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PHILADELPHIA – With the Phillies reasonably sure about 80 percent of their rotation and in a complete quandary every fifth day for the first two months of the season, they turned to Cristopher Sanchez.
If nothing else, Sanchez was a body; a low-cost lefty arm who could eat innings. Through 12 starts, he has turned out to be so much more.
Look no further than Friday night, when Sanchez again provided six solid innings, recovering from early damage to notch a pair of shutdown innings and let the Phillies’ bats get him his second win in a 7-2 decision over St. Louis.
Against a Cardinals lineup loaded with righties but shockingly thin on major league batters, Sanchez had an early bobble when Paul Goldschmidt took him the other way for a two-run wall-scraping home run in the first. That took the total to 67 runs allowed in the first inning of games this year by Phillies pitchers.
But Sanchez steadied the ship. When the Phillies got him three runs in the bottom of the second, he replied by working around Tyler O’Neill’s leadoff double in the third to post a zero. It was a 1-2-3 fourth after the Phillies tacked on again.
“Credit to him, this kid has grown up and he’s matured,” manager Rob Thomson said. “A couple of years ago, that may have gotten away from him. Stubby (Garrett Stubbs) did a great job with him, leaning on the changeup, keep throwing it until he finds it.”
In all, Sanchez retired the final 12 batters he faced after O’Neill’s double. He allowed five hits, three of them in the first inning, and walked none. He struck out six.
“I noticed they were looking for the sinker,” Sanchez said via a translator. After studying the hitters and knowing what they wanted, I was able to make that adjustment and stay focused on the game.
Sanchez hasn’t just been a stopgap starter. He’s been one of the most reliable pitchers in the bigs since his June 17 recall. His WHIP since, at 0.98 entering Friday, is fourth in the big leagues among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched. He’s walked only 10 batters in 12 starts since his recall.
It’s enough that the Phillies should be seriously considering him for a postseason roster spot, with a swing-and-miss changeup that is trending toward elite.
That changeup has been the difference maker, and the Phillies want him throwing it more. He threw it 20.1 percent of the time last year, with batters hitting .184 off it. This year, he’s using it more (30.6 percent of the time) and batters are struggling even more with it (.167 OBA).
“It’s gotten better over time, and he’s developed it,” Thomson said. “As it gets better and he gets more successful with it, he’ll want to throw it more. But the key to it is, if he doesn’t have it early, he needs to keep throwing it until he finds it, and that’s what he’s done so far.”
When asked how much of his recent success is attributable to his improved changeup, Sanchez didn’t require a translator: “100 percent.”
With the way the Phillies’ offense is moving, they just need a starter to give them a chance. Stubbs tied the game in the second inning with a two-out double down the left-field line to score two, a ball that went 69 feet in the air, left the bat at 61.3 miles per hour and had an expected batting average of .180. Kyle Schwarber’s RBI double ripped into the right field corner four pitches later to make it 3-2 was decidedly more authoritative.
The Phillies piled on against the NL Central bottom-dwellers, a far cry from the team they upended in the two-game Wild Card series last fall. Bryce Harper led off the third with a single that was small-balled into a run with a wild pitch and two fly outs, the latter a Bryson Stott sac fly.
Alec Bohm led off the sixth with his 14th home run of the season, a career high. Schwarber led off the seventh with a blast, his 35th and the 45th of August for the Phillies. They have five days left to down the club record of 46 set in September 2019.
Bryce Harper tripled in the seventh and scored on a Nick Castellanos double.
Sanchez exited with after 83 pitches, still two starts removed from throwing a career-high 107 against the Twins 14 days ago. Jose Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti and Jeff Hoffman followed with clean innings. The Phillies retired the last 21 Cardinals batters they faced in order.
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NOTES >> Harper again was the designated hitter on Friday. Thomson said Harper wanted an extra day not in the field to deal with his back issues but that he is otherwise feeling good. … With the Cardinals shifting their starting pitchers – Adam Wainwright, due to start Sunday, was moved back a day in favor of lefty Drew Rom – Thomson shifted the day off for catcher J.T. Realmuto. Stubbs started Friday, with Realmuto to start Saturday and Sunday. … Ranger Suarez (hamstring) threw a bullpen Friday. If all goes well, he’ll have a fielding practice Saturday and another bullpen Monday. … Jojo Romero was presented his NL Championship ring before the game. He only pitched twice for the Phillies, in his third season with them last year, before being traded to the Cardinals for Edmundo Sosa.
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