Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez dominated the Texas Rangers on Thursday in his first start. The runner-up for the National League Cy Young Award impressed so much that Rangers first baseman Jake Burger called him a “bonafide superstar.”
“I think we saw why he was a runner up in Cy Young last year,” Burger said to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “His changeup has the same shape and tightness to the ball as his sinker. He gets guys off balance really easy with that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done against him. …. Obviously he’s an ace. He’s a bonafide superstar in the game.”
Sanchez pitched six innings without allowing a run, walking none, and struck out 10. Sanchez’s stat line has only happened five other times on Opening Day, with Hall of Fame right-hander Bob Gibson doing so in 1967.
Current Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore accomplished the feat last season against the Phillies, per MLB.com’s Paul Casella.