This is why AF/BG signed Blake Snell. 8.0 innings, 1 hit, NO walks, 10 K, 103 pitches. With the way Roki Sasaki has been pitching in relief, I had no reservations with calling him in to pitch to the bottom of the order to close it out.
Unfortunately, his 100 MPH 4-seamer was not there tonight. Roki got the first out on a pop out. Ball 4 to Isaac Collins was a strike, and had been called a strike against the Dodgers all night. The double he gave up to Jake Bauers was a 97.2 MPH 4-seamer, almost middle middle. His pitch to Jackson Chourio was 98.5 and very hittable. He threw one pitch that was a strike to Christian Yelich. Yelich swung at 2 pitches well out of the zone, but still drew a BB.
That was it for Sasaki, and Doc brought in Blake Treinen to try and close it out. He walked William Contreras to load the bases for Brice Turang. Turang swung at strike 3 well out of the zone. He would not need to have thrown it if the umpire had called his 2nd pitch a strike as he has against LAD hitters.
The Dodgers escape Game 1 against the Brewers, 2-1.
Blake Treinen, who has struggled all season long, got the final out of the game for LA and got the job done.
— Valentina Martinez (@ValentinaMrtnz_) October 14, 2025
A fantastic ending to a fantastic game. The Dodgers won the WS in 2024 largely due to the bullpen. Even in a game dominated by Blake Snell, the bullpen had problems shutting down the opponent. It looks like they are going to need to overcome their bullpen this year.
The Dodgers scored two. The first was on a Freddie HR, his 1st of the post season. The second is almost a replay of Game 4 against Philadelphia. Max Muncy opened the inning with a walk, and October Kiké followed with a single. Andy Pages squared and hit his first MLB sacrifice bunt, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd against the Brewers closer, Abner Uribe. Uribe IBB Shohei to get to Mookie. As he did against Jhoan Duran in the NLDS Game 4, Mookie worked a run scoring BB.
Freddie Freeman!
45 degree launch angle, tied with 2017 NLDS G2 Willson Contreras for the second-highest launch angle on a postseason home run under Statcast (2015), behind only:
2017 WS G5 Carlos Correa: 48 degrees https://t.co/AiGQGMoxAI
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 14, 2025
While the Dodgers did win it, and the bullpen made it far too exciting, it did not need to be. The Dodgers were 1-10 wRISP. The one hit was a single to CF by Tommy Edman that Teoscar got a horrible read on and could only reach 3rd. That set up the weirdest play I have ever seen.
With the bases loaded, Max Muncy hit a long fly ball to Sal Frelick in CF that hit off his glove and hit the top of the wall. Frelick caught the ball off the wall and confusion set in for Teoscar and Will Smith. It did not need to. The LF umpire clearly signaled the ball was not caught. Teoscar did not need to think about it as Dino told him to go. And I have no idea what Smith saw.
Snell was so dominant. 8 innings pitched and he pitched to the minimum (24 batters). He got 22 swings and misses. On the only single he allowed, he then picked off Caleb Durbin, and set down the next 17 batters in order. Could he have pitched the 9th? Undoubtedly. But the Dodgers have to find out how to close out close games with their bullpen.
Snell now has started three games in the playoffs and has won all three. He has pitched 21 innings in those starts. He has allowed 2 runs in those 21 innings for a 0.86 ERA. He has allowed 6 hits and 5 BB for a post season WHIP of 0.52. His batting average against is .090. He has shutout 2 of the best offenses in MLB, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, in his last two post season starts. Over those last two playoff starts, Blake Snell has thrown 14 innings, allowed two hits and struck out 19. He made the Phillies (eighth in MLB in runs scored) and Brewers (third) look positively feckless. I am not sure how much more dominant he could be.
Per Sarah Langs, Blake Snell is the first pitcher in postseason history with 10+ strikeouts, 1 or no hits and no walks in an outing of 8+ innings.
An all-time performance from Blake Snell in NLCS Game 1 for the Dodgers:
8 IP
1 H
0 ER
0 BB
10 K
103 pitches
22 whiffsHe faced the minimum amount of Brewers (24).
