Blake Snell’s dominant performance carries Dodgers to NLCS Game 1 win over Brewers

MILWAUKEE — The disparity in the payrolls was the focus of the series before the first pitch ever delivered, the handiwork of the manager in charge of the small-market franchise that won more regular season games than any team in baseball.

“I’m sure that most Dodgers players can’t name eight guys on our roster,” joked Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers.

If the preceding six months were a testament to how a team can win without superstars, the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series was a display of the firepower that can be purchased with a record-breaking $415-million payroll.

⚾ Dodgers 2, Brewers 1 — FINAL

Behind a dominant performance from Blake Snell and a solo home run by Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers defeated the Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night at American Family Field.

Snell gave up just one hit on a minimum 24 batters faced. He struck out 10 batters.

Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run in the sixth inning and Mookie Betts plated the winning run on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth.

The Dodgers and Brewers play again in Game 2 on Tuesday at 5:08 p.m. PDT.

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Ninth inning recap

Top of the ninth: Max Muncy drew a leadoff walk. Kiké Hernández then singled to right field before the runners advanced to third and second on an Andy Pages sacrifice bunt.

Abner Uribe then intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases. Mookie Betts then drew a walk from Uribe to force in Muncy and give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Pinch-hitter Alex Call popped out to shortstop for the second out. Freddie Freeman flied out to center field to cap the frame.

Bottom of the ninth: Facing Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, Caleb Durbin popped out to third. Sasaki walked Isaac Collins on five pitches.

Jake Bauers then hit a ground-rule double to deep center field to put runners on second and third with one out. Brandon Lockridge took over at third as a pinch-runner for Bauers at second.

Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio hit a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field to score Collins and make it 2-1 Dodgers.

Roki Sasaki then walked Christian Yelich to put runners on the corners. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Sasaki and put Blake Treinen on the mound with two outs.

After Yelich stole second base to put the winning run in scoring position, Treinen walked William Contreras to load the bases.

Treinen struck out Brice Turang to end the game with the bases loaded.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Brewers 0 — Through eighth inning

Top of the eighth: Facing Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill, Teoscar Hernández flied out to right field. Freddie Freeman then hit a 104-mph liner off the wall in the right-field corner for a standup double.

Will Smith flied out to deep right field, allowing Freeman to tag up and take third base. Megill struck out Tommy Edman on nine pitches for the third out.

Bottom of the eighth: Blake Snell got Brice Turang to ground out to first base. Andrew Vaughn grounded out to third before Sal Frelick took a called third strike on a curveball for Snell’s 10th strikeout.

Snell has faced the minimum 24 batters. He gave up one hit over 103 pitches.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Brewers 0 — Through seventh inning

Top of the seventh: Andy Pages and Shohei Ohtani grounded out and Mookie Betts flied out to center field.

Bottom of the seventh: Blake Snell struck out Jackson Chourio. Christian Yelich grounded out to second base and William Contreras grounded out to third.

Snell has been dominant. He has faced the minimum 21 batters, giving up just one hit and striking out nine on 91 pitches.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Brewers 0 — Through sixth inning

Top of the sixth: After Teoscar Hernández flied out to short, Freddie Freeman hit a towering solo home run to right field off Brewers reliever Chad Patrick to give the Dodgers the lead. It was Freeman’s first home run of the postseason.

Will Smith followed with a single before Patrick walked Tommy Edman, prompting the Brewers to put Jared Koenig on the mound.

Max Muncy flied out to left field despite Isaac Collins and Sal Frelick slightly colliding while going for the ball. Kiké Hernández struck out to end the inning.

Bottom of the sixth: Blake Snell struck out Caleb Durbin and Collins. Joey Ortiz grounded out to third base to end the inning.

Snell has retired 11 straight and has given up just one hit through six innings.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Brewers 0 — Through fifth inning

Top of the fifth: Kiké Hernández led with a double to left field before Andy Pages grounded out. Quinn Priester intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani, then Mookie Betts hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom of the fifth: Blake Snell struck out Brice Turang and got Andrew Vaughn and Sal Frelick to ground out.

Snell has faced the minimum 15 batters, giving up just one hit with six strikeouts through 65 pitches.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Brewers 0 — Through fourth inning

Top of the fourth: Teoscar Hernández drew a leadoff walk before Isaac Collins made a leaping, over-the-head catch on a liner to the left-field warning track off the bat of Freddie Freeman.

Will Smith then singled up the middle off Quinn Priester. Tommy Edman followed with a single to center to load the bases and prompt a mound visit by Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook.

Then, in a shocking sequence, Max Muncy hit the ball off the glove of leaping Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick, with the ball bouncing off the wall and back into his glove.

With the Dodgers’ baserunners not realizing the ball hit the wall before it was caught, Frelick threw to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who relayed a throw home to force out Hernández at the plate. Will Smith, who didn’t advance from second, thinking it was a catch and wouldn’t need to run to third (even though Edman and Muncy were behind him), was forced out at third when catcher William Contreras ran to third and touched the bag.

Bottom of the fourth: Blake Snell struck out Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich. Contreras then grounded out to Snell to end the inning.

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⚾ Dodgers 0, Brewers 0 — Through third innings

Top of the third: Andy Pages grounded out to third base on the 10th pitch he saw from Quinn Priester. Shohei Ohtani flied out to left field. Mookie Betts grounded out to second base to cap the frame. The Dodgers will head into the fourth looking for their first hit.

Bottom of the third: Caleb Durbin singled to center field off Blake Snell for the first hit of the game. Snell then struck out Isaac Collins on three pitches.

