With a sharp 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their remarkable postseason success away from home, taking a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.
Left-hander Blake Snell was once again the story of the night. The former two-time Cy Young winner turned in another masterful performance, tossing eight shutout innings while allowing just one hit, walking none and striking out 10. The lone baserunner he allowed — Caleb Durbin — was promptly picked off at first base.
Snell improved to 3-0 this postseason and lowered his ERA to 0.86 through 21 innings, during which he has racked up 28 strikeouts. His command and efficiency have anchored the Dodgers’ rotation during this playoff run.
Offensively, the Dodgers got all the production they needed from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. Freeman opened the scoring with a solo home run, while Betts worked a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 in the later innings. Though Shohei Ohtani has yet to find his rhythm at the plate, he showed patience by drawing three of the team’s eight walks in the game.
The victory marked the Dodgers’ fourth straight postseason road win, each by two runs or fewer. That ties a major league record shared by the 1998-99 Atlanta Braves and the 1977 New York Yankees.
With Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to start Game 2 against Milwaukee ace Freddy Peralta, Los Angeles will look to make history by winning a fifth consecutive playoff game on the road before the series shifts to Dodger Stadium for Games 3, 4 and 5.