Blake Snell was injured and unavailable to pitch in July when the Los Angeles Dodgers lost all six of their regular-season meetings with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Facing the Brewers for the first time this year in the National League Championship Series, the two-time Cy Young Award winner showed just how much of a difference he can make.
Snell allowed one baserunner in eight shutout innings before Los Angeles' bullpen barely held on as the Dodgers opened the NLCS with a 2-1 victory Monday night. Brewers manager Pat Murphy called it perhaps the most dominant performance he's seen by an opposing pitcher in the 10 years he's been on Milwaukee's staff.