Snell’s 9 K’s set postseason record for Rays

ARLINGTON — Through four innings of the Rays’ eventual 6-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series at Globe Life Field on Wednesday night, Blake Snell looked every bit like the pitcher that took home the American League Cy Young Award in 2018. He needed just

ARLINGTON — Through four innings of the Rays’ eventual 6-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series at Globe Life Field on Wednesday night, Blake Snell looked every bit like the pitcher that took home the American League Cy Young Award in 2018. He needed just 10 pitches to get through the first inning and was attacking the strike zone with all four of his pitches.

• World Series Game 3: Friday, 8 p.m. ET on FOX

But in the fifth, Snell showed signs of the inconsistencies that have plagued him all season. Chris Taylor ended Snell’s no-hit bid with a two-out, two-run homer to cut the Rays’ lead to 5-2. A walk and a single later forced manager Kevin Cash to run up the dugout steps to pull Snell after just 4 2/3 innings.

Nick Anderson took over for Snell and was able to get Justin Turner to strikeout swinging to end the threat. Snell set a franchise record with nine strikeouts in a World Series game and became the first pitcher to have six or more strikeouts and no hits through three innings of a World Series game since Randy Johnson in 2001.

Wednesday’s start summarized Snell’s season perfectly. When on, he’s one of the most dominant left-handed pitchers in the Majors. But when he runs into trouble, the pitch count goes up and isn’t able to get deep into games. All in all, the Rays will certainly take Snell allowing just two runs against a powerful Dodgers lineup that scored eight runs in Game 1 on Tuesday.

Juan Toribio covers the Rays for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @juanctoribio.