Giants immediately rewarded for keeping Snell with magical outing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The worst part of Blake Snell’s Friday came in the moments after he made history by throwing the 18th no-hitter in Giants history, and the first of his career.
As Snell stood alone and talked on the NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Giants Postgame Live,” fellow pitcher Logan Webb and another San Francisco teammate snuck up from behind and doused Snell with a cooler full of ice and water.
The chill was bad enough. Then Snell got hid in the head by the lid of the cooler as the two pranksters scurried away.
“Get a replay of that,” Snell said as water dripped around him. “That’s how you don’t do it. They hit me in the head with the dang lid.”
That and three walks were the only things that separated Snell from a perfect night.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner, who was the Giants’ most prized offseason acquisition, had scuffled through the first four months of the season while dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness.
That led to a lot of criticism from fans and media, some of whom believed it would be in San Francisco’s best interest to trade Snell away in hopes of getting something, anything, back on their $62 million investment that they made in the pitcher.
From certain viewpoints, it seemed almost like a foregone conclusion that a deal was going to be made.
Instead, Farhan Zaidi’s decision to stand pat might have been the best choice he’s made since taking over as head of baseball operations in 2018.
Snell rewarded Zaidi’s faith with a vintage performance that had been his M.O. for most of his MLB career prior to signing with San Francisco.
“I was happy,” Snell said when asked about not being traded before Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline. “I wanted to stay, so being able to do that is pretty amazing.”
Snell pitched his way into the history books against the Reds, retiring 27 of the 30 batters he faced to guide the Giants to a 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
That came on the heels of Snell’s previous best start with the Orange and Black, when he became the first pitcher in major league history to get 15 strikeouts in six innings.
Snell had 11 strikeouts in his latest gem, giving him back-to-back double-digit strikeout games for the first time since he did it in four straight games with the San Diego Padres during the 2023 MLB season.
The 26 strikeouts in back-to-back starts are tied for the second-most in franchise history, matching