PHILADELPHIA — He had thrown 30 pitches, far too many for two outs in any inning, let alone one in an exhibition game. Cristopher Sánchez’s night was done. Then he looked to the National League dugout and signaled for one more batter. No pitcher had ever started the All-Star Game and failed to complete an inning.Sánchez got his wish. He struck out Riley Greene on four pitches, the last a trademark Sánchez changeup, and that was that. The entire night at Citizens Bank Park was a celebration of baseball and a country celebrating its 250th anniversary, but Sánchez’s 14 minutes on the mound Tuesday came with a twinge of disappointment.It was only 14 minutes. Sánchez waved to his family, as he always does, while he walked from the mound to the dugout. Before that, when he was in the bullpen and introduced as the starting pitcher for the NL, Sánchez tapped his heart with his right hand for five seconds. He saluted the crowd.This was about more than the inning he threw.“I was extremely excited to do that,” Sánchez said through Phillies interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “Coming from La Romana, back home in the Dominican Republic. Coming from basically nothing. It means a lot to me, this experience. It’s just a sign that we’ve been doing things the right way.”The game, a 4-0 victory by the American League, might have been forgettable for most of the Phillies representatives; Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-2 and Brandon Marsh struck out twice. Bryce Harper struck out in his only at-bat. Jesús Luzardo had a dominant six-pitch inning. Someone botched the timing for Jhoan Duran’s trademark entrance because the song didn’t start.“This is definitely No. 1 for me,” said Schwarber, a four-time All-Star. “It’s definitely one that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. I’m happy that my kids were able to be here. My family was able to be here. I’m proud to be playing for the Phillies and proud of representing this organization and our fans.”How Philly landed the All-Star Game for America’s 250Tyler Kepner and moreSo, excuse everyone for overlooking Sánchez’s inning as the thing that deflated this dull 96th edition of the Midsummer Classic. He allowed three runs and walked two batters in that 34-pitch first inning. He’s made 43 regular-season starts at Citizens Bank Park since 2024. The only time he’s allowed three runs and two walks in one of those home starts was July 26, 2024.Everything has changed for Sánchez since. His place in the sport is secure; he finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting last season. He has pitched like one of the best in the league this season. He has a reworked $95 million contract extension that begins next season.Sánchez was the first Dominican pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Johnny Cueto in 2016. He was the first lefty from the Dominican Republic to do it.“The D.R.’s had a lot of very, very good right-handed pitchers,” Phillies bullpen coach César Ramos said earlier this season. “And it’s kind of cool to see. This guy has a chance to be one of the great Dominican left-handed pitchers in the game.”It’s true. Sánchez is already among that class. He has the lowest career ERA (3.12) for a Dominican lefty. He’s pitched the sixth-most innings. The standard-bearers are Framber Valdez, Francisco Liriano and Wandy Rodríguez. Sánchez already has the second-most career bWAR among Dominican lefties. Most fathers in the Dominican Republic teach their kids to throw right-handed.Sánchez was thinking about his father this week. He could not make it to Philadelphia to see the game in person.“I just dedicate this performance to him and dedicate this whole event to him,” Sánchez said. “You know, I love you a lot. All that I’ve been able to do throughout my life, both on and off the field, it’s because of you. So I love you.”Cristopher Sánchez pitched for the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. (Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)Sánchez said he chatted with Paul Skenes and Chris Sale about pitching. Logan Webb, a fellow changeup enthusiast, discussed the art with Sánchez. “The arm action is incredible,” Webb said of Sánchez, “and obviously the movement as well.” Webb has about a 6 mph difference between his fastball and changeup. Sánchez throws his sinker in the mid-to-upper 90s. His changeup sits about 8 mph slower. That’s the sweet spot for separation.“You talk to a lot of hitters, they say, you really don’t know if it’s a fastball or a changeup,” Webb said. “Both of them are very, very good.”Sánchez threw 10 changeups in his outing. Hitters swung at it only three times, but they whiffed at all three. The first changeup Sánchez threw was strike three to Mike Trout.The rest of the inning devolved from there.Sánchez will probably return to the Citizens Bank Park mound sometime next week when the Los Angeles Dodgers appear for a rematch of last October’s taut National League Division Series. Sánchez started two games in that series and permitted three runs in 12 innings. He was not why the Phillies lost.He was the losing pitcher in the All-Star Game at his home ballpark. So be it. After his inning, someone asked Sánchez if he was aware of becoming only the sixth Dominican to start the All-Star Game.It is a remarkable feat, considering his journey.“I knew it,” Sánchez said. “It feels great, actually, to be on that list. That only motivates me to be even better, to get even better both as a player — and more importantly as a person, too.”