Blake Snell fires back at critics after finally recording no-hitter

Friday night, Blake Snell of the San Fransisco Giants made baseball history with a dominant no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds.

Just last week, Snell was at the center of some intriguing trade rumors as the Giants looked to get off his massive contract while also taking advantage of the sellers market. Ultimately, San Francisco opted to hold onto their ace and as they push for a potential playoff berth, they will need him to continue his dominance.

Snell proved the Giants to be correct in keeping him as he found a way to one-up his recent six-inning, 15-strikeout performance by throwing a no-hitter.

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Blake Snell responds to criticism after his historic no-hitter

If critics had to pick a criticism on the Giants pitcher, just about everybody would land on his inability to go deep into games. It's not rare to see Snell exit after the fourth, fifth or sixth inning because he's run his pitch count up to 100 while allowing one or two earned runs. Almost every time, he keeps his team in the game, but he lacks the ability to go depth.

For the first time in his career, he entered the ninth inning and finished his first career complete game, a no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. The southpaw had something to say to the critics after the game too.

"They can't say it anymore. You know? Complete game, shutout, no-hitter. Leave me alone," said Snell. "'He doesn't go into the 9th. He doesn't go into the 8th.' Just did it. Leave me alone," Snell said after the historic performance.

Across his first 201 career starts, Snell had never entered the ninth inning, let alone finished a complete game. In one performance, he changed the narrative completely, shutting down the idea that he can't give his team length in a start.

Still, Snell shouldn't be looked at as an innings eater as that will never be his MO. He's always going to be the pitcher that goes out and dominates for five or six innings rather than eating innings and giving up three or four earned runs over seven innings.

But when Snell is as locked in as he was last night, he has the ability to hold any team hitless and when you're holding a team hitless, the pitch count stays rather low.