By the way, we recognize that this post covers four series plus the Wild Card games and can get long. But that also makes it neatly compartmental. Each section has jumps to the others if you'd prefer to skip around.
Take me to!: Dodgers/Braves ▼ ... Brewers/Rockies ... Astros/Indians ... Red Sox/Yankees ... Wild Card games
Dodging Bullets
Have You Ever Seen?: A 20-year-old rookie hitting a postseason grand slam.
Maybe in college or the minors, but in the majors, no you haven't. At least until you tuned in to Game 3 of the Braves' series with the Dodgers on Sunday. You probably know that the 20-year-old rookie who's generated all the buzz all season is Ronald Acuña, and he-- almost singlehandedly-- kept the Braves' hopes alive for one extra day with that 2nd-inning shot off Walker Buehler.
Up in New York there have been lots of comparisons between Mickey Mantle and another youngster, Gleyber Torres of the Yankees, but on Sunday, Acuña dropped into that conversation as well. The Mick had previously been the youngest batter ever to hit a postseason grand slam, doing so in Game 5 of the 1953 World Series at Ebbets Field, 16 days before his 22nd birthday. Acuña broke that mark by over a year. Three of the five youngest postseason slammers have occurred in the past three years; Francisco Lindor hit one last year, and Addison Russell smacked one for the Cubs two seasons ago.
Acuña, like all of us, had actually aged two days since Friday (possibly some Braves fans and staff aged more). But that's when he opened Game 2 at Dodger Stadium with a leadoff double, also setting a record for that. Previously the youngest player with any leadoff extra-base hit in a postseason game had been Pittsburgh's Lloyd Waner, who tripled to start Game 2 of the 1927 World Series against the Yankees. Acuña undercut Waner's youthfulness by about nine months.
Sunday's Game-3 longball was also Acuña's first career grand slam; among his many accomplishments in the 2018 regular season (one of which appears likely to be winning the Rookie Of The Year award), that wasn't one of them. He is the second-youngest player in Braves history (all of it, to 1876) to hit any grand slam, and like most things Braves- and age-related, the answer is Andruw Jones. Jones hit one at Fenway Park on August 31, 1997, while about five months younger than Acuña.
Acuña only came to the plate with the bases loaded because pitcher Sean Newcomb, hitting in front of him, had also come to the plate with bases loaded-- and drawn a four-pitch walk! Nothing earns the scorn of a fanbase quite like walking the opposing pitcher, and sure enough, Newcomb is only the eighth hurler in postseason history (and first for the Braves) to get a free pass with the bases loaded. The only other time the Dodgers issued one in postseason play was in the 1977 NLCS when Burt Hooton walked Phillies starter Larry Christenson.
Newcomb, however, wouldn't make it out of the 3rd inning as the Dodgers fought their way back to eventually tie the game. It took Freddie Freeman's leadoff homer on the first pitch of the 6th to regain a 6-5 lead, and then some incredible escape artistry by Arodys Vizcaino in the 9th to strike out three straight after allowing the first two batters to reach and throwing a wild pitch. Touki Toussaint, who had pitched T6 and was the pitcher of record when Freeman went yard, also became the second-youngest Braves pitcher to get a win in a postseason game, behind Odalis Perez (1998 NLDS) and Steve Avery (twice in 1991 NLCS).
And thanks to all those walks early on (Buehler issued two others before the run-scoring one to Newcomb), the Braves finished Game 3 with the unusual linescore of 6 runs on 4 hits. We enjoy the oddity of what we call "inverted linescores" (runs > hits), and Game 3 was just the third game in postseason history where a team scored 6+ on ≤ 4. But the last time the Braves did it, postseason or not? That would be April 8, 1974, also against the Dodgers, who committed six errors en route to a 7-4 Atlanta win. Somehow that part of the story didn't get much attention-- because if you're into baseball history, you immediately recognize that date. It's "only" the exact same game in which Hank Aaron hit career homer number 715 to break Babe Ruth's record.
More From This Series:
⚾ Joc Pederson, Game 1: Fourth leadoff home run in Dodgers postseason history. Chris Taylor started the World Series with one last year; the others are Carl Crawford (2013 NLDS 4) and Davey Lopes (1978 WS 6).
