Cristopher Sánchez received a strong ovation from fans at Citizens Bank Park before Game 1 of the National League Division Series, as he walked out to begin his warmups well ahead of the first pitch. Phillies manager Rob Thomson commented on the atmosphere, saying, “What’s really cool is when I sit here [in my office] and watch the overhead [camera] prior to the game. We have all the doors open, and when the starting pitcher walks out, you can hear the crowd. You don’t get it during the regular season. I’m usually sitting here when he goes out, and you can hear the crowd starting to go.”
Sánchez started strong against the Los Angeles Dodgers, striking out Shohei Ohtani three times—once in each of Ohtani’s first three at-bats. The left-hander used a mix of pitches including a low-and-inside changeup and a fast sinker that reached 97.1 mph.
This performance continued Sánchez’s recent success against Ohtani; earlier in April, he also struck out Ohtani three times in one game. Across their meetings this season—including postseason games—Ohtani has managed only one hit in nine at-bats against Sánchez while striking out eight times.
“To me, it’s just a regular matchup,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “I try to go out there and attack early on, and execute my plan. As I would do with every other hitter, I just want to follow my plan and get results.”
The Phillies took an early lead by scoring three runs off Ohtani in the second inning. Sánchez held Los Angeles scoreless for five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth after two quick outs; following a walk and a single allowed by Sánchez, Kiké Hernández hit a two-run double that narrowed Philadelphia’s lead to one run.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto praised Sánchez’s outing: “He looked good. He looked great… Other than that inning, he looked like his old self, he was great.”
Sánchez left with his team still ahead but did not factor into the decision after Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run home run off reliever Matt Strahm in the seventh inning to give Los Angeles a 5-3 win.
Ohtani also recovered from his rough second inning as pitcher for Los Angeles by recording nine strikeouts over six innings and earning credit for the win despite four strikeouts as a batter—a rare occurrence for him.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Ohtani: “He’s not always going to be perfect… But I do feel that him giving up the three [runs] and to still go out there and give us six innings — so, five innings tonight he threw shutout baseball — was huge. So it’s a quality start for him. He gets the win.”
Reflecting on his individual performance amid defeat, Sánchez said: “I mean, we lost tonight, so personally, I don’t care about how I do individually… If we lose the game, then I don’t feel good.”