Snell then threw a pick-off throw to first, and Freddie Freeman threw the ball to Tommy Edman, who tagged out Durbin at second. Joey Ortiz followed with a groundout to Mookie Betts up the middle for the third out.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Brewers 0 — Through second inning

Top of the second: Quinn Priester became the second pitcher of Milwaukee’s bullpen game, getting Will Smith and Tommy Edman to ground out before walking Max Muncy. Priester struck out Kiké Hernéndez for the third out.

Bottom of the second: Brice Turang flied out to left field before Andrew Vaughn grounded out to short. Sal Frelick then flied out to center field to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Brewers 0 — Through first inning

Top of the first: Shohei Ohtani drew a leadoff walk from Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby. Mookie Betts then popped out to second base. Teoscar Hernández lined out to left and Ashby struck out Freddie Freeman.

Bottom of the first: Facing Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell, Jackson Chourio grounded out to third base. Snell struck out Christian Yelich and William Contreras to cap the frame.

Roki Sasaki was literally the toast of the Dodgers.

“Shot for Roki!” infielder Miguel Rojas screamed.

Hooting and hollering, the players raised the little paper cups in their hands and emptied the contents into their mouths to celebrate the three perfect innings delivered by Sasaki in an 11-inning, 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that secured their place in the National League Championship Series.

The emergence of Sasaki as an October hero was as unexpected as his relief performances in the NL Division Series were electric.

How did this happen?

In those buoyant days of spring, Dodgers fans blithely predicted their star-studded and well-financed team would win, say, 125 games. No major league team had won more than 116 but, if the Dodgers were going to ruin baseball, they would have a damn good time doing it.

Then the season started, and with it the ups and downs, and the injuries and the inconsistencies. The Dodgers won the National League West, of course, but with what they would consider a very modest 93 wins.

Thirty-one days ago, Roki Sasaki arrived at Dodger Stadium, met with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes, and was presented a plan that required faith and trust.

It had been eight months since Sasaki signed with the Dodgers amid massive expectations, coming over from Japan as a 23-year-old phenom billed as possessing some of the best raw arm talent in the world.

It had been four months since his debut season took a dismal turn, landing on the injured list with a shoulder impingement following an opening month marred by poor performance and diminished stuff.

Less than two weeks earlier, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had all but written Sasaki off as a potential factor in the team’s postseason plans, after the pitcher had continued to struggle in a minor-league rehab stint.

Pat Murphy, the gregarious manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, was in no hurry to wrap up his news conference Sunday.

He compared Mookie Betts playing shortstop to Stephen Curry playing forward. He anointed Freddie Freeman as his favorite player even though “he’s ruined Brewers history many times.” He read off names from an eight-year-old Dodgers scouting report that included Yasiel Puig, Rich Hill and Curtis Granderson.

“I love Kenley Jansen,” Murphy said. “You guys miss him?”

MILWAUKEE — Entering this week’s National League Championship Series, the Dodgers’ pitching plan seemed simple.

After Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow started the final two games of the team’s NL Division Series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell were next in line for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

All the Dodgers needed to do was slot Snell in for Game 1 on Monday, making him an option to pitch again on four days’ rest in Game 5. Then, they could have Ohtani go in Game 2 on Tuesday, allowing him to pitch before Wednesday’s scheduled off-day (which has been the team’s preference for the two-way star) and be available for another start if the series returns to Milwaukee for Games 6 and 7.

Here’s who will be starting for the Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series:

The Dodgers were on double duty Saturday night.

As they worked out at Dodger Stadium, two days after winning their National League Division Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, they had Game 5 of the other NLDS on the scoreboard — getting a first look at their NL Championship Series opponent.

“It’s certainly nice to be able to get a couple days to reset, prepare, and we’re kind of doing our due diligence,” manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday afternoon. “We’ll have that game on the big board.”

No, he didn’t.

Yes, they did!

No, Philadelphia Phillies’ reliever Orion Kerkering did not just botch a grounder and throw it away with the season on the line!

Yes, it happened with two out and the bases loaded and allowed the Dodgers to steal a National League Division Series clinching 2-1 victory in 11 taut innings Thursday at Dodger Stadium!

Clinched, just in time.

When Shohei Ohtani was asked about his woeful performance at the plate in the Dodgers’ National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he first gave credit to the opposition.

Then, after a series that saw the Phillies counter him with one left-handed pitcher after the next, he was also quick to point out that he wasn’t alone.

“It was pretty difficult for left-handed hitters,” Ohtani said in Japanese amid the Dodgers’ clubhouse celebration following their Game 4 victory. “This was also the case for Freddie [Freeman].”

MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers made only one small tweak to their roster for the National League Championship Series, announcing a 26-man group before Game 1 on Monday that included an extra pitcher, Ben Casparius, in place of a third catcher, Dalton Rushing.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had indicated the Dodgers would likely add a pitcher for the NLCS, which is a best-of-seven round with only two off days.

In Casparius, they did so with a right-hander capable of pitching multiple innings at a time (he bounced between the rotation and bullpen earlier this year) and being used as an option against right-handed-heavy parts of an opposing lineup.

The Dodgers open their National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Monday at 5:08 p.m. PDT.

The game will be televised on TBS, TruTV and HBO Max. Radio broadcasts in the Los Angeles area will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español).

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 1 of the NLCS:

Here’s the TV schedule for the rest of the best-of-seven series (all times Pacific):

Game 2: Tuesday, 5:08 p.m. at Milwaukee | TBS, HBO Max

Game 3: Thursday, 3:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | TBS, HBO Max

Game 4: Friday, 5:38 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | TBS, HBO Max

*Game 5: Saturday, 5:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | TBS, HBO Max

*Game 6: Oct. 20, 2:08 p.m. at Milwaukee | TBS, HBO Max

*Game 7: Oct. 21, 5:08 p.m. at Milwaukee | TBS, HBO Max

* if necessary