Blake Snell Blames Bad Luck After Dodgers’ Crushing Game 5 World Series Loss: “It Wasn’t Bad Pitching—It Was Just Luck”

In the high-stakes theater of the World Series, where every pitch can swing fortunes and every inning feels like a lifetime, Blake Snell delivered a performance that left fans, analysts, and even his Toronto Blue Jays counterparts scratching their heads. Game 5 on Wednesday night ended in a 6-1 Dodgers defeat, pushing the defending champions to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 series deficit. But Snell, the $182 million ace signed to anchor LA’s rotation, didn’t point fingers at his defense, the umpires, or the roaring Dodger Stadium crowd. Instead, in a postgame presser that’s already racking up millions of views on X and YouTube, he chalked it up to one word: luck. “It wasn’t bad pitching—it was just luck,” Snell said, his voice steady and his trademark confidence unshaken. As the Blue Jays celebrate a historic back-to-back leadoff homers—the first ever in World Series history—Snell’s unflinching honesty has sparked debates: Is this resilience or deflection? Dive into the chaos of Game 5, Snell’s rollercoaster outing, and why the Dodgers’ bounce-back blueprint could still crown them kings.

Dodger Stadium, bathed in that electric October glow under a sea of blue banners, was primed for a statement win. The Dodgers, fresh off a gritty 4-3 victory in Game 4 that evened the series, handed the ball to Snell—a two-time Cy Young winner whose postseason pedigree includes a no-hitter in the 2023 playoffs with San Diego. The 32-year-old lefty, acquired in a blockbuster free-agent deal last winter to fortify LA’s arms after their injury-plagued 2024 run, strode to the mound with the weight of a championship repeat on his shoulders.

But the script flipped faster than a curveball. On his very first pitch—a 97-mph fastball up and in—Toronto’s leadoff hitter Davis Schneider crushed a 98-mph rocket to left field for a solo homer. No warmup, no warning: instant detonation. Two pitches later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Jays’ slugging superstar and AL batting title contender, unleashed on another heater, sending it 420 feet to right-center. Boom. Back-to-back leadoff homers. The crowd’s roar turned to a collective gasp as the Jays jumped to a 2-0 lead before Snell could even break a sweat.

Snell, towel draped over his shoulders in the dugout, later dissected it with surgical precision. “First pitch of the game—97 fastball up and in, he hits it 98, it goes out. Pretty unlucky,” he told reporters, his eyes locked forward. “And then Vlad, that’s just a bad pitch. Vlad is a really good hitter, so you got to do stuff there.” No excuses about the adrenaline-fueled opener or the crisp October air aiding carry—Snell owned the mistakes but framed the rest as baseball’s cruel whimsy. For a pitcher who’s thrived on mental fortitude, this was vintage Snell: calm amid the storm.

If the first inning was a punch to the gut, Snell’s response was a testament to his ace DNA. He settled in, mixing filthy sliders and changeups that had Jays hitters flailing. Through three innings, he allowed just those two runs, striking out four and inducing weak contact. His velocity held steady at 95-97 mph, and his spin rates—elite as ever—generated whiffs on 35% of swings, per Statcast data. “His pitches looked sharp early,” said Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who flashed leather with a diving stop in the second but couldn’t convert a double-play ball later. Teammate Freddie Freeman echoed the sentiment: “Blake gave us everything. Those sliders were unhittable.”

But baseball, as Snell himself noted, is a game of inches—and Wednesday’s inches went Toronto’s way. In the fourth, Daulton Varsho’s triple slipped through a diving Miguel Rojas, turning a potential out into a run. Borderline calls on full counts favored the Jays, with two pitches that could have been strikes called balls, forcing Snell into deeper counts. Then came the seventh: two wild pitches that let runners advance, including one that scored a run after Snell’s exit. Reliever Edgardo Henriquez inherited the mess, allowing those ghosts to cross the plate, ballooning Snell’s line to five earned runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. He walked four, struck out seven, and threw 116 pitches—emptying the tank, as manager Dave Roberts put it.

