PHILADELPHIA — The scoreless innings streak ended on a sinker inside to Jackson Merrill, who sent Cristopher Sánchez’s offering bouncing through the infield into left Wednesday in the seventh. After Ty France crossed home plate to put an end to 50 2/3 spectacular and nerve-racking and awe-inducing innings, Phillies fans stood. They clapped, they whistled, they cheered — and Sánchez waited to throw his next pitch. It was 63 seconds of raucousness before he did so. 

Sánchez’s scoreless streak ends at 50 and 2/3 IP, the fifth longest in MLB history. pic.twitter.com/VKGtmHW9eU

— Charlotte Varnes (@charlottevarnes) June 4, 2026

Sánchez’s streak, which began April 30 against the San Francisco Giants, came to a close on June 3 against the San Diego Padres. He entered a new echelon of baseball history in the process, becoming one of just five pitchers in major-league history to pitch 50 scoreless consecutive innings and the only lefty to do so.

“Pretty amazing,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said pregame Wednesday. “I don’t really know how to categorize it, other than it just seems like every time now it’s really good.”

Longest scoreless streaks in MLB history

PitcherYearStreak

Orel Hershisher

1988

59 IP

Don Drysdale

1968

58 IP

Walter Johnson

1913

55 2/3 IP

Jack Coombs

1910

53 IP

Cristopher Sánchez

2026

50 2/3 IP

The streak was also the longest in Phillies history since at least 1893, when the current mound distance was set, and the longest at Citizens Bank Park. In May, Sánchez became only the second pitcher since 1901 to pitch at least 39 scoreless innings in a calendar month, joining Orel Hershiser. 

Said Padres manager Craig Stammen, whose team faced Sanchez last week and on Wednesday: “The challenge of him is that he doesn’t make mistakes. And that’s kind of what hitting is, I think, at the moment. You’ve got to be able to wait out the mistake and then do damage with it. And one thing watching him, he’s kind of old school in that he just peppers the bottom of the zone and he doesn’t leave it. Bottom of the zone is not, like, thigh high. But it’s like the hollow of the knee. And he does a great job of commanding his pitches down there, both his changeup and his sinker. And then he mixes in a slider just to surprise you every once in a while.”

This stretch has moved Sánchez to the forefront of the National League Cy Young Award conversation, early though it may be. Entering Wednesday’s start, Sánchez owned a 1.47 ERA through 12 starts, with 95 strikeouts across 79 1/3 innings. There was much conversation about whether Sánchez or the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (1.65 ERA) would win the National League Pitcher of the Month award for May. Ultimately, Sanchez prevailed.

Whatever happens from here, Sánchez has etched his place in the major-league record books — the end coming before an announced crowd of 40,453, a pink sky emerging over Center City. And the pitcher on the mound stood, taking it in, waiting to start a new streak.