At some point Saturday afternoon, the only question left at PNC Park was whether Cristopher Sánchez was actually going to finish it himself.
Because nobody in the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup looked capable of stopping him.
Sánchez delivered the best start of his career Saturday, overpowering Pittsburgh with a complete-game shutout in a 6-0 Phillies victory that continued the club’s stunning turnaround from its disastrous start, now getting their record to an even .500.
The left-hander struck out a career-high 13 hitters, allowed just six hits, walked nobody and needed only 108 pitches to complete the second shutout of his career.
By the middle innings, the game barely even felt competitive.
Sánchez opened the afternoon by retiring the first nine hitters he faced and needed only 28 pitches to get through three perfect innings while striking out five. Through six innings, he was still sitting at just 63 pitches.
And the deeper he went, the more dominant he became.
The Pirates finally threatened in the seventh inning when rookie Konnor Griffin opened the frame with a double. Sánchez responded by retiring the next three hitters, including strikeouts of Marcell Ozuna and Nick Yorke.
An inning later, Justin Crawford preserved the shutout with a diving catch in left-center field on a drive from Henry Davis that looked destined for the gap.
By then, Sánchez was fully in command of the afternoon.
He finished the shutout by stranding runners at second and third in the ninth inning, striking out Ozuna one final time before inducing a game-ending ground ball from Yorke.
The scoreless innings streak for Sánchez has now reached 29 2/3 innings. The last run he allowed came April 30 against the San Francisco Giants.
And increasingly, this is beginning to look like much more than a hot stretch.
Sánchez lowered his ERA to 1.82 and continued building a legitimate case as one of the National League’s best starters through the season’s first two months.
The Phillies gave him all the support he needed almost immediately.
Bryce Harper crushed a three-run homer off rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler in the first inning, launching a 457-foot drive off the batter’s eye in center field.
An inning later, Kyle Schwarber added an RBI double that turned into a two-run play after a throwing mistake by Pittsburgh right fielder Jared Triolo allowed Trea Turner to score from first.
Turner later added an RBI double in the eighth inning as the Phillies improved to 23-23.
They have now won six consecutive series and are 14-4 since Don Mattingly took over as interim manager.
A month ago, this season looked close to slipping away.
Now the Phillies suddenly look like a team nobody would want to face.
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