⚾ Justin Turner, Game 1: Doubled on very next pitch after Pederson's homer, the first time in Dodgers postseason history they'd opened a game with back-to-back extra-base hits.
⚾ Hyun-Jin Ryu, Game 1: Second pitcher in Dodgers history to allow 0 runs, ≤ 5 baserunners, and strike out 8+ in a postseason game. Other is Sandy Koufax in Game 5 of the 1965 World Series against Minnesota.
⚾ Max Muncy, Game 1: Homered, drew three walks, and stole a base. Eddie Murray of the Orioles (1983 ALCS 3) is the only other player in postseason history with that line. The last Dodger to do it was Jim Wynn at St Louis on August 10, 1974.
⚾: Braves, Game 1: First team in postseason history to be shut out by 6 runs or more despite out-hitting their opponent (6 to 5 in this case).
⚾ Braves, Games 1 and 2: First time being shut out in consecutive games at Dodger Stadium since September 15-16, 1989, by Ramon Martinez & Tim Belcher.
⚾ David Freese, Game 4: Third pinch hitter in Dodgers postseason history to turn a deficit into a lead. The others are only Cookie Lavagetto's walkoff double in the 1947 World Series (which also broke up Bill Bevens' no-hitter), and some Kirk Gibson home run you're probably never heard of.
⚾ Braves: 14th time (12th since moving to Atlanta) being eliminated from postseason play at home. Most in MLB history... or at least it was for two days. (Spoiler alert.)
Take me to!: Dodgers/Braves ... Brewers/Rockies ▼ ... Astros/Indians ... Red Sox/Yankees ... Wild Card games
Rocky Series (Not The Stallone Kind)
Have You Ever Seen?: A pitcher balk in a run and then wild-pitch in a run in the same at-bat.
In retrospect, you probably could have seen this one coming if you watched the 1st inning of the first game of the Brewers/Rockies series on Thursday. After Ryan Braun singled, Colorado pitcher Antonio Senzatela uncorked two wild pitches, and only got bailed out because Braun got greedy on the second one, tried to score from second, and was thrown out to end the inning. The last pitcher to throw multiple WPs in the 1st inning of a postseason game was Joe Blanton of the Phillies in 2010 (NLCS 4 at SF).
Braun would later shoot a line-drive single into right field, with the ball just clipped and redirected by the glove of a leaping Ian Desmond at first. Christian Yelich, who was on first, couldn't be sure if it was caught and held up. Which of course means RF Carlos Gonzalez still has time to retrieve the ball and force Yelich at second. That (by rule) takes away an apparent single from Braun, since the defense still got to the ball in time to record a forceout. And if you're scoring at home, that deflection off Desmond's glove results in the first "3-9-6" fielder's choice in postseason history. We couldn't even find another FC396 in the regular season since Lonnie Smith, then of the Royals, forced Buddy Biancalana against the Blue Jays on July 29, 1986!
And that's not even the play that we teased you with. Rockies pitcher Scott Oberg appeared in all three games of the series, and had wildly different results in each one. Game 1 was an uneventful outing, retiring Manny Piña and then departing because #bullpenning. Game 2 on Friday saw him allowing a leadoff automatic double to Hernan Perez in the 7th, Perez's second of the game. Not just his second double-- his second automatic double of the game because the ball bounced over the fence. (These are commonly, though incorrectly, called "ground-rule" doubles even though they are universal under Rule 5.05(a)(6). Ground rules are specific to each park (think the catwalks at Tropicana). But we digress.) Only three other players in postseason history have hit multiples in a game: Yadier Molina for the Cardinals in 2005, Hector Lopez of the Yankees in 1963, and Pittsburgh's Ed Phelps in the first World Series in 1903 (his were presumably awarded because of the overflow of fans onto the outfield grass in those days, which actually is a ground rule).
Back to Scott Oberg, however, Perez's double was followed by a single to Travis Shaw to move him to third, and just when you thought this might be the tipping point, Oberg responds with three straight strikeout to strand both runners and keep the game at 1-0. That was the Rockies' first such performance (second and third with 0 out, then struck out three without a run scoring) since Scott Linebrink did it against the Phillies on August 5, 2007.
