SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco pitcher Blake Snell has not allowed a baserunner through six innings against the Minnesota Twins.
Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner who signed a $62 million, two-year deal with the Giants in the offseason, is seeking his first win in eight starts with his new team on Sunday. The 31-year-old left-hander has never recorded a complete game in his previous eight-plus seasons in the majors.
Snell has already tied his season high of seven strikeouts. He has thrown 69 pitches, 47 for strikes.
The Twins, who have won an AL-leading 47 games since April 22, haven’t been able to get much going. Only four of the 18 outs that have been recorded so far were made in the outfield.
Snell kept the Twins’ offense quiet when he speared Diego Castilla’s comebacker in the sixth and made the toss to first for the out. The next batter, Christian Vazquez, hit a crisp grounder to Giants shortstop Brett Wisely, who made a diving stop and throw.
Snell is trying to become the second pitcher in Giants history to pitch a perfect game. Matt Cain did it against the Houston Astros on June 13, 2012.
There have been 24 perfect games in MLB history. Domingo German of the New York Yankees was the last pitcher to achieve perfection, retiring all 27 batters he faced against the Oakland Athletics in June 28, 2023.
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