CINCINNATI — Blake Snell was one out away from pitching the first no-hit game in his illustrious career and had to get power-hitting Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz one more time.
De La Cruz jumped on Snell’s first pitch, a 97.8 mph fastball in the middle of zone, ripping it hard to the gap in right-center field. Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski — inserted for defensive purposes in the eighth inning — ran it down, leaping to make the catch and preserve Snell’s gem and 3-0 win.
The 31-year-old lefty, the league’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, was mobbed by his teammates. It was the third no-hitter in the majors this season.
“You’re so amped up in the last inning there, to be able to make that throw when you are trying to throw it as hard as you can to the plate,” Snell said.
“I’m still kind of in shock. I need to go home and let it sink in. I haven’t really processed the game.”
Snell (1-3) struck out 11 and threw 114 pitches, 78 of them strikes. He said he came into the ninth inning throwing strikes because he feared Giants manager Bob Melvin would remove him at 120 pitches. He wanted the complete game, something he’d never done in 202 major league starts.
“I knew in my head I had to get it over the plate,” he said.
It took him 10 pitches to strike out Santiago Espinal and get Jonathan India on a comebacker before De La Cruz swung at the 11th.
Actually, Melvin said he was ready to pull Snell if he had allowed a hit in the ninth. He was watching Snell closely because the pitcher started developing a blister around the seventh inning.
“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.”
Snell was especially effective against the top of Cincinnati’s order, striking out India three times, and De La Cruz and Spencer Steer twice each.
“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.
Snell recorded the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history to make it three in the majors this season. Houston’s Ronel Blanco no-hit Toronto on April 1, and San Diego’s Dylan Cease pitched a no-hitter against Washington on July 25.
“I don’t think it will be his only one,” said Reds pitcher Nick Martinez, who played with Snell in San Diego last season. “He was commanding the ball very well. It seemed like he didn’t miss a spot all night. He has some electric stuff.”
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Snell had never completed even eight innings before throwing his no-hitter, giving him his first complete game in his 202nd career start. Only two pitchers have made more starts before their first nine-inning complete game and no pitcher had made more starts at the time of a no-hitter as their first complete game.
Snell’s combined 26 strikeouts from Friday’s 11 and the 15 he recorded in his previous start are tied for the second most in a two-game span by a Giants pitcher since 1900.
Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the Giants on Friday.
Snell threw six perfect innings against Minnesota on July 14, before the Twins’ Manuel Margot singled leading off the seventh. Snell struck out 15 in his last outing July 27, yielding two hits through six innings.
He won the Cy Young Award while playing for San Diego last season after winning it in 2018 as a Tampa Bay Ray. He became the seventh player in major league history to win the award in both leagues. He signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants before the season.
The most recent no-hitter for the Giants was by Chris Heston on June 19, 2015, as San Francisco beat the New York Mets 5-0.
The Reds were last no-hit on May 17, 2019, by Mike Fiers of the Oakland A’s in a 2-0 loss.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott lasted just 4⅓ innings in Friday’s game, allowing two runs and seven hits. He struck out eight.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source: www.espn.com