The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of elimination after falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the 2025 World Series.
Blake Snell struggled out of the gate as he allowed back-to-back home runs to Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to begin his outing.
The left-hander allowed another run in the fourth after Daulton Varsho’s leadoff triple and Ernie Clement’s ensuing sacrifice fly. Varsho ended up on third base after Teoscar Hernández came up empty on a diving attempt in right field.
Snell pitched into the seventh inning but was removed with runners at the corners and two outs. Edgardo Henriquez allowed both inherited runners to score after throwing a wild pitch with Guerrero batting and then giving up an RBI single to Bo Bichette.
Snell’s final line was 6.2 innings, six hits, five runs, four walks and seven strikeouts.
“They didn’t really get to me,” Snell said after the Dodgers’ 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays. “First pitch of the game, 97 (mph) fastball up and in, he hits it 98 and it goes out. Pretty unlucky.
“And then Vlad, that’s just a bad pitch, down and in fastball. But then after that, pretty smooth sailing. Figured out their lineup and what they like to do.
“And then Varsho gets a triple on a 78 (mph) exit velo, just unlucky. I’m not one to make excuses or anything close to that, but just pretty unlucky. There’s only so much you can do.
“The seventh inning there, a good pitch. Varsho just hits the ball in play, then walked the nine-hole guy that I struck out twice already. Just got to be better there.”
Snell threw 116 pitches in the outing — his most since the 2022 season — but believes he was effective until the very end.
“I mean, I still was throwing 97, 98 (mph) at the end. I felt good, felt strong,” Snell explained. “I’ve been training to be ready for this and be strong. I felt good. I trust me, so just frustrating.”
Blake Snell takes loss as Dodgers offense struggles
One could argue that Snell pitched better than the results show, but the Dodgers’ offense simply didn’t give him enough support.
L.A. has scored just two runs over the last two games while going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
“It doesn’t feel great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the Game 5 loss. “You clearly see those guys finding ways to get hits, move the baseball forward, and we’re not doing a good job of it.
“…We have seen (Kevin) Gausman a ton, a lot of our guys have seen him, so we just got to come in fresh. We’ve been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we got to find a way to win a game. That’s it.”
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