PHILADELPHIA -- Despite an uncharacteristically wild night, Phillies co-ace Cristopher Sánchez battled just enough to put his club in a good spot on Sunday night against the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park.
It looked early on as if Sánchez might be on his way to another gem, but his pitch count quickly climbed as his command wavered in the middle innings. He ultimately grinded his way through six innings, allowing three runs off six hits and three walks while striking out six in the Phillies’ 11-4 win.
The three walks were Sánchez's most since he also had three on April 30. He also uncorked a pair of wild pitches after having thrown just one all season. His changeup -- one of the best individual pitches in baseball -- wasn't quite as dominant as usual. It ended up being Sánchez’s least-used offering on a night when he went with more of a sinker-slider mix.
“It wasn't too bad, but it can be better,” Sánchez said via team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “Everybody knows that my changeup can be better than what I showed tonight.”
As for the three earned runs, it ended Sánchez's streak of 25 consecutive home starts having allowed two earned runs or fewer. He hadn't allowed more than two earned runs at Citizens Bank Park since April 6 of last season. He was 14-1 with a 1.36 ERA over those 25 outings.
Though Sánchez departed with an 11-3 lead, it couldn't have been the outing he was hoping for after being staked to a 6-0 lead through three innings. The left-hander appeared to be in complete control at that point, having racked up four strikeouts -- and more than a few ugly swings -- through three scoreless frames.
But the cracks started to form in the fourth after Amed Rosario led off by reaching on shortstop Trea Turner's MLB-leading 18th error of the season.
Sánchez went on to load the bases, though he managed to escape unscathed. He wasn't nearly as fortunate in the fifth.
Ali Sánchez, New York's No. 9 hitter, got things started with a single. Paul Goldschmidt then drew a walk in a five-pitch plate appearance that featured mostly noncompetitive pitches.
After getting the first out on a forceout at second base, Cristopher Sánchez then made an errant pickoff attempt at first base that allowed Ali Sánchez to jog home from third base. Rosario followed with a single to load the bases, then -- after an RBI groundout -- Anthony Volpe roped an RBI double to finish off a three-run fifth inning that cut the Phillies' lead to 6-3.
Still, Sánchez bounced back to take down a sixth inning. Returning to the mound having thrown 91 pitches, he breezed through a 10-pitch sixth capped by striking out Goldschmidt on his 101st and final pitch of the night.
“That's always my goal,” Sánchez said. “When I'm out there on the mound, my goal is to go as far as I can, try to throw at least six innings, so we don't tax our bullpen that much. So I just try to help them that way and go as long as I can out there.”
The offense rewarded Sánchez with a five-run outburst in the bottom half to give the Phillies some breathing room as they handed it off to the bullpen.
And Sánchez plans to pay them back his next time out.
“My changeup hasn't been there as I would like it to, but I'll work on it for the next couple days,” Sánchez said. “And I know it'll be better, because I'm someone that knows what I have to work on in order to improve, and that's something that I'll put my mind to and try to improve over the next couple of days.”