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Bradford Doolittle
MILWAUKEE–Few teams have a tradition of great pitching. los angeles dodgers Franchise. With this postseason, blake snell Lengthening that star-studded line one by one.
Snell dominated milwaukee brewers In eight innings on Monday, Los Angeles was defeated by a 2-1 game 1 win in the National League Championship Series in front of a packed house at American Family Field.
“It was great from the beginning,” the Dodgers first baseman said. freddy freemanWhose sixth-inning homer broke the scoreless tie. “Sometimes it takes an inning or two for someone to settle down. [Tonight] It was there from the beginning.”
Snell held Milwaukee to one hit over a 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 allowed – Caleb DurbinWho singled in the third.
Snell became the first pitcher to face the minimum of eight innings in a postseason game since Don Larson threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. The only long outing in Snell’s career was a no-hitter he threw for san francisco giants On August 2, 2024. Has he ever felt off like Monday?
“No-hitter, yes,” Snell quipped.
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 contests for the franchise, joining Don Sutton (1974).
If Los Angeles continues to win, Snell will get more chances to add to his numbers, but for now, his 0.86 ERA in three games is the second-best for a Dodgers left-hander in a postseason (minimum 20 innings), behind only Sandy Koufax’s stellar run in the 1965 World Series (0.38 ERA in three starts).
Snell knew this was the type of company he would keep when he signed with the Dodgers before the season.
“Even playing against them, watching, it was always in the back of my mind, like, I wanted to be a Dodger and play on that team,” Snell said. “To be here now, it’s a dream come true. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Snell’s gem continued the Dodgers’ effective starting pitching that began in the last month of the season and propelled a postseason run to the defending champions, putting them in position to repeat despite an offense that struggled to score runs at times in the playoffs.
Dodgers starters are 6-1 with a 1.65 ERA so far in the postseason, recording six quality starts in LA’s seven games.
“Our starting pitching for the last seven, eight weeks has been — I don’t know if you can write enough words in your stories about our starting pitching,” Freeman said. “It’s been really amazing. It’s like they feed off each other.”
But none of the Dodgers’ starters are in the running like Snell, who is hoping to win his first championship ring with the team he lost to as a member. tampa bay rays In the 2020 World Series.
Despite Snell’s dominance, the Dodgers still faced ninth-inning pressure from the stubborn Brewers and realized the series was just getting started. Still, the way Snell is moving, he’s recalling the names of Dodgers past and present like Koufax, Kershaw, Sutton, Valenzuela and Hershiser.
“I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent throughout the postseason, pretty consistent,” Snell said. “Different outings, but eight innings, went deeper. The last three I felt really good, really locked in. Consistent. Same.”
