SAN DIEGO — NL Cy Young Award contender Blake Snell lowered his big league-leading ERA to 2.33 and struck out 10 in seven brilliant innings for the San Diego Padres, who took a combined no-hitter into the ninth before beating the Colorado Rockies 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to lift the Padres to their season-high sixth straight win.
Snell, who has never gone eight innings in the majors, threw 104 pitches before making way for Robert Suarez, who worked a perfect eighth. All-Star closer Josh Hader (1-3) came on to start the ninth and promptly allowed Brendan Rodgers’ leadoff single up the middle. The last-place Rockies finished with two hits.
Snell, a 30-year-old lefty, walked four to increase his major league-high total to 95.
Snell is trying to become the seventh pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues. He won the AL prize in 2018 with Tampa Bay.
Center fielder Trent Grisham and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. both made nice running catches in the sixth to keep the no-hitter going, and Grisham made another nice grab in the seventh.
Joe Musgrove threw the Padres’ only no-hitter on April 9, 2021, in his second start with his hometown team.
Snell was making what might have been his final start at Petco Park with the Padres. He’s eligible for free agency after the season and the Padres are extreme longshots to return to the playoffs. They’ve massively underperformed coming off an appearance in the NL Championship Series last year and with a $250 million payroll, third-highest in baseball.
Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner made his first start since being placed on the injured list May 14 with a skull fracture. He was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos the previous day.
Feltner allowed two runs in five scoreless innings while striking out five and walking two.