The Dodgers needed one win to send the Atlanta Braves to the brink of elimination on Sunday. Instead, the Braves lineup forced an early exit from Blake Snell and scored two defining runs against the bullpen in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers, forcing the series back to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4.
It wasn’t the first rocky outing for Snell against Atlanta this season, as he only managed to toss three innings while allowing four runs in his 2026 debut back on May 8 before being placed on the injured list.
The southpaw had looked like his usual dominant stretch once he returned in August, but the ultimate test was to see how he would perform against the lone team that roughed him up.
Snell made quick work of Drake Baldwin for the first out, but after allowing a one-out single to Ronald Acuña Jr., he walked both Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies to load the bases. Snell managed to get Michael Harris II to fly out in foul territory for a crucial second out, but Mauricio Dubón tacked on the game’s first run with an infield single. Snell faced seven hitters in the first inning, needing 27 pitches to give the Dodgers a chance to hit.
Snell’s biggest flaw on Sunday was his inability to get quick innings, unlike Tarik Skubal on Saturday. Snell needed four pitches to get two quick outs in the second inning, but allowed a six-pitch walk to Baldwin and needed another eight to strike out Acuña. Snell allowed another two-out baserunner in the third inning, this time a single from Harris, needing 19 pitches after tossing 18 the inning prior.
Snell’s hopes at a clean inning were dashed in the fourth inning, as he walked a pair of hitters and tossed 26 pitches before the plug was pulled on his night. The Dodgers got him off the hook in the bottom of the fourth inning with a Freddie Freeman home run, but the Dodgers employed six relievers out of the bullpen over their final 5 1/3 innings on the mound.
Snell had a postseason to remember last year, as his defining moment came in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, facing the minimum over eight shutout innings. Sunday’s outing was the first time he failed to log four innings in a postseason start since he began the 2022 Wild Card series against the New York Mets back when he was a San Diego Padre. Out of the 90 pitches he tossed against Atlanta, 47 of them went for strikes.
Snell’s final start of the regular season was limited to just one inning after he dealt with left groin inflammation. Dave Roberts was quick to deny any concern over Snell’s groin issue, noting that he was battling himself on the mound.
“No, it wasn’t that. He was fighting himself in his delivery all game. Today, I just think the fastball was really good, the changeup was good at times, but I think, in total, didn’t have fastball command, didn’t have slider command, and the changeup wasn’t there. He was pulling it. I think overall it wasn’t the groin, and he wasn’t sharp tonight.”
Roberts felt optimistic about his chances of Snell on the mound while Atlanta went with their own bullpen game, beginning with left-hander Ray Kerr. The pieces just couldn’t fall into place on Sunday.
“Felt great. Anytime I feel I have Blake Snell lined up against any pitcher felt good. Going to getting Kerr out of the game and then getting [Grant] Holmes out of the game, I felt really good where we were at. I really did. We just couldn’t execute as the game progressed.”
Now the Dodgers will face the only pitcher to shut them out in the regular season, left-hander Chris Sale, in a crucial Game 3 at Truist Park on Tuesday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound for the first time in the playoffs since his Herculean performance in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.
