When the Los Angeles Dodgers lost all six regular-season meetings with the Milwaukee Brewers this summer, Blake Snell wasn’t available. On Monday night, the two-time Cy Young Award winner showed exactly what kind of difference he can make.
Snell delivered one of the most dominant postseason pitching performances in recent memory, allowing just one hit over eight shutout innings as the Dodgers held on in the ninth to edge the Brewers 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Freddie Freeman’s towering solo homer in the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie, and Mookie Betts added a bases-loaded walk in the ninth that proved crucial as Los Angeles’ bullpen nearly unraveled.
“Snell was untouchable,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “In my 10 years here, that’s as dominant as I’ve ever seen an opposing pitcher.”
The 32-year-old left-hander faced the minimum 24 batters through eight innings, striking out 10 without issuing a walk. The only baserunner he allowed came on a leadoff single by Caleb Durbin in the third inning — and Durbin was promptly picked off. Snell retired the final 17 batters he faced, leaving the Brewers guessing all night.
It was the kind of postseason start that instantly etches a pitcher’s name into October lore. Snell became the first to face the minimum through eight innings since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, and the only pitcher in playoff history to throw eight innings with at least 10 strikeouts, no walks, and one or fewer hits allowed.
After 103 pitches, manager Dave Roberts turned to his bullpen rather than letting Snell chase a complete game.
“I wasn’t going to argue,” Snell said. “We’ve got the best bullpen in the game. I trusted the plan.”
That trust was tested immediately. Rookie reliever Roki Sasaki, who had been stellar in relief throughout the postseason, entered with a 2-0 lead but quickly ran into trouble.
Isaac Collins drew a one-out walk, and pinch-hitter Jake Bauers ripped a ground-rule double over the center-field wall. Jackson Chourio’s sacrifice fly plated Collins to make it 2-1, with pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge advancing to third.
When Christian Yelich walked on a borderline 3-2 pitch, Roberts brought in veteran Blake Treinen to try to finish it.
Yelich stole second, moving the potential winning run into scoring position. Treinen then walked William Contreras, loading the bases for Brice Turang. After narrowly missing Turang with a pitch that would have tied the game, Treinen struck him out on a high fastball to preserve the win.
The save marked a redemption moment for Treinen, who had struggled late in the season and in the Division Series against Philadelphia.
Freddie Freeman’s sixth-inning home run off Chad Patrick was the game’s turning point. On a full count, Freeman launched a soaring drive that just cleared the right-field wall — a ball that nearly scraped the roof of American Family Field on its way out.
“I knew I got it high,” Freeman said with a grin. “I wasn’t sure I got it far enough.”
The Dodgers added a much-needed insurance run in the ninth, when Betts drew a bases-loaded walk against Abner Uribe on a 3-2 pitch outside. That run proved essential.
Los Angeles could have blown the game open earlier if not for a bizarre double play that saved Milwaukee in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Max Muncy crushed a drive to center that looked like a grand slam — until Sal Frelick reached over the wall, lost the ball, then caught it again after it bounced off the fence.
Confused Dodgers baserunners retreated, and Frelick’s throw to shortstop Joey Ortiz set off an 8-6-2-5 double play that erased both Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith.
“That was one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen,” Roberts said. “We thought it was gone.”
The series itself offers a striking contrast: the Brewers, MLB’s smallest-market team, against the defending champion Dodgers and baseball’s most expensive roster. Murphy even joked before the game, “I’m sure most Dodger players can’t name eight guys on our roster.”
But on this night, everyone knew the name Blake Snell.
Game 2 is set for Tuesday night in Milwaukee. The Dodgers will send Yoshinobu Yamamoto, another All-Star and international standout, to the mound against Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta.
With Snell’s masterpiece and a nail-biting finish, the Dodgers head into Game 2 leading the best-of-seven NLCS, 1-0 — but reminded that even dominance can nearly slip away in October.
