Newly minted Dodgers killer Jake Bauers ignites Blake Snell controversy, pushes LA to the brink

The Los Angeles Dodgers came back to Chavez Ravine with a 2-0 deficit in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, no doubt hoping that being back at home would revitalize them. Ahead of Game 3, Mookie Betts gave props to the fans at American Family Field and said he hoped Dodgers fans would replicate the atmosphere.

But the Dodgers themselves didn't give fans much to cheer about.

Blake Snell certainly did (at first). Despite giving up a leadoff homer to Jackson Chourio — on his first pitch of the game, no less, he retired 15 consecutive batters after giving up a one-out walk to Garrett Mitchell in the second.

The Dodgers' offense couldn't buy a hit through five innings against Brewers starter Robert Gasser, keeping the score static at 1-0. There wasn't much reason to hope against Milwaukee's dominant bullpen, either.

But Abner Uribe didn't have his best stuff. He just couldn't find the zone, and he loaded the bases with just one out. Then Will Smith, ice-cold through the postseason so far, stepped up to the plate and shot a long double into left field to score two. There was hope for LA.

And then Jake Bauers happened. Bauers, who fought Yoshinobu Yamamoto through an epic 12-pitch, two-out at-bat in Game 2 (and won on a walk), bullied Snell in similar fashion. He saw 10 pitches before getting one he liked — a middle-middle fastball for a two-run, go-ahead homer.

Jake Bauers, Brewers overcome Blake Snell and the Dodgers' efforts to put LA one loss away from elimination

Garrett Mitchell immediately followed Bauers with a homer of his own to give Milwaukee a 4-2 lead. In a postseason game, with the Dodgers' offense looking as ineffective as it has been, that felt like an all but insurmountable lead.

It was. After Smith's single, the Brewers' bullpen retired seven consecutive batters before Shohei Ohtani broke it up with a single in the eighth. Smith, the hopeful hero of the game, flew out to end the inning. The Brewers took on two more on a Joey Ortiz single. The Dodgers went down in order in the ninth. 6-2, Milwaukee.

Snell had thrown 81 pitches before Bauers came up in the seventh. While a healthy enough pitch out through six innings, he was clearly losing steam against Andrew Vaughn. He was clearly losing his feel of the zone, and his fastball velocity had dipped.

But Dave Roberts, perhaps afraid of a repeat of the infamous Kevin Cash moment in 2020, trusted his starter. It was a mistake that might've sunk the Dodgers' three-peat hopes.

The Dodgers are one loss away from elimination. It doesn't get worse than this.

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