Biscuits' Snell keeps zeros coming

It's been said a few times now. When Blake Snell was promoted from Class A Advanced Charlotte to Double-A Montgomery at the start of May, surely his 21-inning scoreless streak wouldn't carry over for long. (It has.) When he faced a Tennessee lineup that featured top-100 prospects Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora on May 12, surely the Smokies would put an end to his 33-inning string of zeros. (They didn't.) When he took the mound Monday afternoon against a Chattanooga batting order that included top-12 overall prospects Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, surely the 40-inning, season-starting scoreless streak would be over.

And once again, it wasn't.

The Rays' No. 9 prospect struck out six and allowed only two hits and three walks over six scoreless innings Monday in Montgomery's 4-2 win over Chattanooga at AT&T Field. With six more zeros, Snell, who improved to 3-0 through four Double-A starts, has yet to give up a run through his first 46 innings of 2015. Dating back to the end of last season, the streak is at 49 consecutive frames.

"Well, you would think at some point it would have to come to an end," said Biscuits manager Brady Williams. "I don't want to say it's never going to stop, but I know he's got good enough stuff to keep it going. You would hope [the streak] doesn't take over his mind, but based on what I've seen, I don't think it does. He's just going out there and pitching and getting results right now."

There were two times Monday when it looked like the 22-year-old left-hander's run might come to an end. In the fourth inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Jorge Polanco and allowed the Lookouts shortstop to move to third on a wild pitch and a groundout by Sano. Snell responded by not allowing another ball in play that inning, sandwiching a walk to Adam Walker II between strikeouts of Travis Harrison and Stuart Turner.

Two innings later, Polanco reached third with only one out after singling and advancing on a stolen base combined with a throwing error by Montgomery catcher Justin O'Conner. Snell had the answers once again by striking out Sano -- to which the slugger responded by slamming his bat into the ground and breaking it -- and getting Harrison to fly out to right. That would be Snell's final batter faced as he exited after the sixth, having thrown 102 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Noting that his pitcher had his mid-90s fastball, cutter, curveball and changeup all at his disposal Monday, Williams couldn't help but be taken aback by the way his starter rose to the occasion in tough spots.

"The thing is -- he's doing that even with nobody on," said the skipper. "You hope he doesn't have to do it too often, but he can pump it when he has to. He definitely showcases that ability to pitch to the moment and keep things from getting too crazy. It's impressive."

In case the 46-inning streak wasn't impressive enough, here are a few more numbers to put it into perspective. Combining his numbers from the Florida State League, the 6-foot-4 southpaw has held opposing left-handed batters to 2-for-39 (.051) with 19 strikeouts and two walks this season. It's no surprise, therefore, that Chattanooga featured only one left-handed hitter Monday, Max Kepler, who went 0-for-2 against Snell.

But right-handed batters aren't entirely doing well either, going 16-for-111 (.144) with 17 walks and 35 strikeouts. Buxton and Sano, both right-handed, went a combined 0-for-6 with three strikeouts against the Biscuits starter Monday.

If you're wondering where this run places in the history books, Snell still has many frames to go before that talk can start in earnest. As discovered by Baseball America's J.J. Cooper, the record for most consecutive scoreless innings in the Minors is held by Irv Wilhem, who threw 72 straight frames of scoreless ball, although that run stopped in 1907 and was picked up in 1911 upon his return to the Minors. The modern record is 57 2/3 frames by Tennessee's Brad Thompson in 2004.

Following Monday's gem, Snell might need a nine-inning shutout in his next outing or a similar pair of shorter zero-laden starts to hold the record. For now, his manager is content to enjoy the show.

"He does it against guys from both sides," Williams said. "That's because everything is the same. The ball's coming out of the same slot. His arm has the same action. It's hard to distinguish what's what. His curveball, which was really good today, looks the same as his other pitches. His fastball is what it is for a ball that can hit 97. Then, he's got the cutter and changeup, and all of it is just so hard to hit."

Montgomery third baseman Patrick Leonard hit an inside-the-park home run in second inning in support of Snell. Center fielder Johnny Field went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Twins No. 4 prospect José Berríos (4-2) suffered the loss after giving up three earned runs on five hits and a walk in five innings.