Giants star pitcher Blake Snell knocked out after 1 inning vs. Diamondbacks

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Giants starter Blake Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young and Pitcher of the Month, lasted one inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Snell threw 42 pitches to start the game, as a throwing error and crushing run-scoring dropped third strike with the bases loaded and two outs kept him on the mound.

Jake McCarthy struck out on a fastball up, but the ball popped out of catcher Patrick Bailey’s mitt. Bailey did not see where the ball landed right away, giving the speedy McCarthy time to get to first base and extend the inning.

Snell threw four more pitches to escape the jam having only allowed two runs, one earned.

The Diamondbacks struggled to get anything going against the San Francisco bullpen, however, with two hits and no runs through the remaining eight innings. The Giants walked off the D-backs on a Bailey ground-rule double for a 3-2 win.

First inning chaos! pic.twitter.com/ymXdu7kbkG

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 5, 2024

The D-backs successfully chased San Francisco’s three starters this series, who threw a combined 6.2 innings. Kyle Harrison lasted 2.2 and Hayden Birdsong 3.0.

Manager Torey Lovullo said before the game that a successful day against Snell would involve limiting chase on his breaking ball and making him work early.

“We’ve grinded out some at-bats and grinded him down, he’s out of the game early and we can go to their bullpen,” Lovullo said of what would be a success. “That’s not going to be an easy task either, the bullpen is very good, but Blake Snell is in a good spot right now. We just gotta be ready, be stubborn.”

After the game, Lovullo said the D-backs were one hit away from breaking the game open in the first inning, and the pitching change had them a bit wobbly considering how much prep they did on Snell.

“We got to be better. Our hitters are good. We’re going to be fine,” Lovullo said. “It’s just we worked so hard on Snell that he’s out of the game and it kind of rattled us a little bit.”

Related

Diamondbacks' standings: Where does Arizona rank in the NL Wild Card race?Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen throws 6 hitless innings vs. GiantsDiamondbacks optimistic for Ketel Marte return during road tripMerrill Kelly continues concerning trend, Diamondbacks lose series in Boston with no MarteDiamondbacks send Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on rehab assignmentWill Ketel Marte torpedo D-backs’ season, Torey Lovullo’s job?