Maybe that high from Friday didn't carry over to Sunday when the series moved to Denver, however. Oberg got summoned again in the 6th with the Rockies trailing 2-0 (and facing a sweep), but gave up two hits to once again face second and third with one out. Orlando Arcia strikes out. Whew. But with Curtis Granderson up, Oberg gets called for a balk when he drops the ball while standing on the pitcher's mound. Suddenly it's 3-0 and now Erik Kratz has moved up to third. Two pitches later, Oberg bounces one to make it 4-0. The Brewers would end up winning 6-0 to complete the sweep, but Oberg claimed his place in the record book. No pitcher in postseason history had ever balked in a run and wild-pitched in a run in the same game, much less in the same at-bat. Only one other Colorado hurler had ever done it in the same game, and that was in their first season: Curt Leskanic against the Braves on July 26, 1993.
And if that game wasn't strange enough? Ryan Braun, already involved in enough weirdness, was hanging out at first base in the 5th when Travis Shaw smoked a grounder through the right side. Or, well, it would have been through the right side if Braun could have gotten out of the way. Plunk. One of our favorite-est plays here at #Kernels, the old "HBB" (hit by batted ball). By rule, the ball is dead, Braun is out, Shaw gets credit for an infield single, and the putout goes to the closest fielder even though no fielder actually handled the ball. The last runner to be out "HBB" in the postseason was the Cubs' Starlin Castro in 2015 (NLDS 3, hit by Javier Baez), and if you really needed confirmation, yes, Sunday's Game 3 was the first game in postseason history where a run scored on a balk, another run scored on a wild pitch, and a runner was hit by a batted ball. All of this in the span of nine batters. And we guarantee you've never seen that before now.
More From This Series:
⚾ Brandon Woodruff, Game 1: Fourth "starter" in postseason history to depart a game in the 3rd or later with a no-hitter intact. Anibal Sanchez threw the first six innings of a combined one for the Tigers in 2013; the others (Paul Abbott for Mariners in 2001 and Baltimore's Mike Cuellar in 1974) each issued at least eight walks.
⚾ Mike Moustakas, Game 1: Second walkoff anything in Brewers postseason history. Nyjer Morgan doubled off Arizona's J.J. Putz in Game 5 of their 2011 NLDS, which was also the Brewers' only extra-inning postseason game before Thursday.
⚾ Christian Yelich, Game 1: Third Brewer to reach base four times and drive in two runs in a postseason game. Others are Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, both in the opener of the 1982 World Series in St Louis.
⚾ Hernan Perez, Game 2: First player caught stealing home in a postesason game since Eric Hosmer of the Royals in the 2014 Wild Card game against Oakland.
⚾ Erik Kratz, Game 2: Oldest player ever to have multiple RBIs in his first career postseason game (he's 38). Previous mark held by pitcher-turned-outfield Lefty O'Doul of the Giants, who had a pinch-hit single in the 1933 World Series at age 36.
⚾ Erik Kratz, Games 2 & 3: First player ever to play his first two postseason games at age 35 or older and have multiple hits in both of them. Sam Rice (1924 Senators), Joe Harris (1925 Senators), and Don Mattingly (1995 Yankees) all did it at age 34.
⚾ Orlando Arcia & Keon Broxton: Hit Brewers' first-ever postseason back-to-back homers in Game 3. Also hit them at Coors on August 18 of last year. Other visiting teammates to do it twice there (either order): Albert Pujols & Jim Edmonds (STL); Barry Bonds & Jeff Kent (SF, 3x); Eric Karros & Mike Piazza (LAD).
⚾ Rockies, Games 2 & 3: Seventh team in postseason history to lose the last two games of a series and get shut out in both. Previous was the 1991 Pirates in their NLCS against Atlanta.
Take me to!: Dodgers/Braves ... Brewers/Rockies ... Astros/Indians ▼ ... Red Sox/Yankees ... Wild Card games
Houston We Have Liftoff
Have You Ever Seen?: A pitcher hit two batters and THEN give up three homers.
And have that pitcher be Corey Kluber, aka "Klubot", who got that nickname from his robotic ability to repeatedly strike out hitters. But before recording his first K in Thursday's ALDS Game 1, Kluber had plunked Marwin Gonzalez, and two pitches after striking out Carlos Correa, he then plunked Tyler White. Already he's joined CC Sabathia (2007), Steve Reed (1999), and Chad Ogea (1998) as the only Indians pitchers to hit multiple batters in a postseason game. And then.
