Blake Snell replicating what Sandy Koufax achieved for the Dodgers

MILWAUKEE — Sixty years ago, the only pitcher with a statue at Dodger Stadium turned in the most dominant postseason performance in franchise history.

Sandy Koufax, this is Blake Snell.

With apologies to Orel Hershiser and his classic run in 1988, the three playoff starts made by Koufax in 1965 virtually mirror the three playoff starts made by Snell so far in 2025.

Koufax: 24 innings, 13 hits, two runs, five walks, 29 strikeouts.

Snell: 21 innings, six hits, two runs, five walks, 28 strikeouts.

Koufax won the Dodgers a World Series, at a time when the World Series lasted every postseason. Hershiser won the Dodgers a World Series at a time when the playoffs were two rounds long.

For this year’s Dodgers, winning the World Series would require four playoff rounds, which could allow Snell to achieve the most sustained streak of October dominance in the history of a franchise built on a foundation of pitchers.

Snell blanked the Milwaukee Brewers for eight innings Monday, becoming the undisputed star as the Dodgers opened the National League Championship Series with a 2-1 victory. If the Dodgers win the World Series, Snell estimates he has two or three more starts.

If you’re a free agent who wants to play in the playoffs and compete against the best, like Snell did, you sign with the team that has made the playoffs 13 years in a row.

“I wanted to be a Dodger and play on this team,” Snell said. “Being here now is a dream come true.

“I couldn’t wish for anything more. I’m just going to do my best to help us win a World Series.”

There was only one thing Snell failed to do on Monday, and the failure was on the Dodgers, not him. The failure almost cost the Dodgers the game.

Sandy Koufax pitches for the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins.

(Associated Press)

In the 1965 playoffs, Koufax pitched two complete games. In 1988, Hershiser launched three.

Snell could have pitched on a Monday. He could have pitched the ninth, he said, but he trusted his manager to make the decision.

He is a victim of the modern game. The Dodgers haven’t had a complete game this season. In 222 regular-season starts, Snell has one — and he had to throw a no-hitter to do it.

On Monday, he faced the minimum 24 batters over eight innings, allowing one hit and then throwing out the runner. The last pitcher to face the minimum in eight innings of a playoff game: Don Larsen of the New York Yankees, in his perfect game in 1956.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy called Snell’s outing “the most dominant performance against us” in the 10 years he’s coached or managed here.

Milwaukee has scored more runs than any team in the NL except the Dodgers.

The Brewers are great at putting the ball in play – only two teams in the NL have struck out fewer times than Milwaukee – and yet Snell struck out 10. His other 14 outs: 11 ground balls, a fly, a foul and this out.

No other Dodgers pitcher — not Koufax, not Hershiser, not Clayton Kershaw — has pitched at least eight innings and allowed one hit or fewer in a playoff game.

“We all know it: Blake, when he’s right, is the best pitcher in the game,” Kershaw said. “It’s kind of fun to watch.”

Snell had thrown 103 pitches in eight innings. His season high was 112. The Dodgers led 2-0, with the bottom of the Brewers order approaching.

“It’s tough for me,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Snell hadn’t pitched the ninth inning since that no-hitter 14 months ago. The Dodgers plan to use him on regular rest in Game 5 of this series. Roberts summoned the closest of the moment, Roki Sasaki.

“I thought it was 50-50,” Roberts said. “Roki threw the ball very well.”

Sasaki faced five batters, struck out two and allowed one run. Blake Treinen recovered the save and so Snell recorded the victory.

The rap that has dogged Snell throughout his career: unmatched stuff with inconsistent control, too often leading him to throw 90 to 100 pitches in five innings instead of seven or eight. In 2023, the season in which he won his second Cy Young Award, he led the NL in walks.

In the nine regular-season starts since the Dodgers took him off the injured list in August, Snell has made two five-inning, 90-pitch starts. In the other seven starts, he posted a 1.28 ERA.

Over his last six starts, including the postseason, he has pitched at least six innings each time. His record: 5-0, with an ERA of 0.68.

“Over my last three years, I was pretty consistent,” Snell said, “and I could throw the ball, do whatever I wanted with the ball.

“But the narrative has always been, ‘He’s a wild pitcher, he walks a lot of guys.’ I laugh about it because I know it’s not true. I know because I’m the one throwing the ball.

He’s throwing the ball as well as ever, on the biggest stage, where Dodgers legends are made.

“In the playoffs, if you dominate and do well,” Snell said, “no one can say anything.”