Cristopher Sánchez is among the stars, even if MLB’s astronomers don’t admit it.
Cristopher Sánchez has pitched like an All-Star this season. The Phillies gave him an All-Star bonus. You know, I know, that he belongs in Atlanta, representing the Phillies alongside Kyle Schwarber. Everyone, in fact, seems to know it except for the people actually responsible for naming All-Stars. If said decision-makers hadn’t already realized their error, the Padres would be more than able to tell them.
The first two Phillies went down on strikeouts (one called, one swinging). Then things began to move fast. Bryce Harper walked. Nick Castellanos hit a grounder to third for what should’ve been the end of the inning, but Manny Machado made a bad throw and no out was recorded. Machado’s next effort came in the next at-bat, with J.T. Realmuto grounding a soft, shallow ball that pulled him far into the infield grass. Machado tried to barehand it, couldn’t, and the bases were loaded. Bryson Stott hit a grounder to Luis Arraez, who made a high toss to a charging Nick Pivetta, allowing a run to score.
The Padres were not alone in running into trouble in their first defensive frame. Sánchez loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks, but he escaped the jam with a timely K.
The should-be All-Star tightened up after that, allowing just two baserunner through the next four innings. Unfortunately, the Phillies could not take advantage of the Padres’ offensive woes, being beset with woes of their own.
Sánchez is a mighty wall, but he could only hold off the charging Padres for so long. In the bottom 6th he allowed a leadoff single to Machado (making up for his fielding woes earlier, it would seem), then another bingle to Xander Bogaerts. Jackson Merrill, apparently a devotee of the old ways despite his youth, dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance his teammates, which paid off when Jose Iglesias singled to score Machado. Fortunately, a double play ended the inning before the Dads could break the tie.
The Phillies, meanwhile, remained somewhat punchless. They got just their third hit of the game in the seventh, and pushed the Padres to break out the bullpen, but remained at just one lone run.
Sánchez, having efficiently worked his way through the first six innings with just 70 pitches, came out again for the seventh. He ended the inning with 82 pitches, and no more runs allowed.
The Phillies finally found a bit of power in the eighth as Bryce Harper doubled, prompting the Padres to replace reliever Adrian Morejon with David Morgan (so you could say they went with a little Lessjon). The move to a fresh reliever did not produce the desired effect: J.T. Realmuto hammered a slider to center to score Harper, retake the lead, and gain a two-bagger himself.
Sánchez started the eighth, induced a three-pitch out from Luis Arraez, and then ended his excellent day in line for the win. Orion Kerkering was tasked with ensuring he got it. Kerkering got off to a bit of a messy start, allowing Machado to single, giving him second base on a slider that flew too far off target for Realmuto to do more than deflect it with his glove, and walking Bogaerts. But Kerkering, unbowed, prompted the next two San Diegos to hit easy fly balls, and the Phillies headed to the ninth with their lead intact.
The ninth saw the Phillies score no runs, but it did feature Manny Machado making an extraordinary sliding catch on a foul pop to retire Brandon Marsh. Thus, the Phillies entered the ninth up by one, with Matt Strahm trying to finish it off.
The start to the final regulation frame was less than ideal. Strahm threw four pitches, all balls. That put Jake Cronenworth on first, and a sacrifice bunt from Bryce Johnson soon put him on second. A pop out put the Phillies 1 out away from the win. The Phillies gave an intentional pass to Fernando Tatis to be cautious. That brought up Arraez— perhaps not who you’d prefer to see when only one base hit separates you from a tied game. Arraez, as he does, made solid contact. But the lined ball found Marsh’s glove. Game over.
The Phillies are 55-41. Kyle Schwarber will soon be on his way to Atlanta for the All-Star festivities. The Phillies will be back in action at home against the Angels on July 18th.