches by any pitcher in recent history. He threw a complete-game shutout against the Pirates on a sunny afternoon at PNC Park, striking out 13 without a walk.
Pittsburgh had three left-handed hitters in the lineup that day. They went 0-for-8.
A month and a half later, the Pirates loaded up with nine right-handed hitters against Sánchez. It did not change much.
The left-hander flirted with untouchable over seven scoreless innings, leading the Phillies to a 8-0 win after an ugly series opener Monday night.
Typically, a pitcher facing a team for the second time in a short span has to adjust once the lineup turns over. Sánchez had to do that Tuesday against Don Kelly’s exclusively right-handed lineup.
The caveat: Sánchez operates with three primary pitches.
He again leaned heavily on his changeup, but he made a notable adjustment with his slider.
Sánchez had thrown his slider to right-handed hitters only 16.1 percent of the time this season entering Tuesday. That number climbed to 20 percent.
It worked.
Of the 17 sliders Sánchez threw, 13 drew swings. Eight produced whiffs. Four ended in strikeouts. That was a 62 percent whiff rate, nearly double the pitch’s mark entering the night.
And he did it while dealing with a blister, or cut, on the top of his left thumb. That did not seem to matter, either.
As the game moved along and the Pirates’ order turned over for a third time, Sánchez leaned on his old reliable.
His changeup, arguably one of the most devastating pitches in baseball, took over. He threw it 62 percent of the time and recorded four of his nine strikeouts with it.
Sánchez finished with 23 swings and misses, the first time a Phillies pitcher had recorded at least 23 in a game since Statcast tracking began in 2009.
In two starts this season against the other Pennsylvania club, Sánchez has struck out 23 without allowing a run over 16 innings.
Tuesday’s outing also matched Jacob deGrom’s 24-game streak allowing two or fewer earned runs at home, the longest such run at one ballpark since 1913.
Sánchez’s ERA now sits at 2.00, three points lower than Zack Wheeler’s. The last time the Phillies had two starters (min. 10 starts) with an ERA of 2.05 or lower through June of a season was 1916 — Grover Alexander (1.65, 18 GS) & Eppa Rixey (1.91, 10 GS).
110 years ago.
His start, paired with a sharp night behind him, was the recipe the Phillies needed.
Alec Bohm made two diving plays that likely saved extra-base hits and possible runs. He robbed Henry Davis in the third, then took away another likely run-scoring hit from the speedy Konnor Griffin in the fifth.
The third baseman also made a running stop and strong throw in the seventh.
Bryce Harper added two impressive plays at first base. Bryson Stott made another sliding stop that nearly turned into an out.
Entering Tuesday, the Phillies’ infield ranked seventh-worst in outs above average at minus-14. Their minus-26 defensive runs saved ranked second-worst in baseball.
For one night, they looked nothing like those numbers.
They arguably saved the day.
The offense helped, too.
Justin Crawford had two hits, but his second-inning at-bat may have been the most important of the game.
Bubba Chandler attacked Crawford in the area that has troubled him lately: fastballs at the top of the zone, particularly triple-digit ones.
Crawford hung in.
After six straight fastballs, Chandler tried to finish the at-bat with a breaking ball nearly a ball and a half off the plate. Crawford stayed back and sent it on the ground down the left-field line.
His new setup, with lower hands and a no-stride approach, helped him stay through the ball and take the breaking pitch the other way.
Crawford finished with three hits. He is quietly batting .306 over his last 30 games and .362 over his last 15.
The Phillies added three more runs in the seventh, and then three more in the eighth, thanks to another Crawford run-scoring hit and a Trea Turner, the birthday boy, two-run shot to stretch their lead to eight.
A dominant win for the Phils, who are now three games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves.
