Cristopher Sanchez is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he’s certainly not complacent.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ ace takes the mound Friday in the opener of a three-game home series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Sanchez (5-2, 1.82 ERA) has emerged as a dominant force for Philadelphia over the past couple of years. He finished as the runner-up in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2025, when he went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA, and he has taken another step forward this season.
Most recently, Sanchez struck out a career-high 13 batters in a shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. It was the third straight scoreless appearance for the left-hander, who has thrown 29 2/3 consecutive frames without giving up a run.
“I’m proud of myself, but at the same time, I try to keep my feet on the ground,” Sanchez said. “Keep it going, keep getting better, keep working. The same.”
That humble approach continues to benefit Sanchez, who has issued one walk while striking out 30 this month. He will look to continue that trend against a Cleveland squad that has won nine of its past 10 games.
The Guardians are coming off an impressive sweep in Detroit in which they held the Tigers to eight runs over the four games.
The Guardians, who sit a season-high eight games over .500, come into Philadelphia looking to extend their winning streak to seven games.
“After a couple of emotional wins back to back, it could be easy to show up today on your heels,” manager Stephen Vogt said after Cleveland’s 3-1 triumph on Thursday. “But our guys came out ready to rock.”
Joey Cantillo pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, and Patrick Bailey’s home run highlighted Cleveland’s offensive performance.
“Everyone’s just doing their part and kind of feeding off each other,” Cantillo said.
The Guardians will aim to continue the momentum as they turn to Gavin Williams (6-3, 3.67 ERA), who enjoyed a bounce-back effort his last time on the hill.
Williams gave up five runs in six innings in each of his first two starts in May, but he rebounded on Sunday by yielding only two runs in six innings against the Cincinnati Reds.
“I know I’ve got to clean some things up in the delivery,” Williams said. “Metrically, the pitches aren’t where I want them to be. So I’m going to take a little dive into that and see what I can do.”
Williams has started twice against Philadelphia in his career, compiling a 1-0 record with a 1.00 ERA. Sanchez gave up three runs in six innings against the Guardians in a 2024 start, his only prior appearance against Cleveland.
Philadelphia had won six series in a row entering its home set against Cincinnati this week. The Phillies captured the opener before dropping the next two meetings with the Reds, falling 4-1 on Tuesday and 9-4 on Wednesday.
“We’re fine,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “You’re not going to win every day. I mean, I plan on winning every day, but that’s not going to happen.”
The Phillies took two of three matchups in Cleveland in 2025, winning the final two meetings by a combined margin of 10-1.
–Field Level Media
