PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez threw his second complete game of the season and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Saturday night.
Sánchez struck out two batters over the minimum and allowed two hits. The only blemish on his performance was a solo home run by Alex Call at the top of the fourth inning. Call hit a 1-1 slider into the first row in right-center field.
Sánchez (9-8) had four strikeouts and no walks, earning his ninth win of the season after losing four of his previous five decisions.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the club’s pitching coaches noticed that Sanchez was throwing from the lower arm position in his starts since the All-Star break. They made an adjustment during his bullpen session this week and the results were fruitful.
“I would say it was 95% because of that, but it wasn’t just that,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “(But) thanks to the pitching coaches who saw that and told me I need to lower my arm a little bit. Let’s work on getting it back to where it needs to be. Thanks to that, we were able to get the results today.”
Sánchez was incredibly efficient, throwing just 99 pitches to finish the game. His previous complete game was a shutout against Miami on June 28.
Along with Max Fried of Atlanta and Kevin Gausman of Toronto, he is the only pitcher in the Major League to have thrown two complete games this season.
The game lasted just two hours and six minutes. It was the fastest game of the season at Citizens Bank Park. Phillies catcher JT Realmuto knew early on that with Sanchez’s pitching, it could be a fast and successful evening.
“We went three innings and I felt like we were on defense for five minutes,” Realmuto said. “It was definitely fast. He just kept pressuring the strike zone. He got them to put the ball in play early — and that’s a lineup that’s hard to break. For him to be able to pitch that long in the game with so few pitches is impressive.”
The Phillies won their fourth straight and reclaimed their place atop the majors with the best record in baseball (73-50). On Sunday, they will try to defeat the Nationals in four games.
Every player in Philadelphia’s lineup had at least one hit except Bryce Harper. Weston Wilson had two hits and a run and Nick Castellanos had two hits and an RBI.
After the Phillies had great difficulty getting through Washington starter Mackenzie Gore in the first five innings, they hit him in the sixth inning, allowing four runs on five hits.
Alec Bohm, JT Realmuto, Edmundo Sosa and Johan Rojas all had RBI singles in the sixth inning for Philadelphia.
Bohm had previously extended his on-base streak to 34 games when he forced a walk in the fourth inning, scoring on a double by Castellanos.
Washington has lost four games in a row and seven of its last ten games.
“Our offense didn’t show today and we couldn’t get anything done,” said Nationals manager Davey Martinez.
The game started 30 minutes later than scheduled because the Phillies honored their late owner, president and CEO David Montgomery by inducting him into their Wall of Fame.
As part of the ceremony, a portion of the center field wall was renamed after him and dubbed “Monty’s Angle” because it juts out into the field. It was Montgomery’s idea to include it as a tribute to Connie Mack Stadium, the Phillies’ home until 1971. A permanent logo was unveiled on the wall to commemorate the name.
TRAINING ROOM
Nationals: Washington acquired the contract of LHP Joe La Sorsa and recalled RHP Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester. The moves were necessary because LHP Robert Garcia was placed on the bereavement list and RHP Derek Law was placed on the 15-day IL with a strained right elbow flexor.
Phillies: Philadelphia acquired the contract of LHP Tyler Gilbert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and optioned RHP Tyler Phillips. To make room for Gilbert, they placed RHP Spencer Turnbull (right latissimus strain) on the 60-day IL. Gilbert, who threw a no-hitter in his first 2021 MLB start with Arizona, was originally a draft pick of the Phillies in 2015 but never pitched for the team.
Next
The Nationals and Phillies will end their four-game series on Sunday. RHP Jake Irvin (9-10, 3.72) will start for Washington against Taijuan Walker (3-4, 5.68) for Philadelphia.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