Just straight dominance. pic.twitter.com/U9XUU5WyWl
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) October 14, 2025
The visiting team always looks for a split in the first two games in the opponent’s yard in the playoffs. They got the first win in Philadelphia and followed that up with a win in Game 2. In the NLCS Game 2, the Dodgers will be sending out Yoshinobu Yamamoto who had a stinker in Game 3 vs Philadelphia. Last year he had a bad start in the NLDS against SDP, and followed that with a gem in Game 5 and a win over Yu Darvish.
I am feeling rather confident that Yama will have his “A” game ready for Game 2. The Brewers will be sending out their Ace, Freddie Peralta. Freddie has not had a particularly good post season, but he is very capable of shutting down LAD. I think LAD comes home 2-0.
I would really appreciate seeing Andy Pages run to a ball like Isaac Collins and Sal Frelick did in this game. I have no idea if Frelick catches the Jake Bauers double, but he would at least have put in a true effort.
Isaac Collins catch in LF.
Beyond the "winning baseball plays' style of the Brewers, they are just a VERY athletic team. They have speed and great athletes all over the field.
I'm rooting for the Dodgers, obviously, but I LOVE watching this Brewers team play. It's a fun brand of baseball. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/N8EQXxbfxb
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) October 14, 2025
Sal Frelick on play in CF
Dodgers Max Muncy almost hits a home run and the Brewers turned a WILD double play!#Postseason #Dodgers #ThisIsMyCrew
pic.twitter.com/0aS4cQWVpP— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) October 14, 2025
No, I am not a fan of Andy Pages. I will not lose any sleep if Pages is traded to get a legit CF for 2026.
I was at the Bears at Commanders game in Dc tonight, which started about 10 min after the Dodger game did. So for the entire Bears game, I had my earbuds in and listened to Steven Nelson and Rick Monday call the Dodger game. The Dodgers won with about 4 min left in the Bears game, so I finally got to take my earbuds out and pay more attention to the football game. That was a very nerve wracking 20 min!
I’m not sure I have any desire to actually watch that Muncy almost grand slam turned double play. The call on the radio was stunning to hear and not sure I want to actually watch a replay of us looking foolish on the basepaths.
My instant thought went to 2006 when Kent and someone else were thrown at at home on the same play in the playoffs. This one sounded worse.
I was actually hoping Blake Snell would come out for the 9th, especially at only 103 pitches and with the bottom of their order coming up. From the sounds of it, he was filthy, and was still filthy in the 8th, so in my mind he deserved a shot at an all time historic playoff game. He had a nice paid vacation for 2-3 months, so his arm is completely fresh.
The Dodgers dodged a bullet here. A bullet fired by Dave Roberts.
There was simply no reason to pull Snell after 8 absolutely brilliant innings. No reason not to let him go for the complete game.
He was dominating, and his pitch count wasn’t that high–a few over 100. He was not tiring, not complaining about a sore elbow. Since when did the Dodgers adopt their own “no complete games” rule?
And the Brewers were feeling dominated…. until Roberts put in a reliever. The Brewers had some reason to feel a bit of hope.
Take out a top-flite starter who is on top of his game–a one-hitter, with zero walks and 10 Ks– and there’s a 99% chance the reliever won’t be as good. Sasaki, for all the plaudits he’s received recently, is still relatively inexperience. He was sharp, and he appeared to lack confidence while the Brewers surged.
Not Sasaki’s fault.
This was on Roberts.
Fortunately, the Dodgers won. But the Brewers’ rally gives them hope going forward, while Sasaki, who wears his heart on his sleeve, seems a bit shaken.
I thought the point of getting all the marquee starters ready for the post-season was to let them pitch plenty of innings and lead the Dodgers to victory. If Yamamoto or Shohei or Glasnow are dominating, Roberts should be careful about calling the bullpen.
No, it was the offense not showing up again that was to blame.
I tend to agree with that. Snell was completely dominant and at 103 pitches could easily have pitched the 9th inning. When you have a team “on the ropes” in game 1 of a playoff road game, go get the W and worry about next week later.
