SAN DIEGO — 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 Sánchez emphatically pumped his fists after getting his final out in a landmark game.
Sánchez 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 3-0 win Wednesday against the San Diego Padres for a three-game sweep.
Sánchez 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.
“I 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 Sánchez addressed the team.
“I just told them it was something special for me," Sánchez said. "First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates and everyone around me for their support. It’s really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That’s something I admire with this group.
“This is a game that it’s not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it’s about our group and I think it’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole,” he added.
With Sánchez 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. Sánchez 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 Tuesday night's 4-3 Phillies win.
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.
“There were a couple of hits that I thought were gone off the bat, but thank God they didn’t," 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.
Sánchez'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.
“You just don't expect him to give up any runs,” 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.
“He'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.”
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