After six innings of work in Wednesday's Game 3 of the NLCS, Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Blake Snell had more than done his job. After allowing a first-pitch home run to the first batter of the game, Snell settled in and rode a crackling fastball in front of his abundant secondaries to a nine-strikeout, one-walk performance in which he allowed only that one run. Manager Dave Roberts, though, decided to let Snell come out for the seventh inning, and that proved a crucial decision in the eventual 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers that pushed the Dodgers to the brink of elimination.
Snell entered the seventh inning having faced 21 batters, which put him well into the perilous third time through the opposing order. The Brewers' four-five-six batters were due up, and a right-handed batter, Andrew Vaughn, was due up first. Snell walked him on seven pitches.
Then Jake Bauers stepped in, and Roberts left Snell in to face the lefty. On the 11th and final pitch of the marathon at-bat, Bauers turned the game on its ear: Snell's night still wasn't over, even after being worked for 18 pitches by the previous two batters. Another lefty, Garrett Mitchell, ignored the platoon disadvantage and made it back-to-back homers off a laboring Snell: That was the first time in Snell's career that he'd allowed consecutive home runs to left-handed batters.
Given the punchless Dodgers offensive attack, those two homers all but ended the game and the series. That put Roberts' decision to push his luck with Snell under the microscope. "I just saw that through the sixth inning, and then once we got to the seventh inning, I think he retired 13 or 14 in a row and his stuff was really good," Roberts said postgame of his decision to stick with Snell.
"I don't think they were seeing him well. I was trying to get him three more hitters. We had Evan (Phillips) for that fourth hitter.
He had his way with those two lefties and took care of Vaughn. "Obviously the leadoff walk hurt. Hasn't given up a homer all year, but it just -- it's baseball.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
