San Francisco Giants Aces Do Something Not Seen Since 2013

Blake Snell followed up Logan Webb's masterpiece with an even better one.

Jul 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants fans hang a 15th “K” on the wall. / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Anything Logan Webb can do, Blake Snell can do better.

On Thursday, Webb twirled a 1-0 shutout for the San Francisco Giants in their series finale against the Oakland A's. He completed the game in a crisp one hour and 55 minutes, tying for the second-shortest game in Oracle Park's history.

Not to be outdone, Snell was even better during Friday's series opener against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Coming off a 15-strikeout masterpiece versus the Colorado Rockies in his previous start, Snell threw a no-hitter in his first career complete game -- the third no-no of this MLB season.

Both performances were exceptional in their own right. In the modern era of pitch counts and increased bullpen usage, complete games and shutouts are slowly going extinct. Entering play on Saturday, pitchers had completed just 23 of their 3,300 starts this year -- a minuscule 0.7%. Only 14 of those complete games were shutouts (0.4% of all starts).

Accordingly, consecutive shutouts are remarkably rare. Teammates haven't had back-to-back blankings since 2013, when Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller did it for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Logan Webb and Blake Snell are the first pitchers to throw back-to-back complete-game-shutouts since Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller did so on May 10th and 11th of 2013. pic.twitter.com/fRAqwrdT36

— lolo 🍉 (@sfglolo) August 3, 2024

Webb's shutout was only the second of his career, while Snell had never even pitched in the ninth inning prior to Friday.

That said, Webb and Snell are two of the best pitchers in baseball, so their back-to-back gems aren't too surprising. Webb was an All-Star this year and Snell is a two-time Cy Young winner, so they're no strangers to dominating opposing lineups.

Kyle Harrison will try to make it three straight shutouts for the Giants on Saturday, but Snell and Webb are a tough act to follow. The 22-year-old rookie has never gone more than seven innings in a start before, and San Francisco's bullpen is fully rested after getting back-to-back nights off.

But the way Harrison's been pitching lately (2.36 ERA over his last five starts), anything is possible.