Blake Snell Attributes Blue Jays’ Game 5 Win To Luck
In Game 5 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium, Blake Snell took the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers aiming to seize a commanding 3-2 lead against the Toronto Blue Jays. What unfolded instead was some early turmoil for Snell.
On his very first pitch, Snell grooved a fastball to Davis Schneider, who launched it into the left-field seats for a leadoff home run. Before Snell could regroup, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fouled off a first-pitch fastball but crushed the second one, sending a towering shot to nearly the same spot, putting Toronto up 2-0 on just three pitches thrown.
It marked the first instance of back-to-back leadoff homers to open a World Series contest, and for Guerrero, his eighth postseason blast overall. Snell wiped down the rubber and stared into the infield, but the damage was done, forcing him to pivot quickly from his signature heat.
Snell steadied himself in the second inning and got into a rhythm. In the fourth, however, Toronto inch ahead further when Ernie Clement batted in Daulton Varsho on sac fly, capitalizing on a misplay from Teoscar Hernández on Varsho’s triple.
Trouble brewed again in the seventh for Snell, as he allowed two further baserunners. When Snell was pulled by Dave Roberts, the score was still 3-1, but his baserunners later scored in the inning, pushing his line to five earned runs across 6 2/3 innings of work.
LA ultimately lost 6-1, and following the game, Snell attributed Toronto’s success against him to mostly luck.
“What do you think allowed them to get to you so early before you were able to settle in?” Snell was asked.
“I mean, they didn’t really get to me,” Snell replied. “First pitch of the game, 97 (MPH) fastball up and in, he hits it 98, it goes out. Pretty unlucky. And then Vlad, that’s a, yeah, just a bad pitch … but then after that, yeah, pretty smooth sailing.”
“Figured out their lineup, what they like to do,” Snell continued. “Then Varsho gets a triple on a 78 (MPH) exit velo … it’s just unlucky. I mean, I’m not one to make excuses or anything close to that, but, yeah, just pretty unlucky. There’s only so much you can do … Luck plays in baseball, too.”