"This is why Korea Korea was stuck." Cy Young's second-ranked PHI Sanchez showed off his overwhelming dignity in the MLB opening match.

*This content was translated by AI.

Dominican Republic ace Christopher Sanchez (30, Philadelphia Phillies), who blocked South Korea in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals, pitched perfectly from the opening game of the season.

Sanchez threw 87 pitches in six innings against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the 27th (Korea Standard Time), striking out 10 and striking out three hits.

Sanchez, who handed over the ball to the bullpen from the seventh inning with a 5-0 lead, gave up three runs in the top of the ninth inning, but eventually won 5-3 to become the winning pitcher in the opening game.

Sanchez, who made his debut in Philadelphia in 2021, won his first double-digit victory in 2024 and went 171 innings in 32 games last year, going 13-5 with a 212 strikeout average (ERA) of 2.50 and ranking second in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

It is a very familiar pitcher even to domestic baseball fans. As the starting pitcher for Dominica, which South Korea faced in the second round of the WBC on the 14th, he pitched only 63 innings, but pitched two hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, and perfect pitching.

The Korean national team's batters were helpless by a fastball with a maximum speed of 96.9 miles (155.9 kilometers) and eventually had to swallow their disappointment with a painful 0-107 cold game loss.

However, the defeat against Dominica did not spark much criticism. There was no choice but to acknowledge the difference in level with Dominica, and Sanchez was among them.

He showed his prowess from the opening game of the MLB new season. Sanchez, who lightly hit the first two batters in the top of the first inning, gave up consecutive hits to Corey Seager and Jake Berger, putting out the fire by striking out Andrew McCutchen with a swing and miss.

Sanchez, who took the mound again in the second inning with the scoring support of Kyle Schwarber's first two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, struck out Josh Jung and Josh Smith in succession to end the second inning with three outs, and added two strikeouts in the third inning to finish the inning in three batters once again.

In the fourth inning, he allowed a double to McCutchen with two outs, but he did not allow a run by inducing a ground ball to the game.

Sanchez, who finished with three outs in the fifth inning, finished the best with three more points on his back with Alec Bohm's three-run shot. Brandon Nimmo struck out on the outside and Wyatt Langford on a low course. It was the ball that bothered Korean batters. Sanchez, who also had no choice but to think of a sinker, sprayed a changeup on the outside low side and took the timing perfectly and deleted the inning with KKK.

MLB.COM, the official website of MLB, said after the game, "Sanchez pitched historically, playing a decisive role in the victory against Texas," adding, "It is the sixth time since the opening game with no outs and 10 strikeouts in six innings."

In addition, he was listed as the pitcher with the most strikeouts in the opening game after Kurt Schilling's 11 strikeouts in 1997.

Philadelphia, which finished the seventh and eighth innings well, scored Joan Duran with one out and three outs after Kyle Backhurs, who took the mound in the ninth inning, got a hit by Seager and a two-run shot by Berger. Duran struck out Ezekiel Duran with a swing and miss, and Danny Jansen hit a timely hit, but Ivan Carter's perfect defense ended the game with a 5-2 victory.

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*This content was translated by AI.