Cristopher Sánchez maintains his dominance over Shohei Ohtani in Phillies win

PHILADELPHIA. – Dominican pitcher Cristopher Sánchez once again proved he has the formula to dominate Shohei Ohtani, limiting the Japanese superstar again during the Philadelphia Phillies’ 10-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.

You might be interested in; Red Sox are one win away from the record after beating Orioles 6-5

Sánchez started the game by facing Ohtani with authority. He struck him out in the first inning after combining two sinkers and a slider, making the Japanese batter fail in his attempts to make contact.

The lefty prevailed again in the following matchups. In the third inning, he forced Ohtani to ground out, and in the fifth, he retired him again via strikeout, this time with a sinker perfectly located on the outside corner.

Although his performance ended with three runs allowed in 5.1 innings and he was relieved after throwing 99 pitches, Sánchez stood out again every time he faced the two-time Most Valuable Player.

The statistics reflect the Dominican’s dominance over Ohtani. In 25 matchups, including the postseason, the Japanese player has barely managed four hits against him, all singles, with no extra-base hits, in addition to accumulating 12 strikeouts and not receiving a single walk.

Sánchez shares with the Dominican Framber Valdez and Chris Bassitt the privilege of being one of the only pitchers who have struck out Ohtani at least 12 times. Likewise, along with David Peterson, he is the only pitcher who has faced the Japanese star at least 20 times without allowing a single extra-base hit.

Among pitchers with a minimum of 25 at-bats facing Ohtani, only Framber Valdez, Gerrit Cole, and the Peruvian-Venezuelan Jesús Luzardo have managed to limit him to a batting average lower than the .160 he records against Cristopher Sánchez.

The lefty’s solid performance was key for the Phillies to overcome the Dodgers and reinforced his reputation as one of the pitchers who has best managed to control the Japanese phenomenon throughout his career.