Last Night In Baseball: Cristopher Sánchez Just Had One Of The Best Months Ever

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez made five starts in the month of May, and he didnt allow a single run in any of them. Those five starts all went at least seven innings, with two of them coming in at seven, another two at eight and one a complete-game shutout. He struck out 36 batters in his 32 innings while walking just three, and scattering 19 hits. He had an impressive 2.90 ERA at the end of April; it dropped to a league-leading 1.42 after seven shutout innings against the Padres on Wednesday in a Phillies win that clinched a sweep over San Diego.

Thats all impressive enough on its own, but consider, too, that Sánchezs scoreless streak is now 44 ⅔ innings, breaking the longstanding Phillies record set in 1911 by Hall of Fame hurler Grover Alexander. You can do the math of how long ago 1911 was and be suitably impressed, but consider that the oldest stadium in use in MLB, the Red Sox Fenway Park, wasnt opened until 1912. Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Curt Schilling, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Zach Wheeler, none of them were able to break Alexanders century-spanning mark. But Cristopher Sánchez did.

It goes beyond “just” toppling Alexanders mark, as well. Per MLBs Sarah Langs, Sánchez is the second-ever pitcher to get through an entire month with at least five starts made without allowing a run, joining Orel Hershishers 1988. Sánchez also now has the seventh-longest streak of the live-ball era — Hershisher is first, at 59 innings — and hell make it into the top five with two more outs. Also per Langs, Sánchez is now tied for the third-longest streak of scoreless outings of at least seven innings since “at least” 1900, with five in a row, putting him behind only Hershisher again and 1968 Don Drysdale — both had six. 

Sánchez genuinely just had one of the greatest single months by a pitcher in MLB history, and its helped the Phillies rebound from a rough April. Philadelphia has gone 17-8 in May with a +28 run differential, with the team winning in four of Sánchezs five starts. (The lone loss? A 1-0 defeat, when closer Jhoan Duran gave up the only run of the game in the ninth inning.) Philly is now 29-27, in second place in the NL East — they were 12-19 at the start of the month, and had been outscored by 45 runs on the season. Sánchez will eventually give up a run again, but for now, hes helped bring balance back to a Phillies team that was toppling over.

How can Dodgers hurler Shohei Ohtani stand out on a night when Cristopher Sánchez threatens history? By doing your usual Shohei Ohtani things, naturally. The two-way star for the start for Los Angeles on Wednesday, and after a scoreless first inning, hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the frame.

Thats just the third time ever that a starting pitcher has led off a game with a home run. You get one guess at who did it the other two times. Ohtani didnt stop there, however. He didnt allow a hit in that first inning… or for his entire start. The right-hander twirled six no-hit innings before exiting, but alas, he did allow a run, as he walked four batters and allowed a run on a force out.

Still! Ohtanis bat has recovered from his early slump, as hes now hitting .269/.400/.482 with a 151 OPS+ despite those troubles, and his ERA for the season is 0.82 in 55 innings and nine starts. Thats not enough to qualify for the ERA title, but hes very rarely deployed to chase that sort of thing, anyway. 

Plus, we got this lovely little moment where first baseman Freddie Freeman saved Ohtani from throwing the ball away on a pickoff. Look at Ohtani trying not to have a visible smile and mostly failing