As good as Roki looked against the Phillies, he’s still in a relative new role and if his mechanics are slightly off it seems he loses a little velocity and movement on his FB and splitter. It would have been good to keep him in the pen and let the Brewers see less of him while Snell was pitching so well and was still strong with no indication he was tiring.
Turang gave the Dodgers a gift by getting out of the way of an inside Treinen pitch and then swung at a pitch clearly out of the strike zone. Roki was “pinched” by the HPU and seemed to get a strikeout on a close 3-2 pitch to Collins only to be called ball 4. If that strikeout is called we’re reading about how Roki looked terrific.
Hoping Yama is strong tonight. In July, Yama had his shortest start since he’s pitched for the Dodgers. Against the Brewers he lasted just 2/3 of an inning, giving up 5 runs on 41 pitches, 2 BB and 0 K’s.
Go Dodgers!
“Ball 4 to Isaac Collins was a strike, and had been called a strike against the Dodgers all night”
And once again an umpire’s missed call had bearing on a game.
I had no problem with Roberts decision to bring in the closer. I did expect to see Snell come out for the 9th as he was cruising but we do want him for a few more starts and the 100 pitch mark seems to be something of an established ceiling so seeing a closer for the finish wasn’t really a surprise for me.
The game could have turned with the boneheaded base running of Hernandez and Smith, but it didn’t. And Treinen did walk Turang but got him to swing at ball 4. The team was 7 for 31 (8 BB), 1 for 10 WRISP The baseball gods were on the Dodgers side last night. I don’t expect them to be as generous going forward.
I was thinking Pages might need to be benched for Call tonight before Call’s pop out. Still would consider it
I was thinking the same thing. At this point, Call is a better at-bat, and clearly better in the field.
What a game! Some crazy stuff, but absolutely thrilling. I was on the edge of my seat all evening. Baseball is a great sport — incredible that one can see something “new” after having watched thousands of games.
Isaac Collins and Sal Frelic banging around in the outfield made me think back to the ’82 Brewers: Harvey’s Wallbangers 🙂
I said at the start of the season that the signing of Blake Snell excited me more than the signing of Shohei Ohtani. The three games he’s pitched in the Post Season so far only go to confirm that thought. He can win key games on his own. He is our Ace. No question.
Doc can’t do right in some people’s eyes. If he’d left Snell in and something unfortunate had happened, he’d have been hammered. Last week the clamour for Roki to Save every possible situation was loud. Last night he did t quite have it but it wasn’t the wrong call. 103 pitches is plenty especially considering we may need Snell to Start 3 more games before we are done.I thought it was definitely the right call.
Not long ago I was reading that Shohei needed to quit pitching to concentrate on his hitting!! Thank goodness he didn’t listen because the value in a two way player is that if he’s not performing in one facet, he’s still got another string to his bow, and his arm is elite. He still has a big role to play.
Just got home from work where I had the great pleasure of driving Jacksonsville Wide Receiver Tim Patrick to Harrods. What a very nice, humble guy. He flew I this morning ahead of the Jags game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
He was wearing a Padres Cap so obviously I gave him a bit of stick about their demise in the Playoffs. He took it well. He lives in Denver, where he just played for 5 years, but flew to SD for one of the Dodgers series there early in the year. Went to all three games. Big fan. Really enjoyed his company.
Great post Watford. No win deal for some Dodger fans with Doc. Keep a ready Sasaki in the pen and send Snell out for the 9th and get shit. Put in Roki and he struggles and Doc gets shit. A no win deal it’s up to Sasaki to pitch better. Also I thought Snell labored enough with the last couple of batters in the 8th and that was enough for me
That chocolate cake in the Harrod’s cafe was absolutely delicious!
As our 3rd base coach, Dino has one job — direct traffic on the base paths. Either he misread the play or did not make himself heard.
Ok, Get Up just showed that ridiculous double play.
That is 100% the fault of Dino Ebel and Teo for not being calm in that situation and watching the situation unfold. Utterly unacceptable and embarrasing.
