Cristopher Sánchez didn’t make the All-Star team this year. But on a beautiful Tuesday night in South Philadelphia, he pitched like he was making a point.
Nine innings. Four hits. One run. Twelve strikeouts. One hundred and six pitches. No bullpen needed. No sweat broken. Just a quiet, dominant dismantling of a Boston Red Sox lineup that never really had a chance.
It was Sánchez’s third career complete game, and it might have been his smoothest. He retired the first nine Red Sox he faced. The only run he allowed came on a Rob Refsnyder solo homer in the fourth — a fastball down and in that Refsnyder, one of the few right-handed hitters in baseball who genuinely enjoys facing lefties, yanked just far enough to clear the left-field fence. That was it. The rest of the night was an exercise in calm precision.
While Sánchez was dealing, the Phillies' offense did just enough. It started early — as it often does at Citizens Bank Park — with Trea Turner leading off the bottom of the first with a sharp single. One out later, Bryce Harper pulled a ball through the hole into left to put runners at the corners. Nick Castellanos followed with a bloop into center that fell just in front of Ceddanne Rafaela. It was soft contact, but it got the job done. One-nothing, Phillies.
And then, because baseball in 2025 is incapable of going 24 hours without something completely absurd happening, we got a sequel.
On Monday night, Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez committed the baseball sin of sins: catcher’s interference… on a check swing… that ended the game. It was the first time in 54 years that a game ended that way. Tuesday night, Narváez found himself back in the middle of another episode.
With Bryce Harper dancing off third in the second inning, Narváez stepped forward to receive a pitch from Richard Fitts — just as Harper broke for home. Marsh, in the box, pulled out. But that didn’t matter. Narváez, by stepping in front of the plate during a live steal attempt, had violated Rule 6.01(g). Interference. Again. Harper awarded home. Marsh awarded first. Narváez awarded the distinction of becoming the only catcher in recent memory to be called for interference in back-to-back games.
It was his sixth such violation this season. The Red Sox, as a team, have eight. At some point, you stop asking how and just start nodding in disbelief.
Then came the second inning power surge. Max Kepler, mired in a slump for much of the month, barreled a slider to right for a solo shot. Moments later, Kyle Schwarber added his own, a no-doubt blast that briefly turned a quiet lead into a commanding one. Four runs in two innings, and Sánchez hadn’t yet broken a sweat.
He didn’t really have to. Aside from a couple of singles scattered around Refsnyder’s homer, the Red Sox rarely threatened. Sánchez’s fastball/changeup combination stayed on the edges. He pounded the zone. He struck out the side in the sixth. He froze batters. He made them chase. He pitched like he knew the bullpen door wasn’t going to open unless something went terribly wrong — and it never did.
By the ninth inning, it was clear. There was no visit from Rob Thomson. No one was warming. This was Sánchez’s game to finish. And finish it he did.
The Phillies won, 4-1. Sánchez improved to 9-2 and dropped his ERA to 2.40 on the year. And if the All-Star Game had been held just one week later, he might’ve had a case to be starting it.
They’ll go for the sweep on Wednesday.
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