Cristopher Sanchez’s Cy Young Award candidacy took a hit in his last start.
The left-hander will try to bounce back when the visiting Philadelphia Phillies face the red-hot Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
Sanchez was rocked for nine runs and 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings at Kansas City on Monday, raising his ERA from 2.00 to 2.62. Sanchez (10-4) had tossed seven shutout innings against Pittsburgh in his previous outing, his 13th quality start of the season.
Sanchez only recorded one strikeout against the Royals after fanning nine Pirates. However, he said there was nothing wrong with him physically.
“I feel great,” Sanchez said. “That’s why I was a little surprised to have such an outing (Monday), because I feel really good.”
Sanchez had a celebrated 50 2/3 innings scoreless streak earlier this season, so for the 29-year-old left-hander to give up nine runs in one game was stunning.
“I don’t know how to really explain it, but obviously, as long as he’s healthy, he’s going to be fine,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “(Monday’s) hopefully one of those you don’t see very often.”
Kansas City, which scored six runs in the first inning, hit three homers off Sanchez’s normally lethal changeup.
“It’s really tough to see that they hit three homers off me with my pitch,” Sanchez said.
In his lone career outing against Detroit, the All-Star picked up the win after scattering five hits over eight shutout innings last season.
He’ll be opposed by right-hander Casey Mize (4-5, 2.64), who has won his last two starts. Mize blanked the New York Yankees for seven innings while notching 10 strikeouts on June 29, then held Texas to two runs in 6 2/3 innings on Sunday.
“I don’t think I executed my best, but I was still able to go get 20 outs,” said Mize, who struck out 10 batters in 4 1/3 innings but lost his only career outing against Philadelphia.
“The defense played great behind me, and offensively, they put up plenty. So it kind of allowed me just to settle in and try to attack the strike zone and go from there, even when I wasn’t at my best.”
Mize, who will be a free agent after this season, could be dealt this month if the Tigers choose to go into “sell mode” before the trade deadline.
That won’t happen if Detroit keeps piling up wins. The Tigers have won six straight and nine of their last 10, including a 10-2 series-opening victory on Friday. They have outscored opponents 35-9 during their current streak.
“We were playing bad baseball and that isn’t us. I knew eventually we’d get back to us,” said infielder Colt Keith, who hit one of the Tigers’ three homers on Friday.
“It’s a long season and a lot of guys in the clubhouse kept their heads up and just kept working.”
The Phillies have lost four of their last six games. In their last three defeats, their vaunted pitching staff has given up double-digit runs.
The series will conclude on Sunday with another marquee pitching matchup between the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal.
–Field Level Media
