Sánchez sets Phillies record with 44 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings

Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez passed Hall of Famer Grover Alexander on Wednesday for the longest scoreless innings streak in franchise history.

Sánchez broke the 115-year-old record of 41 consecutive innings when he got San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill to ground out in the fourth inning.

Sánchez's current scoreless run is up to 44 2/3 innings after blanking the Padres for seven innings, allowing six hits with zero walks on nine strikeouts to pick up the win in a 3-0 victory, which completed a three-game sweep.

The Phillies' previous mark stood since at least 1893, when the mound was moved back to its current distance.

"It was incredible," Sánchez said postgame, according to Paul Casella of MLB.com. "It's really special what we have here as a group, as an organization as a whole - the players, the staff, the medical staff. So, it's just really special to share things like this with this tremendous group that we have here."

Sánchez's streak is also the longest by a left-hander in the expansion era, passing the previous record held by Clayton Kershaw in 2014, according to Jeff Kerr of 97.3 ESPN FM.

The 29-year-old is one inning away from the longest scoreless streak by a southpaw since 1900. He's also on the verge of breaking into MLB's all-time top 10 if he records one more out.

Sánchez didn't surrender a run in May, joining Orel Hershiser, who owns the MLB record with 59 straight shutout innings, as the only pitchers since 1913 to go an entire month without giving up a run (min. 30 innings pitched).

Sánchez now owns a 1.47 ERA with 1.12 WHIP and 95 strikeouts in 79 1/3 innings (12 starts) this season.