Josh Reddick actually grounded into a double play to allow Kluber to escape the 2-HBP inning. But Alex Bregman led off the 4th with a homer, and one inning later, George Springer and Jose Altuve hinted that this might be a short series with back-to-back taters to start the 5th. Kluber retired the next two batters after the Indians were already trailing 4-0, but not before becoming just the second pitcher in postseason history to hit two batters and surrender three longballs. The other was Boston's Matt Clement in the opener of their 2005 ALDS against the White Sox; Clement ended up allowing 8 runs and the Sawx lost 14-2. When Martin Maldonado homered to lead off the 7th, that made the Astros just the seventh team in postseason history to lead off three different innings with homers in the same game, and the second to do it at home. Victor Martinez (4th), Jhonny Peralta (6th), and Miguel Cabrera (7th) all hit them for the Tigers in Game 3 of the 2011 ALCS against Texas.
Meanwhile, as not unexpected in the series between the two best pitching staffs in the majors, Justin Verlander was dealing, mowing down 15 of the first 16 Cleveland hitters, allowing just a 1st-inning walk, and sending us down that no-hitter spiral again. Yan Gomes finally opened the 6th with a ninth-pinch single (which immediately called for a mound visit because, JV gave up a hit?), thereby putting Verlander in a tie for the second-longest no-hitter in Astros postseason history. Mike Hampton also went five in the 1998 NLDS at San Diego before Chris Gomez opened the 6th with a single. Houston's longest bid came from Brandon Backe of all people, who combined with Brad Lidge on a one-hitter against the Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2004 NLCS. That lone hit was a single by Tony Womack with two outs in the 6th. JV also maanged to bump himself down Houston's list by one spot; he went 4⅔ in last year's World Series against the Dodgers. And if you're curious, yes, he also owns the Tigers' record for longest solo postseason no-hitter, finally allowing a single to Yoenis Cespedes (then of Oakland) with two outs in the 7th in the 2013 ALDS clincher. Just two days later, that record would be eclipsed at a team level when Anibal Sanchez (6 IP), Al Alburquerque, Jose Veras, and Drew Smyly opened the ALCS with eight no-hit innings against the Red Sox; Daniel Nava finally connected against Joaquin Benoit in the 9th. (If you've been reading in order, this is the same game mentioned earlier in the Brandon Woodruff note.)
As for Friday's Game 1, Verlander became the second pitcher in Astros history to win a postseason game while allowing no more than two hits and striking out at least seven. The other was in the front row behind home plate (and was shown on TV multiple times)-- Nolan Ryan in the strike-necessitated Division Series of 1981 against the Dodgers.
Even though Verlander gave us the biggest no-hitter scare of the postseason so far, it was Gerrit Cole who posted the most outlandish pitching line in any of the first two rounds. We got the no-hitter part out of the way early enough, when Edwin Encarnacion smoked a grounder off Yuli Gurriel's glove and into right field (alas, there was not a runner on first to set up a potential 3-9-6 fielder's choice). But Cole struck out the two batters after that, then two more in the 3rd around a Francisco Lindor solo homer, and then all three Clevelanders in the 4th. In our "modern" era where strikeouts are perfectly acceptable, it's not surprising that Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel both rung up seven of them in the first four innings last postseason (JV's was in that 4⅔ no-hitter against the Dodgers), but once again, the only Astros pitcher to do it before that, was that guy in the front row. Nolan fanned eight Mets in the first four frames in Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS. Cole would fan two more in the 5th and 6th, and then blow away Encarnacion on three pitches to start the 7th. That's a dozen strikeouts-- ALL of them swinging-- and zero walks in a postseason game. Ever seen that? Only if you have a ticket stub from October 6. Because the only other time it happened was 45 years earlier to the day-- when Tom Seaver threw a complete game to open the 1973 NLCS against the Reds... and lost 2-1 on a Johnny Bench walkoff homer.
