Cristopher Sánchez pitches five ‘pain free’ innings in Phillies’ win over Nationals

When Cristopher Sánchez threw for the first time in warm-ups ahead of Wednesday’s game against Washington, Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham thought he looked like his regular self.

“When he was playing catch, the first throw, he was firing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And so Caleb felt pretty good about it.”

The Phillies were confident that Sánchez had avoided structural damage after he was removed two innings into his last start on April 22 with left forearm tightness. He reported feeling normal the next day, and threw a bullpen session on Sunday.

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But the team still breathed a sigh of relief seeing Sánchez back on the mound for the 7-2 win over the Nationals.

“That was what I was looking for today, just feeling like my best self, as I always do,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “And just go out and compete, and we did just that.”

The Phillies’ bats gave him plenty of run support, with Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Max Kepler each clubbing homers. The offense only recorded two strikeouts, tying a season low set on April 15 against San Francisco.

Sánchez threw 87 pitches over five innings and limited the Nationals to two runs. His velocity was back to normal, with his fastball averaging 95.7 mph. But, after an eight-day layoff between starts, he struggled with his command at times.

In the third inning, Sánchez allowed a leadoff walk to nine-hole hitter Jacob Young and then hit CJ Abrams with a pitch, though he erased Abrams with a double play. Young scored on a double from Nathaniel Lowe to put the Nationals on the board.

The Nationals scored another run on two singles and a fielder’s choice in the fifth inning, but Sánchez battled back with a pair of strikeouts to strand two.

Sánchez struck out six and issued three walks overall, the most he’s allowed in a game this year.

“I felt a little rusty today, but I think that I can fix that easily,” he said.

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Second baseman Bryson Stott was in the lineup after having a finger stepped on by Nationals pitcher Kyle Finnegan Tuesday night while scoring the walk-off run on a wild pitch. While X-rays were negative, Thomson expected him to be sore.

But if he was, it didn’t seem to affect his approach at the plate. In the leadoff spot, Stott went 2-for-5 and stole a base.

Stott got the offense started in the first inning with a leadoff single. Trea Turner worked a four-pitch walk before Schwarber golfed a curveball from Jake Irvin off the scoreboard on the second deck of the right-field stands with a one-handed swing.

It marked Schwarber’s second home run in as many games, and gave the Phillies an early 3-0 lead.

“I thought it was a complete game today,” Thomson said. “I thought we really played well in all facets. We didn’t strike out. I didn’t think we got out of the zone. We controlled it on both sides of the ball for the most part.”

The Phillies also led off the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth innings with hits, and each time the runner came around to score. Realmuto singled to lead off the fourth, and scored on an RBI single from Stott. Bryce Harper doubled to lead off the fifth, and was driven home by Nick Castellanos.

In the sixth, Kepler gave the Phillies an insurance run with a leadoff homer, his third of the year. Realmuto added another solo homer over the left-field wall to lead off the eighth.

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The Phillies’ bullpen kept the Nationals off the scoreboard over the final four innings. José Ruiz, Tanner Banks, and Carlos Hernández split the job in relief, and did not allow a single hit or walk.

“Ruiz’s stuff was really good. Fastball velocity was excellent. Threw strikes,” Thomson said. “All of them got ahead of the count and put people away, and got some swings and misses. Banks was good. And Hernández, he’s really come along.”

Johan Rojas was checked out by Phillies trainers after diving awkwardly stealing second base in the eighth. He remained in the game. Thomson said he was winded.

Wednesday’s win marks the Phillies’ fourth in a row, and secures their second consecutive series win since being swept by the New York Mets last week.

“That was a really good game,” Thomson said. “Now we got to do it again.”