Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez didn’t try to sugarcoat one of the roughest starts of his major league career, describing his performance with a single word: “crap.”
The left-hander endured the worst outing of his career on Monday, surrendering a career-high nine earned runs over just 3 1/3 innings as the Phillies were routed 15-1 by the Kansas City Royals.
When asked afterward if he could identify what went wrong, the 29-year-old admitted he didn’t have a clear explanation.
“Nothing really,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I mean, it’s just a game. As I learn from the good things that we have on the field, and the things when we perform well, the same thing when I don’t perform. I just try to learn from it.”
Sanchez’s previous career high for earned runs allowed came in April when he gave up seven against the Chicago Cubs. Against Kansas City, three of the Royals’ four home runs came off his trademark changeup, a pitch that has typically been one of his biggest strengths.
“I don’t really know,” Sanchez said. “Maybe it wasn’t doing as it always does. You’ve got to get credit to them, because they got me today. They made me pay, and you just have to keep going.”
The Phillies also struggled defensively early in the contest. Holding a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Sanchez found himself with runners on the corners and one out when Jac Caglianone hit a potential inning-ending ground ball. The Phillies recorded the force at second, but shortstop Trea Turner’s throw to first sailed wide, allowing Bobby Witt Jr. to score the tying run. Kansas City capitalized on the mistake, piling on five more runs in the inning to seize complete control.
“You’ve got to make (that play),” Turner said. “Who knows how that game ends up. (If) he gets out of it clean, and then gets on a roll, who knows how it turns out. That was a game-changer.”
Phillies manager Don Mattingly agreed that the opening inning set the tone, though he emphasized it wasn’t the club’s only problem in a series loss to the last-place Royals.
“I know you can’t assume a double play, but with Trea, you would think it’s a double play,” Mattingly said. “You gotta make that throw.”
“But after that, we didn’t really stop them either. And we had some chances. In the first couple innings, we get the bases loaded twice, (and) we don’t score. We end up leaving 15. (We had) 10 hits, seven walks and only get one run. We had chances to kind of creep back in it.”
Despite Sanchez allowing five and four earned runs in his previous two road outings before Monday’s blowup, Mattingly isn’t overly concerned about the All-Star left-hander moving forward.
“You’re always kind of looking at everything,” Mattingly said. “He doesn’t seem to be as sharp (on the road) as at home. I don’t know if that has necessarily anything to do with it. Obviously, you don’t have the same mound you’re used to, but everybody pitches on the road.”
Sanchez is expected to make one more start, likely against the Detroit Tigers, before the All-Star break, and he’s determined to solve whatever has contributed to his recent road struggles.
“I know that it’s something that’s happened on the road,” Sanchez said. “I don’t really have an answer for that. Maybe not being so familiar with the stadiums, but it’s just something that we have to improve.”