Toronto. – Dominican Cristopher Sánchez once again imposed his will from the mound, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of the series played at the Rogers Centre.
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Although he allowed two earned runs, Sánchez maintained the dominance that has characterized his recent performances, working seven solid innings in which he allowed just four hits, issued one walk, and recorded 10 strikeouts.
The performance represented the fourth time this season that the left-hander reached double digits in strikeouts and also extended his consecutive streak of starts pitching at least seven innings to seven.
With a 5-0 lead, Sánchez allowed Toronto’s first run in the third inning after a double by Myles Straw and subsequently gave up a solo home run to Ernie Clement in the fifth inning.
However, the Dominican showed his ability to respond under pressure in the sixth inning, when he managed to escape a major threat after striking out George Springer, Nathan Lukes, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. consecutively, sparking the pitcher’s celebration as he returned to the dugout.
Toronto put runners on base again in the seventh inning, but Sanchez convinced interim manager Don Mattingly to stay on the mound and responded by retiring the inning with a ground ball to shortstop Trea Turner on his 107th pitch of the night.
“I don’t like leaving runners on base and I felt very good today, even though I was already close to 100 pitches,” Sánchez expressed after the game.
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“I am very grateful to the manager for trusting me at that moment,” he added.
Manager Don Mattingly highlighted the consistency of the Dominican starter and the confidence he conveys every time he takes the ball.
“There is always a feeling that Cristopher is on track. You feel like he is going to pitch six or seven innings every time he starts,” Mattingly noted.
Offensively, Cuban Adolis García backed Sánchez’s work early with his seventh home run of the season, a homer in the second inning against starter Patrick Corbin.
“It is very important for us to score runs when we have Sanchez on the mound because he is a great pitcher,” stated Garcia.
The Phillies’ bullpen also responded, with Brad Keller pitching a scoreless eighth inning and the Dominican Jhoan Durán earning his 16th save of the season to seal the victory.
With this triumph, Cristopher Sánchez headed toward his eighth victory of the campaign, consolidating himself as one of the most reliable pieces of Philadelphia’s rotation.
