Phillies

Cristopher Sanchez Joins Very Small Group of Phillies Pitchers to Strike Out 10 or More Batters on Opening Day

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 27th, 2026 · 9:57 AM EDT

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Brilliant outing for Cristopher Sanchez on opening day.

He threw six innings of zero run baseball, allowing three hits and no walks. He struck out 10 while throwing 87 pitches and inducing seven ground balls.

The double digit strikeout number put him into the record books as one of just four Phillies pitchers to ever throw 10 or more Ks on opening day:

Most Ks Phillies Opening Day

Season	Player	Team	Ks	Game Date/Opponent
1965	Chris Short	Philadelphia Phillies	11	04/12/1965 at Houston Astros
1997	Curt Schilling	Philadelphia Phillies	11	04/01/1997 at Los Angeles Dodgers
1963	Art Mahaffey	Philadelphia Phillies	10	04/09/1963 vs Cincinnati Reds
1968	Chris Short	Philadelphia Phillies	10	04/10/1968 at Los Angeles Dodgers
2026	Cristopher Sánchez	Philadelphia Phillies	10	03/26/2026 vs Texas Rangers
2007	Brett Myers	Philadelphia Phillies	9	04/02/2007 vs Atlanta Braves
1998	Curt Schilling	Philadelphia Phillies	9	03/31/1998 at New York Mets
2010	Roy Halladay	Philadelphia Phillies	9	04/05/2010 at Washington Nationals
1983	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	9	04/05/1983 at New York Mets
2019	Aaron Nola	Philadelphia Phillies	8	03/28/2019 vs Atlanta Braves
1966	Chris Short	Philadelphia Phillies	8	04/13/1966 at St. Louis Cardinals
1957	Robin Roberts	Philadelphia Phillies	8	04/16/1957 vs Brooklyn Dodgers
1996	Sid Fernandez	Philadelphia Phillies	8	04/02/1996 vs Colorado Rockies
1981	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	8	04/08/1981 at Cincinnati Reds
2025	Zack Wheeler	Philadelphia Phillies	8	03/27/2025 at Washington Nationals
2020	Aaron Nola	Philadelphia Phillies	7	07/24/2020 vs Miami Marlins
2022	Aaron Nola	Philadelphia Phillies	7	04/08/2022 vs Oakland Athletics
1910	George McQuillan	Philadelphia Phillies	7	04/14/1910 vs Brooklyn Superbas
2021	Aaron Nola	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/01/2021 vs Atlanta Braves
2009	Brett Myers	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/05/2009 vs Atlanta Braves
2015	Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/06/2015 vs Boston Red Sox
1994	Curt Schilling	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/04/1994 at Colorado Rockies
1918	Erskine Mayer	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/16/1918 vs Boston Braves
2016	Jeremy Hellickson	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/04/2016 at Cincinnati Reds
2001	Omar Daal	Philadelphia Phillies	6	04/02/2001 at Florida Marlins

Looking through archives, that Schilling game was a total gem. He threw eight innings, allowed two hits, walked three batters, and had the 11 whiffs. Ricky Bottalico entered in the 9th inning to close out a 3-0 win in which the only Dodgers to get a hit were Brett Butler and Wilton Guerrero. Raul Mondesi and Mike Piazza went 0-6 with four combined strikeouts. Kevin Stocker had a three-hit game and drove in a run with Scott Rolen and Rico Brogna getting the other Phillies RBIs.

As for Chris Short back in 1965, Baseball Reference data shows this as a 2-0 shutout win for the Phils. He threw all nine innings, allowing four hits and three walks. Dick Allen knocked in both runs for the Phillies, who was named an All-Star with Cookie Rojas and Johnny Callison. Short finished the season with a 2.82 ERA, throwing 297.1 innings (!) and striking out 237 batters.