This 100% on Teoscar. He came back to the bag because, why? If he thought it was caught he should not have left the bag until he was told to go by Dino. Dino told him to go, and he came back. Did he leave too early for tagging up and thought the ball was caught? How is that Dino’s fault.. Same with Smith. His job was to get to 3B, regardless as to what happens with Teo. Why did he go back to 2nd? Teo and Smith were watching Frelick instead of Dino.
There should have been zero confusion. You cannot see it in the X clips, but Ron Darling got a shot of the LF umpire clearly calling no catch with his safe call. Dino wasn’t confused. Teoscar and Will were, and that is on the players.
That call is usually made by the 2nd base umpire but for the extra umpires in playoffs. The 2nd base ump should have called safe as soon as the distant left field u.p made the call.
Where was Ebel standing? He should have done more.
Interestingly, the ball almost hit above the line, inches away from a home run.
Agree that during the season it is the 2B umpire who makes the call, but not in the playoffs. I cannot find a clip showing where Dino was. My guess is close enough to the bag so he could be heard.
What I did see was Teo off the base with the pitch and then back to 3rd to tag if the ball is caught. He took off again, stopped and went back to tag again??? He did not know the rule. Dino told him to go. He did not listen to Dino. And I have NO CLUE what Will Smith was doing. He not only did not move up to 3rd, he waved Edman back to 1st.
Admittedly I have no idea what Dino was doing with respect to Smith. For me this is all on Teoscar and Will, not on Dino. But if Smith went back to tag 2B, as soon as the throw came to the plate he should have been standing on 3rd, Edman on 2nd, and Muncy on 1st.
I found a clip showing where Dino was. He was close to the bag.
There was also a you tube clip from Doc who said that they go over that rule all the time. The players and coaches all know the rule. Doc added that Teo just had a brain fart.
Bottom line…Dodgers 2 – Brewers 1. Dodgers win Game 1. On to Yamamoto and Game 2.
“Doc added that Teo just had a brain fart.”
As did Smith.
All Teo had to do was run. Almost impossible to make 2 throws from dead center n get a force at the plate. The Dodgers could have wrapped up things early in the game. Instead, more boneheaded base running that we have been doing all year.
however, great win. Snell just fantastic!! Mookie had a poor night at the plate but stayed in the k zone to get the second run. Mookie has been very good. I thought freeman had 2 homers but just short. I thought Sasaki should throw another splitter to Bauer. Bad location but pages was playing way too shallow. That ball could have been caught. Muncy had bad luck but was effective could have been the hero. Don’t blame Roberts for the 9th. Gut wrenching finish but big win no matter how. The dodgers have been playing well. The offense needs to take the extra gear Muncy was talking about.
Agree 100% on Pages. In the 9th with a 2-run lead, you do not want anything hit over your head. He got a horrible jump and jogged to the wall. Luckily it was a ground rule double. With the way Pages jogged to the wall, the batter would have had a triple. Alex Call was a CF before Jacob Young got to Washington. Why wasn’t he in CF. This one I do blame management. They are trying way too hard to make him a CF. He has a great arm, but no instincts.
Read somewhere that Roberts would rather not have Call in CF. Why? I have no idea.
Given Pages slump, Call in CF would help the lineup.
I agree with you Jeff, I could see the Dodgers trading Pages during offseason.
Methinks y’all anointed Sasaki a wee bit too soon. Yes, it was a horrible play. But if the players had been paying attention and just looked at the left field umpire, it would not have happened. Teo was more at fault than Ebel. Smith should know better, and Edman, who was looking at the play should have ignored Smith.
Really not even a reason to look at the LF umpire or any umpire for that matter. As soon as the ball is touched by an OF a base runner can advance regardless if he bobbles it and then catches it. Tag up as soon as the OF puts a glove on the ball.
To get confused as to whether or not it is a catch or not doesn’t matter. Bottom line Teo and Will should have advanced as soon as Frelick touched the ball with his glove.
Something they should have easily known from little league, Legion ball, travel ball or high school.
