Phillies waste a strong outing from Cristopher Sánchez in 1-0 loss to the Guardians

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — As rain poured at Citizens Bank Park for most of the evening, the starting pitchers put on a show.

Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez dueled the Cleveland Guardians’ Gavin Williams on Friday, with both starters turning in eight scoreless innings.

With a scoreless tie in the ninth inning, Phillies brought in closer Jhoan Duran. Kyle Manzardo, pinch-hitting for Rhys Hoskins, jumped on a first-pitch splitter and homered to the opposite field to finally break the stalemate.

The Phillies offense couldn’t come through against Guardians closer Cade Smith, with Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper going down in order to seal the 1-0 loss.

It wasted a spectacular outing from Sánchez, who, fresh off a shutout last week in Pittsburgh, continued his run of dominance. He extended his scoreless streak to 37 2/3 innings, which ranks second in franchise history behind Grover Alexander’s streak of 41 in 1911.

Sánchez generated 22 swings-and-misses, 11 of which came on his changeup. He struck out six.

But Williams matched him. The Guardians right-hander got ahead in the count often, throwing first-pitch strikes 67% of the time. His breaking balls were especially effective, with seven of his 11 strikeouts coming on his sweeper.

Harper doubled down the first base line in the first inning, but Alec Bohm struck out to strand him there. And that was the only hit Williams allowed until Bryson Stott singled in the fifth.

Schwarber, who returned to the lineup after missing three straight games with a stomach issue, struck out looking three times against Williams and swinging once against Smith.

Sánchez walked two batters and scattered four singles. But thanks to several force outs at second, a double play in the fourth, and J.T Realmuto catching a runner stealing in the fifth, the Guardians didn’t advance a single runner into scoring position against him.

With Sánchez’s pitch count up to 96, Duran relieved him for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single to José Ramirez, but García tracked the ball down in right field and threw a laser to second to throw Ramirez out. When Manzardo homered on the next pitch, the play became even more crucial for keeping the game close.

But Smith only needed eight pitches to retire the side in the bottom of the ninth to earn his MLB-leading 17th save and push the Phillies back below the .500 mark.