Cristopher Sánchez looked like a man holding the keys to the next 24 hours of Phillies baseball.
Not a kid with a present, not a wide-eyed dreamer — just a calm left-hander standing in front of his, ready to shoulder a season that refuses to end quietly.
The Phillies had just punched back with an 8–2 win at Dodger Stadium in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, trimming the deficit and buying themselves one more day in October. One more chance. And that chance belongs to Sánchez.
His name wasn’t supposed to be written here — not as the rotation’s anchor, not as the answer to Zack Wheeler’s season-ending surgery — but baseball has a way of rewriting plans. On Thursday night, the 28-year-old from the Dominican Republic will stare down Tyler Glasnow and a Dodgers lineup that can be unforgiving to mistakes.
He didn’t sound overwhelmed by the assignment.
“I’m going to compete as always,” Sanchez told reporters. “Do my best to give us a chance to win a ballgame.”
It’s not just talk.
In Game 1, Sánchez kept the Phillies in it — 5 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs — before the bullpen let it slip. Now, with the season hanging again, he’ll take the ball with the same deliberate tempo that’s defined him all year. No theatrics. No panic. Just the next pitch, and the next chance to keep October alive.
The Dodgers counter with the 32-year-old right-hander in Glasnow, a power arm with postseason scars. He went 4–3 with a 3.19 ERA over 18 starts during the regular season but has yet to find consistent footing in October, carrying a 5.51 ERA across 10 career postseason starts.
The Dodgers counter with the 32-year-old right-hander in Glasnow, a power arm with postseason scars. He went 4–3 with a 3.19 ERA over 18 starts during the regular season but has yet to find consistent footing in October, carrying a 5.51 ERA across 10 career postseason starts.
His history against the Phillies hasn’t been much kinder — a 7.56 ERA over 16 2/3 innings.
That could bode well for a Philadelphia lineup that rediscovered its pulse Wednesday night.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Kyle Schwarber said. “They have another really good starter going tomorrow. You never know what you’ll see in a postseason baseball game, but you just have to make sure you go out there, play great defense, take great at-bats, 27 outs, and go from there.”
That could bode well for a Philadelphia lineup that rediscovered its pulse Wednesday night.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Kyle Schwarber said. “They have another really good starter going tomorrow. You never know what you’ll see in a postseason baseball game, but you just have to make sure you go out there, play great defense, take great at-bats, 27 outs, and go from there.”
A Phillies victory pushes this series to a deciding Game 5 on Saturday night in Philadelphia.
Phillies Lineup
Turner 6 Schwarber DH
Harper 3
Bohm 5
Marsh 8
Realmuto 2
Kepler 7
Castellanos 9
Stott 4
Sánchez LHP
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