Yes all true. The Dodgers learned on a similar play earlier this year that as soon as the ball hits the glove, that is when the runner can take off. Even if he bobbled it and caught it before hitting the wall, the tag happens as soon as it first hits the glove. And as Bear said, the runners did not learn the rule, but should have listened to Dino who told them to run.
No need to look back either.
“Really not even a reason to look at the LF umpire or any umpire for that matter”
I believe that’s where you’re wrong. If Smith sees the call he’s off and running. Teo’s mistake was leaving the bag in the first place.
Maybe I should have just said we disagree.
I get it, but they obviously did not.
I loved the Dodgers game plan coming into last night’s game. Doc openly explained pregame that since the Brewers are so disciplined at the plate that the Dodgers had to adjust. Baseball is all about adjustments; pitch to pitch, batter to batter, game to game.
Blake Snell likes to nibble. He prefers to throw a borderline strike one and get you out with 5 more pitches, all out of the zone. He’s the master of 5 or 6 innings and 95 pitchers.
Well, the new game plan against the contract Brewers as to not nibble. A possible tough assignment for Snell.
Blake followed the game plan masterfully. He threw the ball into the zone and trusted his stuff to get outs.
Had he not struggled with the last couple of hitters, he may have had a shot at a complete game.
I didn’t appreciate Durbin’s slide into second on Kim when he was picked off in the 3rd.
The 4th and 5th ending on Dodgers hitting into double plays. The play off the wall is one of the most bazaar plays. I don’t recall ever seeing that before. If you watch long enough, you will see all new stuff.
Sasaki didn’t have it. Thanks to Blake Treinen. He got it done in the highest of intensity. In the immortal words for Freddie Mercury “ Ain’t no Beauty Queens in this Locality “
It wasn’t pretty but Treinen and the Dodgers got it done.
Let’s hope Yamamoto brings his A game tonight.
Bottom line, they won. How they did it does not matter, just the W counts. They won the NLDS on a bad play. Had they lost, well that is another matter. What matters now is that they are in position to take a commanding lead. Milwaukee might have beaten them all six times during the regular season, but only one of those games was a no doubt win for the Brewers. The Dodgers lost by 2 runs twice and 1 run three times. They can end this at home even if they lost tonight’s game. I think Yoshi is going to pitch a gem.
Only managers job that has been filled is Schomaker becoming the manager of the Rangers. Reports that Pujols is close to an agreement with the Angels are out there too. Giants still interviewing.
According to reports, Alonso wants a 7-year deal. Anyone thinks he gets that?????
No. He won’t get 7 years. 5 tops. I would not go more than 3.
Typical Scott Boras comment. No he is not going to get 7 years.
I could see SF trying to pay him to add more firepower, but that would mean he or Rafael Devers has to be the DH
Teo is a terrible base runner.
I agree with Bear. A W is a W, no matter how you got it. I keep hearing that the playoffs are a crapshoot and involves luck. We should not complain when good luck comes to the Dodgers. We have all witnessed bad luck for the Dodgers. Brice Turang is not the first batter that swung at a pitch out of the zone. We have seen way too often swings well out of the zone from Ohtani, both Hernández Brothers, and Pages. We have witnessed more such swings from Freddie of late.
This is not the same Blake Snell. He does have a rep for nibbling. Like a lot of pitchers, he likes the swing and miss. In his first 12 post season starts, the longest he ever went was 5.2 IP. He also had two 5.1 IP playoff games, both against the Dodgers. One was last year and one was that famous Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. Somewhere Kevin Cash is shaking his head.
His three starts this year have been 7.0 innings, 6.0 innings, and 8.0 innings, and he has been dominant in all three. His pitch count was 91, 99, 103. He pitched with 5 days rest, 5 days rest, and 6 days rest. He will be expected to pitch Game 5 (if necessary) on 5 days rest.
I disagree that the fans were a bit early on anointing Roki Sasaki. This was his first bad relief appearance. The tell will be the next time he pitches in a high leverage situation. Flush this one and be ready for the next call. It takes a special pitcher to be a closer. Someone with a very short memory. I agree that we do not know if Roki has that makeup yet, but I think he is worth finding out. This one did not cost LAD. Roki respects Blake Snell and looks up to him. This is where Snell should pull Roki aside and tell him to forget this game, and be ready for the next. Will it work? We are going to find out.
