Maybe it was that Cristopher Sánchez looked like Cristopher Sánchez again.
With the regular season down to its final week, Sánchez delivered the kind of start the Phillies needed, working 6 1/3 strong innings in a 7-2 victory over the Mets. He allowed six hits, walked nobody and struck out six as Philadelphia finished its final road trip of the regular season at 86-70.
Considering what had happened to Sánchez lately, it mattered.
Sánchez entered Sunday in easily his roughest stretch of the season. Over his previous three starts, against Atlanta, Houston and Washington, he had surrendered 14 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings — a 6.87 ERA. Opponents collected 23 hits against him during that stretch, while Sánchez struck out only 13.
Stretch it back five starts, beginning Aug. 23 against St. Louis, and Sánchez had allowed 18 earned runs over 32 innings, a 5.06 ERA.
That looked nothing like the pitcher who had spent most of the season establishing himself among baseball’s better starters.
Sunday looked much more familiar.
From the third inning into the sixth, Sánchez took control. Nine Mets came to the plate and nine went down before Bo Bichette finally broke through with a solo home run. Sánchez eventually departed in the seventh with one runner aboard, and that runner later scored against Alex McFarlane.
His final line showed two earned runs.
His performance felt better than that.
Sánchez threw 98 pitches, 71 for strikes, and did not issue a walk. After three consecutive outings in which opponents had consistently created traffic, he spent most of Sunday dictating the game instead of trying to escape it.
That might be the most encouraging part for the Phillies.
The stuff has rarely been the question with Sánchez. The command and efficiency had been.
Philadelphia has already seen what he looks like when everything works. On Aug. 29, Sánchez threw seven scoreless innings against the Angels, allowing two hits and striking out eight. Before his Aug. 23 start against St. Louis, he had surrendered only three runs across his previous four outings.
Then September arrived.
Atlanta scored three times against him in six innings. Houston got him for six in six. Washington scored five in 6 1/3.
Three starts. Fourteen earned runs.
For a team rapidly approaching October, that was enough to create a legitimate question about which version of Sánchez would arrive in the postseason.
Sunday supplied a reassuring answer.
Sánchez reached exactly 200 innings for the season and increased his strikeout total to 221. It is the second consecutive season in which he has reached 200 innings after throwing 202 last year.
The victory also improved him to 18-6 and pushed him alone into the major-league lead in wins.
No Phillies pitcher has finished atop MLB’s wins leaderboard since Steve Carlton posted 23 victories in 1982.
That does not make Sánchez the best pitcher in baseball. Wins remain dependent on far more than the starter himself.
But 18 victories, 200 innings, 221 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA provide a pretty good picture of what Sánchez has become.
The Phillies gave him enough support Sunday to make the afternoon relatively comfortable.
They scored four times in the first three innings, then finally broke the game open when Justin Crawford emptied the bases with a three-run triple in the eighth. Luis Arraez drove in two runs, while Alec Bohm and Trea Turner supplied the other early RBIs.
Kyle Schwarber never recorded a hit and still managed to become an important part of the offense, matching a career high with four walks and scoring twice.
The Phillies finished with only seven hits, but they drew nine walks and went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
It was enough to keep a frustrating weekend from becoming something more damaging.
Philadelphia won Thursday’s opener, 3-0, then allowed 16 combined runs while losing Friday and Saturday before Sánchez stabilized everything Sunday.
Now the circumstances change.
Atlanta’s victory over Houston on Sunday officially clinched the NL East for the Braves, eliminating whatever remained of Philadelphia’s division hopes.
So the final six games are no longer about catching Atlanta.
They are about getting into October, improving Wild Card position and figuring out exactly what kind of team the Phillies intend to be once they get there.
The schedule offers no easy transition.
All six games are at Citizens Bank Park. Milwaukee arrives Tuesday for three, followed by Tampa Bay for the final three games of the regular season.
Milwaukee entered Sunday night with a 97-58 record, the best mark in the National League. Tampa Bay improved to 95-60 Sunday, the best record in the American League.
In other words, the Phillies will finish their season against two teams that provide a reasonable approximation of the difficulty they will encounter in October.
That makes the final week useful.
The Phillies can learn something about their bullpen.
They can learn something about an offense that remains capable of disappearing for stretches.
They can learn something about how they handle six consecutive games against elite competition with postseason pressure building around them.
And they can learn whether Sánchez’s Sunday afternoon was simply one good start or evidence that his September wobble is ending.
That question might matter more than almost anything else.
The Phillies already know Zack Wheeler gives them a chance in October. They know Sánchez has pitched at an ace-like level for large portions of this season.
What they needed was evidence that the pitcher who carried them through much of the summer had not disappeared during a difficult September.
They got it Sunday.
Sánchez walked off the mound having restored some order to his own season and, for at least one afternoon, to the Phillies’ season as well.
Six games remain.
The division is gone.
October is still there.
And the Phillies may have just gotten one of their most important pitchers back at exactly the right time.
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