Blake Snell making his season debut Saturday for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Atlanta Braves, tied for the best record in Major League Baseball, may have been a tough opening assignment.
Pitching in his first game since Game 7 of last year’s World Series on Blake Snell Bobblehead Night, the left-hander was battered for four earned runs and six hits over three innings in the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Braves.
Snell could have used some run support amid his opening struggles, but the Dodgers couldn’t generate any offense against the opposing starting pitcher. Making his second start since returning from a left oblique strain, Spencer Strider allowed only one hit in six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.
Strider’s performance was far more encouraging than his previous outing, when he gave up three runs, four hits and five walks in 3 1/3 innings against the Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers didn’t get on the scoreboard until the ninth inning against Atlanta’s Reynaldo López on a two-run homer from Andy Pages after an Alex Call double. But that wasn’t nearly enough.
Snell opted to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation on Saturday, rather than make one final minor-league rehab start after Tyler Glasnow went on the injured list with back spasms.
"I said yes before they even asked," Snell said, via MLB.com. "I wanted this start. Facing a team like Atlanta, really good, it's going to let you know where you're at pretty quickly."
He allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base, but managed to give up only one run. The Braves added four more in the second inning on two-run singles from Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson.
“Learned a lot,” Snell said after the game, adding that the strike zone was smaller than last season, likely due to the ABS system. “Obviously, frustrated. The goal is to give up no runs, so giving up five [total] is frustrating.”
Snell ended up throwing 77 pitches, which is what the Dodgers wanted. However, the team hoped that would last over five innings instead of three.
“First outing back, stuff was good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “There were lots of swings and misses in there.”
“You’re gonna get unlucky with some hits, but give them credit for putting the ball in play,” he added. “There were a couple bad walks in there that extended innings, but this is something to build off of.”
Barring any setbacks, Snell’s next turn in the rotation will be on Thursday vs. the San Francisco Giants.
