christopher sanchez carried the Phillies to a 9-1 win over the Athletics on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. He worked eight innings, struck out 10, and allowed only three hits and one walk while the Phillies kept rolling at 7-1 over their last eight games.
Citizens Bank Park control
Sánchez did most of his damage with the changeup. He threw it 44 percent of the time, got 16 whiffs with that pitch, and collected nine of his 10 strikeouts on it.
The Athletics sent seven right-handed hitters to the plate, and Sánchez leaned into the matchup. Entering Tuesday, hitters had managed only a.142 average against his changeup and were whiffing 48.4 percent of the time against it.
Phillies pitching under Mattingly
The outing also fit a larger run from Philadelphia’s rotation under interim manager Don Mattingly. Phillies starting pitchers have posted a 1.80 ERA over the last eight games, a sharp run after the club fell to 9-19 on April 24 in Atlanta.
That earlier stretch came with a 5.08 ERA and a 3.86 fielding independent pitching mark, the largest gap between those two numbers in the modern era. The current run does not erase that start, but it gives the Phillies a clearer pitching base than they had in late April.
Phillies rotation pressure
Rob Thomson is no longer in the dugout, and Sánchez’s form has become one of the cleanest signs that the staff has settled under Mattingly. A left-hander who can attack right-handed lineups with the changeup gives Philadelphia a dependable way to keep games short and protect a lineup that has already turned a 9-19 start into a 7-1 surge.
For the Phillies, the next step is simple: keep getting this version of Sánchez and the run of starting pitching that has followed him. For the Athletics, one quiet night at the plate turned a late-season trip to Philadelphia into a 9-1 loss, and Sánchez was the reason the game never tightened.
