For the first time this season, Phillies lefty Cristopher Sanchez will take the mound today as the betting favorite for the NL Cy Young Award as the 2025 runner-up faces the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in a series finale. It's a 4:10 ET first pitch in a getaway game for Philadelphia as it eyes what would be an impressive three-game sweep.
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Phillies vs. Padres single-game parlay
- Philadelphia money line
- Under 1.5 first-inning runs
DraftKings SGP: +102
Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes was the unanimous 2025 NL Cy Young winner and had been the favorite pretty much this entire season but has looked mortal in back-to-back losses and has slipped to a +400 third favorite to repeat behind Sanchez (+200) and Milwaukee fire-balling righty Jacob Misiorowski (+340). The Phillies haven't had a Cy Young winner since Roy Halladay in 2010 and only one lefty in team history has won it in Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, who won it four times.
There is no doubt the 29-year-old Sanchez (5-2, 1.62 ERA), who was +700 in the spring for the Cy Young, is the leading candidate as well for NL Pitcher of the Month. After throwing eight shutout innings last time out in a no-decision against Cleveland, the Dominican is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 32.0 innings in May with just 19 hits allowed and 36 strikeouts to three walks.
Sanchez's streak of 37.2 scoreless innings is the second-longest scoreless streak by a Phillies pitcher since 1893 -- when the mound moved to its current distance -- trailing Grover Alexander's 41-inning streak in 1911 during the "dead-ball" era. Sanchez holds the third-longest scoreless streak by a left-handed pitcher since 1961, behind Clayton Kershaw (41 innings in 2014) and Kenny Rogers (39 innings in 1995). The overall MLB record belongs to Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser, who went 59 innings without allowing a run in 1988.
In addition, Sanchez is the first pitcher since Kershaw in 2015 to turn in four consecutive scoreless starts of at least seven innings. Hershiser won the '88 Cy Young, but Kershaw finished third in '15, with the Cubs' Jake Arrieta winning. Sanchez is only the fourth pitcher since at least 1900 to tally at least 36 strikeouts and 32 scoreless innings over a span of four scoreless starts, joining Kershaw (2014 and '15), Ray Culp (1968) and Ed Walsh (1910).
"I've never felt like this," Sánchez said after his last outing. "I mean, the way the mechanics are feeling, and the way that my body's feeling, I think that's something I've never felt like before."
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Sanchez has introduced a new slider this year with more bite and threw more sliders (31) in his last start than any other in his career. Guardians batters swung at the slider 13 times and missed nine. You would actually be down $44 if you wagered $100 on each of Sanchez's 11 starts this year for the Phillies to win the game, because they are usually huge favorites when they do win.
Last season, Sanchez was 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA in two starts spanning 14.1 innings vs. San Diego. The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts him for 6.6 innings, 6.8 strikeouts, 5.8 hits allowed and 1.7 earned runs today. Sanchez is -125 at DK to get the win and set with a very high Over/Under outs total of 20.5. For zero earned runs allowed, he's +295. Fernando Tatis Jr. has had some success off him at 5-for-11 with a homer but still hasn't gone yard yet in 2026.
The Padres start Walker Buehler (3-2, 5.05), who once was an NL Cy Young candidate like Sanchez but has largely fallen on tough times -- in part due to injury -- since 2022. But San Diego has won Buehler's past four even though he has a mediocre 4.64 ERA in them. Buehler made a few appearances for the Phillies in 2025 but also faced them once while with the Red Sox, allowing one earned over seven innings in a no-decision.
Bryce Harper hammers Buehler, going 4-for-6 with three doubles and a homer in his career, but Trea Turner perhaps gets a rare day off as he's 0-for-16 with five strikeouts. Harper is +537 to hit one out today.
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I previewed another NL Cy Young candidate on Tuesday at CBS Sports in the Brewers Kyle Harrison, and backing the lefty and his team cashed. No reason not to continue the trend today. The Padres have totaled only five runs in a three-game skid. We will give a little wiggle room on the first inning and play 1.5 instead of 0.5. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
