All legends come to an end. If the hero fulfills his task with dignity through the end, even his defeat has something beautiful and proud in it. If he surrenders to the vice of pride before his time is over, then his defeat is only a defeat. Hercules was killed by poison, yet ascended to Mt. Olympus in death. Jason lived long enough to anger the gods who had once seen his Argonauts through many dangers, and so was killed ignominiously by falling debris from the wreck of his own ship. Cristopher Sanchez’s streak is over. Even in losing it, he found a form of nobility. There is far more of Hercules than Jason in him.
But before we can discuss the end of the legend, we must discuss how we reached it. Cristopher Sánchez entered the game with his scoreless streak at 44.2 innings, and set himself to work against the visitors from San Diego.
First on the agenda: Fernando Tatis Jr. He struck out, swinging fruitlessly at a changeup. Then Miguel Andujar. He grounded up the middle; Bryson Stott displayed his full range in grabbing the ball and tossing it smoothly to first, where it arrived just in time to send Andujar back to his teammates. The Padres challenged, the call stood. The last barrier between Sánchez and the longest consecutive scoreless innings streak any southpaw has ever produced, at least in this era, was Manny Machado. He went down 0-2 (the Padres losing an ABS challenge along the way), grounded to Trea Turner, and Sánchez etched his name in the history books.
The Phillies half of these innings, it must be said, lacked the high drama of Sánchez’ chase. Still, they dutifully lined up against Walker Buehler, and tried to produce some excitement of their own. Bryce Harper walked, Marsh lined one to right for his fifth consecutive hit, and the Phillies had runners on the corners, with two away; it came to naught.
Speaking of naught, that’s what the next three San Diegos produced. So too, unfortunately, did the next three Phils.
In the third, Sánchez faced Jackson Merrill (lined out to short), Jase Bowen (struck out swinging at a cambio), and Rodolfo Durán (walked), and Tatis Jr (grounded to short, ball tossed to second for the out). As the ball left Turner’s glove and entered Stott’s, the name “Sánchez” rose above that of Bob Gibson in the immortal ledger’s consecutive scoreless column.
In the fourth, Andujar made good contact on the first pitch he saw. A momentary chill ran through the hearts of those watching, but the ball found Justin Crawford’s glove, and all was well. Machado slapped one through the right side of the infield for a hit. But the next two Padres made outs, and the mood of the Phillies faithful resembled that of their pitcher: calm, unflappable.
He was back on the mound sooner than said fans would’ve liked. The Phillies went down in order in the fourth, with just a pair of baserunners to that point.
Ty France singled to open the fifth. No other Padre was able to follow his example in that frame.
The Phillies, playing a game of one-upmanship, opened their half of the fifth with a double from Bryson Stott. They really rubbed it in when he scored as Adolis García sent a sinker swiftly out to center. Kyle Schwarber was given the honor of an intentional walk (two nights in a row), but Turner couldn’t make them pay for it.
No Padres batter did anything productive in the sixth.
A streak is defined by an odd sort of dual inevitability: there is an ever-present sense that it will continue, must continue, and yet an ever-present sense that every sign of danger is the crack that must surely end it. In the seventh, France hit a ball up the third base line for his second hit of the night. It was a great hit, frustrating in its perfect placement, and it produced, at least in me, a dread that was greater that it ought to have been: something about the way it was hit, just inches away from being a harmless foul, made me think that something in the heavens had shifted. Shortly afterwards, Merrill received a sinker up in the zone, inside, and sent it past a diving Turner and into left. Marsh’s throw couldn’t beat France, and the streak was over. The number that will accompany Sanchez’ name through the decades was thus locked into place: 50.2.
The Phillies offense, unwilling to let Sanchez’ night be tainted by a loss, immediately went to work. Realmuto homered to left, and Schwarber homered to right, and the Phillies had a 3-1 lead.
Brad Keller replaced Sánchez. That would be a tough task on any night, and an especially unenviable one on this night. He ran into trouble, loading the bases via singles to Tatis Jr. and Andujar and a walk to Gavin Sheets. He plunked Xander Bogaerts to plate a run in particularly unpleasant fashion, but allowed no further damage.
Marsh singled to lead off the eighth, but the Phillies could not extend their lead. Jhoan Duran was thus asked to bring the night to a just conclusion: only a victory for the home club could be proper on this occasion. Let his flaming fastball light the pyre. And it did. Jhoan made Merrill line out, struck out pinch hitter Bryce Johnson, then punctuated the affair with a swinging strikeout of Samad Taylor.
Sánchez thus leaves tonight’s game without his streak, but with his bona fides as an ace, an All-Star, a conquering hero, more polished than ever. And with a win, too.
The Phillies are 32-29. They’ll conclude their series against the Padres on Thursday at 1:05.