Now of course, those 12 strikeouts and 0 walks come with the postseason asterisk. But if you're an Astros fan, you've seen this movie before. In fact Cole had three starts in the regular season where he posted that line, already the most in Astros history. If you fold in the postseason, he's only the second pitcher in the live-ball era to do it four times in one year, joining Cy Young winner Roger Clemens with Toronto in 1997.
More From This Series:
⚾ Indians, Game 1: Second game in team's postseason history where they were held to three hits and struck out at least 10 times. The other... only won them a pennant. In Game 6 of the 1997 ALCS, the last hit was Tony Fernandez's solo homer in the 11th for a 1-0 victory over the Orioles.
⚾ Francisco Lindor, Game 2: Third player in Indians history whose solo homer was the team's only run of a postseason game. One is Fernandez (see above). Other was Al Smith in a 3-1 loss to the Giants in 1954 WS Game 2.
⚾ Francisco Lindor, Games 2 & 3: Hit 18th and 19th go-ahead home runs this year, tied for second-most in a season (incl post) in Indians history. Al Rosen had 22 in 1953. Manny Ramirez (1999) and Rocky Colavito (1959) also had 19 each.
⚾ Alex Bregman: Fourth player in Astros history to homer in Games 1 and 2 of same postseason series, joining Colby Rasmus (2015 ALDS), Carlos Beltran (2004 NLCS), and Ken Caminiti (1995 NLDS).
⚾ Indians, Game 3: Fifth loss in postseason history by 8 or more runs. First of those five that wasn't to the Red Sox (lost by 16 in 1999, 10 and 9 in 2007, and 8 in 1998).
⚾ George Springer, Game 3: Second Astros hitter ever to have a multi-run game in Cleveland. Evan Gattis was the first-- on May 27 in a 10-9 extra-inning loss.
⚾ George Springer, with Didi Gregorius last season: Indians were eliminated from postseason in a game where an opposing player hit multiple homers. First team in MLB history to do that in consecutive years.
Take me to!: Dodgers/Braves ... Brewers/Rockies ... Astros/Indians ... Red Sox/Yankees ▼ ... Wild Card games
When 19 Games Isn't Enough
Have You Ever Seen?: A player hitting for the cycle in the postseason.
No, you haven't. Again, at least not in the majors. We've heard from folks who think cycles are overrated, but consider that in major-league history there have been 299 no-hitters and only 323 cycles. In fact there were dozens of no-hitters wiped off the books in 1991 (depriving us of great stories about Andy Hawkins and Devern Hansack), so depending on your definition, the cycle may actually be more rare than the nine-inning no-no.
Oh yeah, that number 323? Make it 324. And have it be by the same person who recorded cycle #306. And have that person be... Brock Holt? The same Brock Holt who had two triples and 14 homers in the past three seasons combined? Did we mention you never know what's going to go in those 81 squares?
Game 3 of the Red Sox/Yankees series was already destined to be one of their most memorable ones even before the 9th inning. Holt's first square got occupied with a fairly harmless groundout, although that did move Rafael Devers to third and allowed him to score the game's first run on an infield single. In the 3rd Luis Severino got tagged for three singles and a sac fly to make it 3-0 Boston, but there's still plenty of time. In a move that was widely questioned by Yankees Twitter, Aaron Boone sends Sevy back out for the 4th, where his first two pitches promptly get raked for singles, one of them by Holt. His next four pitches did not get put in play, but they also didn't find the strike zone. Bases loaded, and from the bullpen trots... Lance Lynn? Not to be outdone, his first four pitches miss the strike zone as well, so in trots Holt to make it 4-0. But it's Andrew Benintendi who delivers the big blow, unloading the bases with a double to make it 7-0. Only one other Red Sox batter had clobbered a 3-run double at Yankee Stadium since the new one opened in 2009, and it happens to be Brock Holt (April 11, 2015, off Matt Tracy).
Those first six runs were charged to Severino, making him the first Yankee pitcher to give up six earned while getting nine or fewer outs in the postseason since A.J. Burnett did it in Game 5 of the 2009 World Series in Philadelphia (he at least sent the series back to New York so they could win it at home). And combined with a pair of substandard Sonny Gray starts, it was the first year where the Yankees had three such games against the Red Sox since 1941.
