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.
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 his teammates. It was 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,” he said. “I need to go home and let it sink in. I haven’t really processed the game.”
Snell (1-3) struck out 10 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.
Snell recorded the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history and the third in the majors this season. Houston’s Ronal 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.”
Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the Giants on Friday.
Snell threw six…