Sánchez in ace mode, extends scoreless streak to 20 2/3 IP

PHILADELPHIA -- Cristopher Sánchez has unquestionably established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball over the past few seasons.

But there's the All-Star-caliber version of Sánchez who burst on the scene in 2024, and then there's the Cy Young-caliber version from last season.

We've seen both versions at times early in 2026 -- but it was the latter version who showed up for a second straight start on Sunday afternoon in a 6-0 victory over the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Sánchez tossed seven scoreless innings while striking out seven and walking zero. All six hits he allowed were singles.

That came on the heels of his Tuesday gem in which he had a season-high 10 K's over eight scoreless innings against the A's. Overall, Sánchez is now on a 20 2/3-inning scoreless streak, a career best in a single campaign. He had a streak of 22 2/3 scoreless innings across the 2025-26 seasons.

• The 10 longest scoreless-inning streaks

So, what separates this version from the merely All-Star-caliber version? Here are the two biggest reasons:

1) The sinker
We all know about Sánchez’s otherworldly changeup by this point.

According to Baseball Savant, that changeup has registered a +41 Run Value since the start of 2024. It's not only the best changeup in MLB (edging out back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal at +36), but only Chris Sale has a higher run value on any individual pitch across the Majors (slider, +51).

Sánchez’s changeup is one of the most untouchable pitches in the game. In 2023, opponents hit just .148 against his changeup. They hit .177 against it in '24, .170 in '25.

This year has been no different. Opponents are hitting .152 (14-for-92) against it.

In other words, the changeup is always going to play no matter what.

But it's what Sánchez does with his sinker -- the pitch he throws 45.2% of the time -- that elevates his game to another level.

Last year, Sánchez's sinker was nearly every bit as effective as his changeup. In fact, his sinker accounted for a higher Run Value (+19) than his changeup (+18). To put that pitch combo in perspective, no other pitcher had multiple pitch types account for a Run Value higher than even +15.

But for as good as Sánchez was in his breakout season in 2024, his sinker was a below-average pitch. Opponents hit .345 with a .481 slugging percentage against it. Meanwhile, last year, Sánchez held opposing hitters to a .342 slugging percentage with that sinker -- lower than the batting average he had allowed one year prior.

However, opponents entered Sunday hitting .333 (30-for-90) with a .500 slugging percentage against his sinker. He had already allowed 11 extra-base hits off the pitch after giving up just 17 all of last year.

The sinker still wasn’t quite as overpowering on Sunday, as the Rockies went 5-for-10 against it -- but all five hits were singles. Over these past two stellar outings, Sánchez has limited the damage off his sinker by not allowing any extra-base hits.

As for that changeup? Colorado was 1-for-15 against it with six strikeouts.

“If you have a great changeup but that's all you throw, then guys are going to hit you,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “If you have the right mix, where they have to respect the fastball, they have to have respect for the slider -- and they're all kind of coming out of the same window -- that makes hitting a lot harder. If you just allow me to say, ‘This is really his only pitch he throws for a strike,’ they're gonna sit on that the whole time, and you're gonna have trouble getting outs.”

2) Getting ahead in the count
Sure, this one seems obvious. After all, what pitcher doesn't fare better when pitching from ahead in the count?

But the difference for Sánchez has been extreme.

Take a look at opposing hitters' slash lines against Sánchez (prior to Sunday) based on the count:

• Sánchez behind: .333/.500/.548 (1.048 OPS)
• Sánchez ahead: .202/.200/.262 (.462 OPS)

And it all stems from the very first pitch of an at-bat.

Entering Sunday's start, opposing hitters were slashing just .214/.246/.286 (.532 OPS) after falling behind 0-1 against Sánchez. But when he fell behind 1-0, hitters had gone on to slash .315/.413/.500 (.913 OPS) in those plate appearances.

Incredibly, only seven of his 67 strikeouts this season have come in at-bats that began with a ball. Last year, more than a quarter of his strikeouts (59 of 212) came after falling behind 1-0.

Oh, and that sinker we mentioned?

Only eight of the 35 hits off it have come when Sánchez is ahead in the count. Of the 11 extra-base hits he's allowed off his sinker, only two came when he was ahead in the count.

On Sunday, Sánchez threw first-pitch strikes to 77.8% of batters (21 of 27) -- his highest rate in any game this season.

“It’s super important for me to attack the hitters early and get ahead early on, because that means that I can move around,” Sánchez said via an interpreter. “If I get them into two strikes, I can just move around wherever I want to and go there with my next pitch.”