Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explains leaving Blake Snell in before costly back-to-back home runs in Game 3

Snell opened the seventh inning with a walk and then home runs by Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell before being pulled After six innings of work in Wednesday's Game 3 of the NLCS, Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Blake Snell had more than done his job. After allowing a first-pitch home run to the first batter of the game, Snell settled in and rode a crackling fastball in front of his abundant secondaries to a nine-strikeout, one-walk performance in which he allowed only that one run. Manager Dave Roberts, though, decided to let Snell come out for the seventh inning, and that proved a crucial decision in the eventual 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers that pushed the Dodgers to the brink of elimination.

Snell entered the seventh inning having faced 21 batters, which put him well into the perilous third time through the opposing order. The Brewers' four-five-six batters were due up, and a right-handed batter, Andrew Vaughn, was due up first. Snell walked him on seven pitches. Then Jake Bauers stepped in, and Roberts left Snell in to face the lefty. On the 11th and final pitch of the marathon at-bat, Bauers turned the game on its ear: Snell's night still wasn't over, even after being worked for 18 pitches by the previous two batters. Another lefty, Garrett Mitchell,