MILWAUKEE — When the Dodgers signed Blake Snell last offseason, it was to be a bona fide ace. But not just an ace — one who could lead L.A.’s pitching staff through the postseason in big moments.
“Everyone wants to pitch in October,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before NLCS Game 1. “I think for some it is literally a part of their identity and what they yearn for more than anything. And I think Blake is one of those guys.”
Snell is no stranger to big games, and his postseason résumé backs that up, with a 2.92 ERA across 12 postseason starts entering Monday. So when the Dodgers were deciding who would take the ball for Game 1 of the NLCS, there was little question whom they’d turn to.
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And sure enough, in L.A.’s 2-1 victory over the Brewers, the two-time Cy Young Award winner did what he has done his entire career: Dominate.
“I feel like the whole postseason, I’ve been pretty locked in, pretty consistent,” Snell said after his masterful performance. “The last three, I felt really good, really locked in.”
Coming off an NLDS performance in which he allowed just one hit over six innings against the Phillies, the Dodgers’ left-hander was even better in Game 1 against the Brewers.
Snell set the tone from the first frame, getting both Christian Yelich and William Contreras to strike out swinging. From those two at-bats alone, it was easy to see that Snell had everything in his arsenal working.
“This is as good as I can remember [from Snell] in the postseason against a very gritty team [that] puts the ball in play,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “The changeup was the pitch of the night. His command was great. And you’re not going to see too many performances like that, certainly in the postseason. This was pretty special.”
Said Brewers manager Pat Murphy: “I think it’s the most dominant performance against us. And I’ve been here 10 years.”
After that first inning, the two-time Cy Young winner continued to cruise, getting into a rhythm and setting down Brewers hitters one by one. Snell had his full repertoire working against Milwaukee, but as his manager observed, the pitch that stood out was the changeup. Of Snell’s 22 swing-and-misses Monday, 14 came on the pitch.
“Coming into the game, I want all four pitches to feel good, to just have some kind of feel,” Snell said. “[But] when I come out to the game, it’ll be different. This is what I’m seeing — I’ll go more changeups to this hitter or more sliders. But the whole goal is to feel confident I can strike all four.”
In his outing Monday, Snell was not only dominant but also efficient. The Dodgers’ ace got through eight shutout innings while facing the minimum. The only baserunner he allowed was on a Caleb Durbin third-inning single. After that, Snell promptly picked off Durbin trying to steal.
“When you face a power pitcher that can locate three plus pitches, you know it’s going to be tough,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who broke the scoreless tie and gave the Dodgers a lead with a sixth-inning solo homer. “How he pitched tonight is probably not going to be how he pitches the next time. It’s hard to scout. It’s hard to feel good against someone like that. You might have success in one game, and it will be completely thrown out the door, and you’re going to strike out three times.”
The Dodgers’ bullpen made it dramatic in the end, surrendering three walks, a double and the Brewers’ only score in the bottom of the ninth. But they just barely held on to secure the third win of the postseason for the Dodgers’ southpaw, whose final line included striking out 10 and not walking a single batter.
The 10 strikeouts marked a postseason career high for Snell, who has a penchant for strikeouts, and made him the first pitcher in MLB postseason history with at least 10 strikeouts, one or fewer hits allowed and zero walks in a start of at least eight innings. And according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it was the first postseason start in which a pitcher faced the minimum through eight innings since Don Larsen’s legendary World Series perfect game in 1956.
The Dodgers signed Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal in December because they believed he was a pitcher who could help them not only get back to the World Series but also become the first team in 25 years to repeat as champions. It doesn’t matter that he pitched only 61 ⅓ innings in the regular season; when an ace is on a roll like Snell is right now, don’t expect that to slow down anytime soon.
Throughout his career, L.A.’s ace has heard the chatter about what he is or isn’t as a starting pitcher, but he tends to let his performances do the talking. And if he keeps performing like this, the next stage will be the World Series, and Snell will be the Dodgers’ leading man.
“Every situation’s a pressure situation [in the postseason],” he said. “The deeper you go into the postseason, the more that doubt will creep in … there’s always a way to find a flaw in something. And it will be said.
“[But in the] postseason, if you dominate and you do great, no one can say anything. And that’s probably the best feeling is you get to prove yourself right.”
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