Rays pull Snell after 5 perfect innings
The Tampa Bay Rays are clearly taking things slow with ace left-hander Blake Snell.
In just his second start since being activated off the disabled list due to left shoulder fatigue, Snell cruised through five perfect innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday before getting pulled.
He racked up six strikeouts on only 47 pitches.
It was actually Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder who made the call to end Snell's night early, attributing the decision more to the number of innings rather than the pitch count, according to Keegan Matheson of the Tampa Bay Times.
"I'm not going to argue. Kyle wants what's best for my career, future wise and everything," Snell said. "I felt great, but I haven't gone five innings in a month. To be able to do that and be as consistent as I wanted to be with my pitches was something I was very excited about."
Snell had a short leash in his last start against the Chicago White Sox, getting the hook after four innings and 59 pitches, giving up one run and striking out three.
The Blue Jays broke up the Rays' combined perfect game in their first at-bat against reliever Jake Faria in the sixth inning.
As one of the Rays' few true starters this season, Snell has pitched to a 12-5 record to go along with a 2.27 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.