LOS ANGELES — Blake Snell thinks bad luck had about as much to do with his Game 5 struggles as the Toronto Blue Jays.

“Luck plays in baseball, too,” he said.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner gave up two home runs on his first three pitches, then faltered again late in a 6-1 loss Wednesday night that put the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers on the brink of a Fall Classic defeat.

The Blue Jays took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can steal the title away from LA with a win Friday in Game 6 in Toronto.

Snell allowed back-to-back homers to Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the first back-to-back leadoff homers ever in a Series game. Each of the first three pitches were fastballs, and Snell’s next 22 pitches after that were offspeed.

“First pitch of the game, 97

See Full Page