Blake Snell struck out a career-high 15 batters in six innings during the San Francisco Giants’ 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday night. In the second game, Hayden Birdsong struck out eight in five innings, and the Giants won 5-0 to complete the sweep.
In the first game, Patrick Bailey hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to break the tie. In the second game, Tyler Fitzgerald hit his eighth home run in 10 games.
Snell’s 15 strikeouts were the most in the majors this season and the most in a six-inning game since at least 1901. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner struck out 15 of the 18 batters he faced.
“Cy Young Award winner last year for a reason — doing stuff like this,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who also managed Snell last season in San Diego.
Snell recorded 30 swings and misses, just one shy of the Giants’ record set by Tim Lincecum in the 2010 NL Division Series opener against Atlanta, which is the most since pitch tracking began in 2008.
“Putting together some good starts,” Snell said. “I’m starting to have more confidence, understanding how to make adjustments quicker now.”
Snell realized how many strikeouts he had and aimed to beat his previous career high of 13, which he achieved four times.
“I wasn’t trying early on,” Snell said. “Last couple innings, I was really trying. I knew where I was at: I need to get 13. I want 13. After the sixth, I was well aware of what I was trying to do.”
Snell walked two batters and pitched shutout baseball, lowering his ERA from 5.83 to 5.10. The 31-year-old left-hander signed a $62 million, two-year contract as a free agent but is 0-3 in 10 starts, having spent time on the injured list with a strained adductor muscle in his left thigh and a strained left groin.
“He’s always been kind of a second-half guy,” Melvin said. “Last year, when he went on a run like this, not only was it similar to this type of stuff every night that he was either giving up no runs or one run, he was able to pitch out of jams. He was able to get a strikeout with a man on third. It’s kind of his forte.”
Snell said he’s not worried about being traded before the Tuesday deadline as long as the Giants keep winning. Snell can choose to leave his contract after the World Series and become a free agent, giving up a $30 million salary for 2025.
“We just got to win,” Snell said. “If we win, I ain’t going nowhere. At least I believe that.”
In the seventh inning, Bailey broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out double to the left-center field gap off Justin Lawrence (3-4).
Matt Chapman hit a home run in the second inning for the Giants, and Michael Toglia hit a tying home run in the seventh against Ryan Walker (7-3). Peter Lambert threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score in the eighth. Camilo Doval earned his 19th save in 23 chances.
Birdsong (3-0) defeated Colorado for the second time in a week. The rookie, who struck out 12 in six innings last Sunday in a 3-2 win in Denver, said he continued where Snell left off.
“I’m obviously not left-handed, I’m not Blake Snell — but I still have a curveball,” Birdsong said. “And that’s what they’ve struggled with the last couple of outings.”
Colorado has struck out seven or more times in 20 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. The Rockies struck out 30 times in the doubleheader. The Giants’ 34 strikeouts over the first three games of the series is their highest in a three-game span since 1975.
“We just got out pitched, we got outplayed all day,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We scored one run in two games.”
