The Los Angeles Dodgers opened National League Championship Series Game 3 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium already searching for answers, and Jackson Chourio made the night feel even more urgent by taking Blake Snell deep on the first pitch of the game. The Dodgers entered the evening trailing the Brewers 0-2 in the NLCS as the series shifted to Los Angeles, and Snell's response over the next several innings became the story of the night.
A First-Pitch Gut Punch
Milwaukee had already taken control of the series in American Family Field, with Game 1 ending in a narrow 2-1 Brewers victory, followed by a more commanding 7-4 win in Game 2, where Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto was knocked out early in the third inning. That left Los Angeles needing a lift from Snell just to keep the season going, and instead the night opened with disaster: Chourio went yard off Snell for his third career postseason lead-off home run, his sixth first-pitch homer of the year already.
Snell's Answer to Adversity
Rather than unravel, Snell tightened up. The left-hander had arrived at Game 3 under a cloud after a rough NLDS outing, having surrendered three hits, five walks and one earned run with five strikeouts on 90 pitches over just 3 2/3 innings in his previous start. Wednesday looked like a different pitcher almost immediately.
Eight Strikeouts and Counting
Through four innings, Snell had racked up eight strikeouts and settled into a groove, with reports noting he was up to eight strikeouts and 54 pitches through four innings, looking like everything the Dodgers could want outside of that very first pitch. It was a reminder of why the Dodgers leaned on him in the first place; across his postseason career entering the night, Snell carried a 3.23 ERA with 107 strikeouts and 41 walks in 86 1/3 innings.
Manager Dave Roberts had already explained before the game why he expected a sharper version of his starter after the NLDS misstep, saying of that outing, “I thought he got behind way too many guys, was not efficient, and I think he was very upset with himself with how he approached that start.”
Ohtani's New Spot — and New Hope
The other major storyline entering Game 3 centered on Shohei Ohtani, who started at designated hitter and batted sixth for the second straight game of the series as he worked through a postseason slump. Roberts offered a note of optimism beforehand, saying the two-time MVP had indicated he is “close to finding something” in batting practice that would help him end his postseason struggles.
Higher Stakes Off the Field
Game 3 carried extra emotional weight for at least one Dodger. According to multiple reports, catcher Will Smith's wife gave birth to the couple's third child just hours before first pitch, adding a personal subplot to an already tense night for the MLB Playoffs contender.
There was also a logistical twist hanging over the rest of the series. With bad weather threatening Cleveland, Major League Baseball announced that Thursday's Game 4 would start one hour earlier, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, because the league needed to move up the Guardians-Rays ALCS game. The adjustment meant Game 4 would air on FS1, with pregame coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
What Game 4 Means for the Dodgers
The stakes for Thursday were already stark before Snell threw a single pitch Wednesday. With the Brewers up 2-0, a Milwaukee win in Game 3 would have pushed the Dodgers to the brink of elimination in Game 4, while a Los Angeles victory would have breathed new life into the two-time defending champions' bid for a three-peat. Either way, the Brewers arrived in Los Angeles looking to turn their 2-0 lead into a commanding 3-0 series advantage after having already won the first two games in Milwaukee.
The Brewers' path back to this stage was no accident; Milwaukee's roster had battled through its own October gauntlet to reach this point, a run chronicled in the Brewers' return to the NLCS. On the other side, the Dodgers had their own hard-fought path to October, detailed in how the club clinched their spot in the NLCS against Atlanta. Whatever happened over the balance of Wednesday night, both franchises were set to collide again Thursday with a trip to the World Series hanging in the balance.