Snell Continues Cy Young Push, Padres Beat Astros

One of the very few questions with any intrigue remaining in the San Diego Padres season is whether or not Blake Snell will win his 2nd career Cy Young Award. Las Vegas has him as the betting favorite and on Friday night he didn't do anything to lose ground to anyone trying to track him down.

Facing a Houston lineup that's been on a roll ... and is one of the most explosive groups in baseball on any night ... Snell threw 6.0 innings of 2-run ball and struck out eight in an 11-2 Padres win to open a 3-game set at Minute Maid Park. Snell walked three, which is actually on the low side for him, but his offense provided plenty of wiggle room for a few free passes.

The Padres scored four times in the 2nd inning thanks to RBI singles from Luis Campusano, Trent Grisham, and Ha-Seong Kim. Xander Bogaerts launched a solo homer in the 3rd inning and Grisham ripped a 3-run shot in the 8th on a rare night where nearly the entire San Diego lineup did something positive (Fernando Tatis Jr. was the only starter not to reach base).

With 20 games left Snell will likely get three more starts to impress Cy Young voters, and if he wins he'll join some truly elite company. Snell won the 2018 award with Tampa Bay. Only six other pitchers have won the Cy Young in both the American League and the National League. That list looks like this:

Roger Clemens
Randy Johnson
Gaylord Perry
Pedro Martinez
Roy Halladay
Max Scherzer

The first five are in the Hall of Fame and the last one will be there five years after he retires. Snell's stuff has always been off the charts. Having another trophy to polish will put him amongst some of the greatest pitchers in history.

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