San Diego Padres' Blake Snell Strengthens Cy Young Case and Passes Nolan Ryan on Unique All-Time List

The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros on Friday night as left-hander Blake Snell delivered a performance that put him in the lead in some unique baseball history.

The San Diego Padres mauled the Houston Astros on Friday night 11-2 as Padres' lefty Blake Snell delivered another strong overall performance.

The National League Cy Young favorite went 6.0 innings against the World Series winners. He allowed two earned runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out eight in moving to 13-9 on the year. He's also got a 2.52 ERA.

The win moved the Padres to 67-75 on the year while the loss dropped Houston to 80-62. Houston leads Seattle by 0.5 games in the American League West race.

The performance by Snell also put him past Nolan Ryan in some unique baseball history.

Per @OptaSTATS

The Padres' Blake Snell has recorded his 17th game this season allowing 2 or fewer runs, 5 or fewer hits & 3 or more walks. 

That is the most such games by a pitcher in a season in the modern era, breaking a tie with Nolan Ryan (16 such games in 1972).

The Padres' Blake Snell has recorded his 17th game this season allowing 2 or fewer runs, 5 or fewer hits & 3 or more walks.

That is the most such games by a pitcher in a season in the modern era, breaking a tie with Nolan Ryan (16 such games in 1972). pic.twitter.com/NwCOyHapiP

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 9, 2023

Snell certainly has walked the tightrope this season. He has 92 walks, which leads all of baseball, but because he's only allowed 110 hits in 161.0 innings, he's been able to suppress runs.

This has been a good bounceback year for Snell, who hasn't had a winning record since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Lifetime, he's 70-55 with a 3.26 ERA. He won the Cy Young while playing for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and is looking for his second piece of hardware this year.

The Padres and Astros play again on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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