Closer is one of those position vacancies on the Dodgers. Roberts decided Roki was the guy. Bummer Scott, Yates and Treinen didn’t step up.
Teo has his warts, no doubt, but he has come through offensively a few times. Pages on the other hand concerns me. He’s only been in the Majors 2 years but he’s been a professional for 8 years. He continues to make mistakes that high school players have learned not to make. He’s a streaky hitter and hopefully a new streak will start soon. As in tonight. Hopefully the rest of offense shows up as well.
Last Monday, Roki helped save Treinen. Last night, Treinen helped save Roki.
A weird win, but a team win, and I’ll take it.
Now, wake up today and let’s come home 2-0.
Well said
With Ohtani & Glasnow scheduled for G3/G4, a sweep would be possible
If you watched the Mariners – Jays game you got to “enjoy Doug Edding behind the dish. He was horseshit. And he’s always horseshit. He’s on my worst list. Yesterday he just refused to call strikes at the bottom of the strike zone. It’s equal opportunity employment in MLB playoffs. He has NO business behind the plate in important playoff games.
Alphonso Marquez is a Crew Chief in the playoffs. I don’t have much use for him either.
Bring on ABS even with the Challenge element.
I will say that the Umpiring Crew in our game was right on top of it on the weird double play. The HPU, John Libka had no indecisiveness on the force call at home and Chad Fairchild clearly called no catch in center.
That was a job well done by the umpires.
Teo had no excuse for his poor decision other than a brain fart.
There is only ONE situation when a runner at 3rd doesn’t just automatically tag up on any ball hit in the air with less than 2 outs.
That is when the hit ball is a shallow flair to the outfield. In that case if the ball drops in the runner is dead meat for a force at home.
If the ball is caught the runner goes back to 3rd as he can’t score on the short fly anyway.
On every other situation, the runner tags up. Teo just screwed up.
It was a confusing play for sure and I wasn’t sure watching on TV that the ball hit the wall and was live.
I have noe explanation for Will at 2nd.
And there been no outs, it could have been a triple-play as Muncy may have passed Edman at 1st, as Edman was back to first.
If you look at the bird’s eye view X clip above you will see that Edman got to 2nd, but came back to first sliding. It was Edman that got up and ran to 2nd, not Muncy who stayed firmly planted on the base.
“Who goofed? I’ve got to know!”
Through five innings so I hope it changes, but to this point the offensive production from Shohei has been offensive. He looks completely lost.
Betts and Ohtani have looked horrible at the plate and that might be an understatement.
Extremely disappointing.
Finally. As my wife just said, he hadn’t done jack shohei!
Got a single on a drawn in infield then down on three pitches with the bases loaded. 1 for 5. Gotta wonder how good this team would be if Shohei Ohtani showed up.
Great game by Yama. Glad Doc left him in to get a complete game.
I’ve got to give Roberts his props. I love how he handled the bullpen tonight!
That was wow.
Just wow.
Yamamoto says, Hey Blake, watch this.
Glasnow now pitching game three. Anyone catch the reason?
When the Dodgers signed Snell I told my daughter there is your number 1 starter. At the beginning of last year I thought Glasnow was no doubt our number 1 but injuries. Then, this year I understood all the hullabaloo about Yamamoto because he was our number 1 all year. Ohtani has progressed as a number 1. That is 4 number 1s healthy and not sure about Ohtani but the rest seemed to be at the top of their game. If the offense can raise their bar it is an exceptional team at the right time. Tough games ahead but u got to like the way they are trending. After all we watched a very mediocre team play for 2 months knowing at some point we are going to c some good breaks and exceptional play. Here we are with a chance to get better.
I was wrong. I never thought this team could tread water right through the regular season, and then when the playoffs began, just flip the switch on and raise their game multiple levels. Serve me that crow now.
Yama with a gem tonight, and Snell at this moment is in a league of his own.
The plan was for the bullpen to be tired through September and rusty in October.