CINCINNATI — Blake Snell hurled the first no-hitter of his career and the 18th in Giants franchise history as San Francisco blanked the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Friday.
Snell (1-3), coming off a career-best 15-strikeout performance against the Colorado Rockies on July 27, was again overpowering, striking out 11 and working around three walks while getting a clutch line-drive double play.
After throwing seven no-hit innings last Sept. 19 against Colorado, Snell was taken out of the game with his pitch count at 104. Snell had never pitched into the ninth inning before Friday night. Snell, unaffected by a 60-minute weather delay to start the game, retired Elly De La Cruz on a fly to right to complete the no-hitter on 114 pitches.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Snell said. “I’ve always wanted to go nine. Just haven’t done it in the big leagues. For me, it feels really good.”
It was the 10th no-hitter since the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, the first since Chris Heston stymied the New York Mets on June 9, 2015.
Snell entered the game 0-3 with a 5.10 ERA in 10 starts, having endured two stints on the injured list.
“I don’t get worried about it,” he said of his slow start to the year. “It’s more about fans, media, ‘Oh, he’s pitching bad. Oh, six starts, 9.00 ERA.’ I go through it every day, break it down, how do I get better and keep competing and attacking. I know it’s going to turn around.
“I didn’t know it was going to be what I did the last two games, but I knew I was going to get better and better and the consistency was going to come.”
The abbreviated no-hit bid against the Rockies last year followed an infamous Snell outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. With Tampa Bay ahead 1-0, Snell allowed a one-out single in the sixth inning, just the Dodgers’ second hit of the night. Rays manager Kevin Cash then pulled Snell in favor of reliever Nick Anderson, who promptly squandered the lead.
The Dodgers went on to win the game 3-1, clinching the championship.
Snell said postgame Friday, “Now I have the complete game, the shutout, the no-hitter, so just leave me alone. I just pitch. It’s always been something else, something else, just let me pitch.”
Cincinnati was held without a hit for the 14th time in franchise history, with the last coming on May 7, 2019, in Oakland against the Athletics’ Mike Fiers.
“He had great stuff,” Reds manager David Bell said of Snell. “Did a great job reading us. He earned every out that he got tonight. He was able to go deep in the game. That’s what’s rare. He was able to get outs quick enough to be able to continue for one thing. When we were able to get on, he was able to bear down and get outs.”
It was the third no-hitter thrown in 2024, following gems by the Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco vs. the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1 and the San Diego Padres’ Dylan Cease away against the Washington Nationals on July 25.
Tyler Fitzgerald went 3-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBIs for San Francisco.
Casey Schmitt belted a 91 mph fastball from Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott (9-8) into the upper deck in left, 420 feet away, for a 1-0 San Francisco lead in the second inning. It was his fourth homer of the season.
Marco Luciano followed with a single to left, and Fitzgerald then hit an RBI double to left.
The two runs gave Snell a cushion he didn’t enjoy on July 27 against the Rockies, when he threw six shutout innings in a no-decision as the Giants eventually prevailed 4-1.
The two runs were the only two surrendered by Abbott, who was pulled with one out in the fifth with runners on first and second and one out. Abbott allowed seven hits and a walk while striking out eight.
Snell walked two batters in the fifth, including Stephenson to open the inning. However, Jeimer Candelario lined out to Schmitt at second, who threw back to first base for the double play.
“You walk a guy and then Candy lines out and then I walk right after, so I think all things kind of have to go right for something like that to happen,” Reds center fielder TJ Friedl said.
Fitzgerald belted his 10th homer off reliever Nick Martinez in the seventh for a 3-0 lead.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
