Snell was in rare form. San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell had a night on the mound that he will never forget on Friday.
Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, threw the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark, helping lead San Francisco to a 3-0 win in the series opener.
The only blemish in the outing for Snell was allowing just a trio of free passes but he was dominate, striking out the last 11 Reds batters that he faced during his electrifying performance on the mound, punctuated by a line drive out from Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
“Seventh inning I felt a little tired, and then I kind of looked at the scoreboard and that’s when I noticed [the no-hitter], and I said, ‘You better wake up,'” Snell told NBC Sports Bay Area on the telecast.
“What a feeling,” a jubilant Snell added.
The Giants pitcher had a lot to recap after his gem of a no-hitter.
“They can’t say it anymore, you know?” Snell told reporters. “Complete game, shutout, no-hitter. Leave me alone. ‘He doesn’t go into the 9th. He doesn’t go into the 8th.’ Just did it. Leave me alone.”
Embed from Getty ImagesSnell’s no-no was the third no-hitter in major league baseball this season, following Ronel Blanco of the Houston Astros and Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres. It was the first by a Giant since Chris Heston’s outing against the New York Mets in 2015. After a forgettable start to the season and a brief stint on the IL, Snell is pitching out of his mind with a 0.55 ERA in his last five starts.
He won the Cy Young Award while playing for the Padres last season after taking it home in 2018 as a member of the Tampa Bay Ray. He joined elite company becoming the seventh player in major league history to win the award in both leagues. He inked a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants prior to the season getting underway.
Another first occurred in this matchup. The 31-year-old had never completed eight innings before throwing his no-hitter, but Snell recorded his first complete game in his 202nd career start in the majors and what a game it was. Snell added that he went into the ninth inning throwing strikes because he was afraid Giants skipper Bob Melvin would yank him at that point.
“That’s as nervous as I had been in a long time,” Melvin said. “I wanted that for him so bad. If anybody has the stuff to throw a no-hitter, it’s Blake Snell.”
Melvin trusted him and ultimately let him cook, and now Snell can add another notch to his belt to his decorated career.
