Cristopher Sánchez is one scoreless first inning away from a place no left-hander has reached before. If he keeps the Padres off the board Wednesday night, he will pass Carl Hubbell for the longest scoreless streak by a left-handed pitcher.
That is why his start matters now. Sánchez has not allowed a run in 44⅔ innings, a run that already ranks as the seventh-longest streak since at least 1893, when the current mound distance was set. Orel Hershiser still owns the overall major league record with 59 scoreless innings in 1988, but Sánchez is within striking distance of a mark that has stood for generations.
The right moment is also the right park. Sánchez said he knows every corner of Citizens Bank Park and feels completely comfortable there, and the numbers back up the feeling. Since the beginning of the 2024 season, he has been nearly untouchable at home with a 1.83 ERA and a 17-4 record in 260⅔ innings. Opponents are batting just.153 and slugging.176 against his changeup, and he has leaned more heavily on his slider this season as the pitch mix has sharpened.
His rise has been steady enough to change the way the Phillies talk about him. Nick Castellanos called him a stud and said Sánchez has settled into a groove, locked into his routine and deserving of the extension he received. That was the voice of a teammate watching a pitcher turn a promising arm into someone carrying a historic streak into a Wednesday night start.
There is still a crack in the clean story. The Padres are bringing a hitter in Adolis García who has been stuck in a 3-for-57 slump with 30 strikeouts and a.571 OPS, and he did not simply sit and wait for it to pass. García came in on the off-day to work with hitting coach Kevin Long and hit on the field before batting practice Tuesday. The Phillies were off Monday before the series opener, which gave Sánchez an extra day to sit with the possibility that one inning could move him past Hubbell and into the record book.
What comes next is simple and huge at the same time: Wednesday night decides whether Sánchez keeps the streak alive or turns it into a record. If he opens with another scoreless frame, the name beside the left-handed mark changes, and a long run that began as a remarkable stretch becomes part of baseball history.
