SAN DIEGO (AP) 鈥� After going the entire month of May without allowing a run, and breaking a 115-year-old franchise record along the way, Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher S谩nchez emphatically pumped his fists after getting his final out in a landmark game.
S谩nchez extended his scoreless innings streak to 44 2/3 innings on Wednesday to set the Phillies franchise record by passing Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander in a for a three-game sweep.
S谩nchez reached the milestone by getting through the four full innings he needed to pass Alexander, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 1911. He kept going through three more scoreless innings before leaving after throwing 100 pitches. He allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked none.
He left his brilliant outing with a 2-0 lead, pumping his fists after striking out pinch-hitter Ty France to end the seventh.
鈥淚 just went out to compete and give the best of myself,” he said through an interpreter.
He didn’t think he had his best stuff, but he dominated a Padres lineup that went 0 for 20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 19 in the series, while striking out 32 times.
Interim manager Don Mattingly said the team acknowledged the record afterward, and S谩nchez addressed the team.
鈥淚 just told them it was something special for me,” S谩nchez said. “First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates and everyone around me for their support. It鈥檚 really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That鈥檚 something I admire with this group.
鈥淭his is a game that it鈥檚 not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it鈥檚 about our group and I think it鈥檚 really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole,鈥� he added.
With S谩nchez an inning away from the record, there was a heart-stopping moment as Manny Machado lifted a fly ball to left that Edmundo Sosa caught just in front of the wall leading off the fourth. S谩nchez struck out Xander Bogaerts, Ramon Laureano doubled to left and then the lefty got Jackson Merrill to ground out to second base to set the record.
Machado had homered in .
The Padres stranded runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, and Gavin Sheets lifted a fly ball just in front of the warning track in right to end the third.
鈥淭here were a couple of hits that I thought were gone off the bat, but thank God they didn鈥檛,” he said.
Center fielder Justin Crawford made a nice running catch of Machado’s fly ball with one out in the sixth to save an extra-base hit before crashing into the padded wall.
S谩nchez’s streak dates to the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader against San Francisco on April 30.
He set another franchise record by going at least seven scoreless innings for the fifth straight start, becoming the sixth to so in MLB history.
He also now has the longest single-season scoreless innings streak by a left-hander in the Expansion Era after passing former Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 2014.
鈥淵ou just don’t expect him to give up any runs,鈥� said Mattingly, who managed Kershaw with the Dodgers in 2014. “I thought he was a little rough early. I don’t know if this thing’s on his mind at all, you know, he knew he had to get through four. He seemed to settle down a little more after that.
鈥淗e’s been amazing from the standpoint of, it just seems like every time out, no matter what team or who it is, he just kind of keeps going.鈥�
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