MILWAUKEE – Few teams can boast as great pitching as the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise. This postseason Blake Snell makes that star-studded line one longer.
Snell dominated Milwaukee Brewers over eight innings Monday, leading Los Angeles to 2-1 win in the first game in the National League Championship Series in front of a packed house at American Family Field.
“It was so good from the start,” the Dodgers first baseman said. Freddie Freemanwhose homer in the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie. “Sometimes it takes one or two innings for someone to get comfortable. [Tonight] it was there from the very beginning.”
Snell held Milwaukee to one hit in the full eight innings for only the second time in his career, earning him a pair of Cy Young awards. He struck out 10 and walked the only baserunner he was allowed – Caleb Durbinwhich singled out in the third.
Snell became the first pitcher to pitch at least eight innings in a postseason game since Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. The only longer outing of Snell's career was the no-hitter he threw at San Francisco Giants August 2, 2024. Has he ever felt as trapped as he did on Monday?
“Well-forward, yeah,” Snell joked.
Snell improved to 3-0 in the postseason, during which no other starting pitcher recorded two wins. He is the second Dodgers pitcher to win his first three playoff starts for the franchise, joining Don Sutton (1974).
If Los Angeles continues to win, Snell will have a better chance to add to his numbers, but for now, his 0.86 ERA over three starts is the second-best by a Dodgers left-hander in the postseason (minimum 20 innings), trailing only Sandy Koufax's legendary run (0.38 ERA over three starts) in the 1965 World Series.
This was the kind of company Snell knew he would be dealing with when he signed with the Dodgers before the season.
“Even playing against them, watching them, I always thought I wanted to be a Dodger and play on this team,” Snell said. “Being here now is a dream come true. I couldn't ask for anything more.”
Snell's gem continued the Dodgers' dominant starting pitching that began in the final month of the season and propelled the defending champions to a postseason victory, giving them the opportunity to repeat despite an offense that at times struggled to score runs in the playoffs.
Dodgers starters are 6-1 with a 1.65 ERA in the postseason, registering six quality starts in Los Angeles' seven games.
“Our starting pitching over the last seven, eight weeks has been… I don't know if you can write enough words about our starting pitching,” Freeman said. “It really was amazing. They seem to feed off each other.”
But no Dodgers starter is as close as Snell, who is hoping to win his first championship ring with a team he lost to as a member. Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series.
Despite Snell's dominance, the Dodgers still had to withstand the stubborn Brewers in the ninth inning and realized that the series was just beginning. However, with the way Snell is moving, he conjures up names of current and past Dodgers like Koufax, Kershaw, Sutton, Valenzuela and Hershiser.
“I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent all postseason,” Snell said. “Different outings, but eight innings, went deeper. The last three I felt really good, really locked in. Consistent. Similar.”