Roberts, ever the steady hand, backed his hurler without hesitation. “Blake pitched a heck of a ball game,” he said postgame. “But yeah, giving up bases and not converting outs when you have an opportunity… that came back to bite us.” Inside the locker room, the vibe was unified: no blame game. “We’ve been here before,” said outfielder Teoscar Hernández, flashing a grin. “One night doesn’t define us. Snell’s stuff was electric—luck just wasn’t on our side.” It’s this locker-room alchemy—forged in the fires of last year’s improbable comeback from a 3-1 NLCS deficit—that has Dodgers Nation believing in another miracle.

For the Blue Jays, Game 5 was a masterclass in opportunistic baseball. Starter Trey Yesavage, the 22-year-old phenom, silenced the Dodgers’ bats with 12 strikeouts over seven innings, allowing just one run on a Freeman solo shot. Toronto’s “put-it-in-play” approach—grinding at-bats, fouling off two-strike pitches—wore down Snell, turning his gem potential into a grind. Guerrero’s homer was his third of the series, while Schneider’s leadoff blast etched him into lore. “We ambushed him,” Jays manager John Schneider quipped, crediting their scouting report that targeted Snell’s fastball command early.

Yet, for all Toronto’s fire, the Dodgers’ deficiencies bubbled up. Their offense, potent all postseason with a .285 team average, mustered just five hits—stranded runners in scoring position and swing-and-misses against Yesavage’s curveball exposed vulnerabilities. Defensively, three wild pitches (two from Snell) and botched double-play turns handed Toronto extra outs. It’s a far cry from the flawless execution that won them the 2024 crown, but as Roberts noted, “We’re built for this. Elimination games? That’s our playground.”

Snell’s “luck” narrative drew mixed reactions online. Blue Jays fans on X trolled with memes of four-leaf clovers, while Dodgers faithful rallied: #SnellLuck trended with 500K posts, many praising his poise. Critics, though, called it a dodge—after all, this is the same Snell who posted a 5.40 ERA in his two World Series starts, allowing 10 earned runs. “Only so much you can do, and that’s baseball,” he added, a nod to the game’s unpredictability.

To appreciate Snell’s unflappable demeanor, rewind to his whirlwind career. Drafted 36th overall by Tampa Bay in 2011, the lanky lefty from Seattle broke out in 2018 with a Cy Young, leading the AL with a 1.89 ERA and 268 whiffs. Traded to San Diego in 2020, he repeated the feat in 2023, his circle changeup becoming a nightmare for righties. Signing with LA this offseason was a coup—pairing his electric stuff with a lineup featuring Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman.

Postseason? It’s been a mixed bag. Snell dominated early, tossing scoreless outings in the NLDS and a no-no in the NLCS. But against Toronto’s scrappy lineup, his command has wavered—10 earned runs in 13 innings across Games 2 and 5. Still, his 28% strikeout rate remains elite, and at 32, he’s in his prime. “I’m built for these moments,” Snell said earlier in the series. Game 5’s “unlucky” tag? It’s fuel for a potential Game 7 redemption, where he hinted at facing Guerrero again: “I’ll see him… can’t say much yet.”

With the series shifting to Rogers Centre for Game 6 on Friday, the Dodgers face do-or-die against Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman. LA turns to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese import who’s been untouchable this October (1.80 ERA, 20 Ks in 15 IP). Ohtani’s return to the DH spot could ignite the bats, and if Freeman’s calf holds, the middle order packs punch. History favors the Dodgers: They’ve won four straight elimination games dating back to last year, including that epic 2024 World Series clincher.

Snell’s words linger as the rallying cry: No excuses, just execution. In a sport where luck evens out over 162 games—but compresses into heartbreak in October—this Dodgers squad embodies grit. One “unlucky” night won’t derail their quest for back-to-back rings. As Betts put it, “We’re the Dodgers. We bounce back.” Will they force a Game 7 and hand Snell the ball for glory? Or will Toronto hoist the trophy at home? Tune in—the Fall Classic’s final act is just heating up.