Backed by firepower, Snell polishes Cy Young credentials

SAN DIEGO -- Blake Snell’s left arm produced another gem as the Padres made a visit to Muscle Beach on Saturday.

Snell (12-9) solidified his Cy Young Award resume and the Padres smacked four home runs for a 6-1 win over the Giants. It was the team's second straight win as it kept its fading playoff hopes flickering.

“There is not an ‘X’ next to our name yet, so we are still playing for something,’’ Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “And that is to win as many games as we can here and hopefully win a lot in a row.’’

Snell continues to put his positive stamp on the Padres’ disappointing season, and he added to it with another stellar performance at the expense of the Giants.

“He’s been unbelievable,’’ said Xander Bogaerts, who had one of the Padres’ homers. “That is a long stretch of dominance he has been on. Every time you can write it down on paper that he pitches six innings and doesn’t allow a run, or maybe one if they get lucky.’’

It was more than good fortune Snell was offering up to the Giants as he lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 2.50.

The reemergence of his changeup -- a key component during Snell’s 2018 Cy Young Award season -- to complement his fastball, slider and curve has been significant.

“I’ve always said I’m at my best with my changeup,’’ Snell said. ‘It’s everything to me. The last couple of years, I was trying to throw my slider and it’s never really been me. I’ve always been a changeup guy.

“So being able to get that back and work the slider when I need to -- the curveball, fastball have always been there. I do my best pitching when I have those.’’

The Padres flexed their muscles, riding a trio of solo blasts in the opening two innings to forge ahead.

Juan Soto smacked his second homer in two games and his team-high 27th of the year when his first-inning blast cleared the center-field fence.

The second inning brought two more shots, with Bogaerts and Gary Sánchez going deep.

For Bogaerts, it was his 16th homer and his fifth in his last 22 games. He had hit but one in the previous 29 contests before finding his power stroke.

Sánchez extended his hitting streak to five games with his second roundtripper over that span, and it was crushed, landing a projected 430 feet from home plate after exiting his bat at 105.2 mph. With 19 homers, Sánchez has three more than last year.

The final blast put an exclamation mark on the Padres’ visit to the Pacific Sock Exchange as they tied their mark for most homers in a game this season at Petco Park. Garrett Cooper’s three-run big fly made it 6-0 in the sixth, and San Diego, behind three relievers, had consecutive wins for the first time since Aug. 15-16 against Baltimore.

Snell was on, racking up eight strikeouts in the opening five frames. Three times, though, he had to navigate around traffic as the Giants placed two runners on in the third, fifth and sixth innings.

But Snell induced Wilmer Flores to pop up in the third and Thairo Estrada to fly out in the fifth to extinguish the rallies.

The Giants’ biggest threat came in the sixth, with two men aboard and one out. Snell was zooming past the 100-pitch mark, with reliever Tom Cosgrove getting hot behind him.

After a visit from pitching coach Ruben Niebla, a locked-in Snell got J.D. Davis to line out and Paul DeJong to ground into a fielder’s choice to finish his night after a season-high 113 pitches.

“He’s very motivated right now with guys on base,’’ Melvin said. “He picks it up a notch. He’s been really good about leaving guys out there, and he did it again tonight.’’

It was Snell's Major League-leading 10th outing with no earned runs surrendered across at least five innings, all of which have come since May 31.

“He’s probably got the best stuff in the game,’’ Giants catcher Patrick Bailey said. “Really good breaking ball, really good changeup, really good fastball.’’

This latest start boosts Snell’s Cy Young Award chances as he worked six innings, allowing three hits and four walks. With his eight strikeouts, Snell passed Sterling Hitchcock (194 in 1999) for the most punchouts (201) in a season by a Padres lefty.

All was right for the Padres as they continued their daunting task to stay relevant.

“It was a good team win,’’ Snell said. “Good energy in the dugout today, and it was fun. We were loose and playing ball like we should be."