The Philadelphia Phillies will turn to their ace Cristopher Sanchez on Sunday as they look to win their weekend set with the visiting Colorado Rockies.
The Phillies dropped Friday’s opener 9-7 in 11 innings but fought back with a comfortable 9-3 win Saturday to set up the rubber game.
Sanchez (3-2, 2.42 ERA) is coming off his best start of the season, striking out 10 in eight innings of scoreless ball in a 9-1 home victory over the Athletics on May 5. He allowed just three hits – all singles – and walked one as he kept the A’s lineup guessing all night.
Sanchez believes that dominant performance was the result of his constant desire to improve.
“I’m always working on my pitches, I’m always working on my mechanics,” the left-hander told reporters through an interpreter.
“I like to chase perfection.”
Sanchez, 29, locked up his future with Philadelphia, signing a 6-year, $107 million extension March 24. He has faced the Rockies five times in his career, going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA.
Philadelphia interim manager Don Mattingly added on Sanchez’s great outing last Tuesday, “I’ve seen him throw the ball good all year long — it’s just some of the results haven’t been as good.”
Mattingly likened it to the turnaround the team has undergone since their 9-19 start: “Nothing seemed to be going our way early and now we’ve got it going in a direction that we like.”
Phillies star Bryce Harper left Saturday’s game in the middle of the first inning due to a migraine, but Mattingly said the former two-time MVP might be able to return Sunday.
Winning Sunday would help Colorado stop its own early-season skid. The Rockies haven’t notched a series victory since sweeping the Mets in New York on April 24-26, dropping eight of their last 11 against the Reds, Braves, Mets (in Denver) and the Phillies.
Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (3-2, 3.41) is taking the ball for Colorado. He was the losing pitcher in his last start against the Mets on May 4, but he had a no-hitter in that outing through five before giving up four runs in the sixth. The Rockies ultimately fell 4-2.
Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer wasn’t deterred by the result and has taken positives from what he’s seen from Sugano in his first seven starts in Denver. Schaeffer said Sugano’s success comes from “putting the ball where he wants to” and “mixing well.”
The Rockies are getting exactly the pitcher they expected when they signed Sagano to a one-year deal in February, according to Schaeffer.
“The big arsenal that he has is something we desired in the offseason,” Schaeffer said. “He uses it extremely well. He attacks the strike zone, doesn’t walk guys.”
The 36-year-old was with Baltimore last season after playing in his native Japan as a member of the Yomiuri Giants from 2013-24. He won his only previous start against Philadelphia on April 5, allowing one run in six innings.
–Field Level Media
