Blake Snell Picks up 19th Win as Rays Beat Indians 3-1

The Tampa Bay Rays have quietly had a pretty good season, though they haven’t been mentioned much as a possible post season contender. At 80-65, the Rays trail the runaway Red Sox, who are 100-46 through September 12th and will win the A.L.East by a mile. The Yankees are 90-56, while Oakland is 89-57. The Rays do have a three game set at home against Oakland beginning September 14th, and host the Yankees in a four game series September 24th-27th, but with a total of only 17 games left, chances are slim of overtaking either team.

One reason for Tampa Bay’s success this season has been the pitching of 25 year old Blake Snell. The left hander is in his third season, and to say he’s having a breakout year is a colossal understatement. Snell was 6-8 with a 3.54 ERA in 19 games in 2016, and 5-7 with a 4.04 in 24 starts last year. This year, he’s 19-5 with a 2.03 ERA and 195 strikeouts . He leads the majors in victories, is second in the American League in ERA, and seventh in the A.L in strikeouts. He’s won his last seven decisions, and hasn’t lost since July 12th. In his latest outing on September 12th, Snell took a no hitter into the seventh inning against a good hitting Cleveland Indians club that ended on a Jose Ramirez lead off homer in the Rays’ 3-1 victory over Cleveland.

Snell’s stats are good enough to win the American League Cy Young Award, though there are other candidates, such as Cleveland’s Corey Kluber (18-7, 2.91) or New York’s Luis Severino (17-8, 3.46) among others. Snell has been under the radar, but with his performance this season, he won’t be after this.