On Friday night, Blake Snell made history by pitching his first career no-hitter as the San Francisco Giants triumphed over the Cincinnati Reds with a score of 3-0. The NL Cy Young Award winner struck out 10 batters, walked three, and threw a total of 114 pitches, with 78 of them being strikes. This marked his first complete game in his 202 major league starts.
Snell, who is 31 years old, dominated the Reds’ lineup, particularly the top order, striking out Jonathan India three times, and Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer twice each. He approached the ninth inning with great momentum, securing crucial outs until De La Cruz hit a long drive to the right-center field gap, only to be caught by right-fielder Mike Yastrzemski with an impressive leap, sealing Snell’s no-hitter.
This achievement marked the 18th no-hitter in the history of the Giants’ franchise and the third one in the majors for the season. Earlier in the season, no-hitters were thrown by Houston’s Ronal Blanco against Toronto on April 1 and San Diego’s Dylan Cease against Washington on July 25. The Giants received offensive support from Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald, who hit home runs during the game.
Snell’s previous notable performances this season included pitching six perfect innings against Minnesota and striking out 15 batters in his last outing. The pitcher had previously won the Cy Young Award during his time with the San Diego Padres in 2020 and with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, making him the seventh player in MLB history to achieve this double honor.
Cincinnati’s last no-hitter was on May 17, 2019, by Mike Fiers of the Oakland A’s in a 2-0 defeat. Reds’ starter Andrew Abbott had a tough night, lasting only 4 1/3 innings, conceding two runs and seven hits while striking out eight. In other news, Luke Maile was activated from the 10-day injured list, and Emilio Pagán is on a rehab stint with Triple-A Louisville for a right lat strain.
In the upcoming game in the series, Giants’ left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison with a 6-4 record and a 3.69 ERA will face off against Reds’ right-hander Hunter Greene, who holds a 7-4 record with a 2.97 ERA.