The Lance Lynn Experiment lasted just four batters before giving way to The Chad Green Experience. Which gave way to three more Red Sox runs, two of them on a triple by our friend Brock Holt. You know, the guy who hit two triples in the past three seasons combined. It was Boston's first multi-run triple at the current Yankee Stadium, and combined with Benintendi, it was the first time in Red Sox postseason history that they'd hit a multi-run triple and a multi-run double in the same inning. By the time Green finally got out of it, the Sawx had hung their first 7-spot in the Bronx since June 9, 2011, against CC Sabathia.
Although the Yankees have had plenty of comebacks this year, including a near-miss in Game 1 of the series, at 10-1 and then 11-1 it was pretty clear this one wasn't happening. Holt decided to leave no doubt, hitting another one of those pesky automatic doubles to make it 12-1 in the 8th. That already made him the third Red Sox batter in postseason history to go single-double-triple in a game, joining Jacoby Ellsbury (2013 ALCS) and Mike Stanley (1999 ALDS). No Bostonian had gone single-double-triple and driven in three runs in the Bronx since Tony Conigliaro did it in a loss on April 26, 1966. And with two outs in the 9th, just as we're finishing up a blast of notes on the 14-1 final score, Ian Kinsler goes and works a six-pitch walk. To bring up Brock Holt... and create history. Of those 323 previous cycles, none had been in a postseason game. None had been at the new Yankee Stadium since 2009 (including by the home team), and there hadn't been one at the old place since Tony Fernandez did it against Oakland on September 3, 1995. Only one had ever been by a Red Sox batter against the Yankees, and that was in their first season-- Patsy Dougherty on July 29, 1903.
We mentioned that Holt also sits on line 306 of the cycles list, having done it on June 16, 2015, against the Braves. Only one other player has hit for the cycle twice in a Red Sox uniform, Bobby Doerr in 1944 and 1947. And combined with the one Mookie Betts recorded on August 9, it's the first time since 1944 that Boston's had two in a season; Doerr's was one, and Bob Johnson had the other that year. Even forgetting the cycle, Holt was just the fourth Bostonian ever to have four hits and five RBIs against the Yankees; Mookie Betts did it last month. The others were Mike Greenwell in 1990 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1977.
Monday's 16-1 final was, predictably, the third-largest win ever for the Red Sox over their bitter rival; the two that were larger were a pair of 17-1 wins seven weeks apart in 2005. It was also the fourth postseason win by 15 runs or more by any team, and the first ever on the road. Boston holds the top spot in that category also, a 23-7 win over Cleveland in the 1999 ALDS (if you've been reading in order, that's the 16-run loss mentioned in the Indians section).
But at least backup catcher Austin Romine gets to take his place in postseason history as well. Cliff Pennington, for the Blue Jays in a 14-2 thumping by Kansas City three years ago, had been the only position player ever to pitch in a postseason game. And given that New York is rarely in that large of a blowout to require a position player pitching, Romine became just the second one in the live-ball era to surrender a home run for them. The other is just some guy named Babe Ruth, in a doubleheader at Philadelphia on October 1, 1921. The Babe, of course, started life as a pitcher but had turned full-time outfielder by '21; he threw four innings that day in what appears to be an end-of-season stunt for the fans (yes, they did those even back then).
More From This Series:
⚾ Craig Kimbrel, Games 1 & 4: First pitcher in postseason history to get two saves in same series despite allowing a run(s) in both of them.
⚾ Yankees, Game 1: First 9-inning game where they had 15+ baserunners but struck out 13+ times and scored ≤ 4 runs since July 21, 2001, against Toronto.
⚾ Aaron Judge: Eighth Yankees batter to homer in three straight games in same postseason. A-Rod (2009), Bernie Williams (1996 & 2001), Reggie (1977), Hank Bauer (1958), Johnny Mize (1952), Lou Gehrig (1928).
⚾ Gary Sanchez: Multi-homer game at Fenway on April 11, then did it again in Game 2 of ALDS. Joins Hideki Matsui (2009), Mickey Mantle (1966), Bill Skowron (1957 & 1961), and Babe Ruth (1927) as only Yankees to do it twice at Fenway in same season.
⚾ David Price: Worked just 1 inning vs Yankees on April 11 (Sanchez homered off him, see above), then got just five outs in ALDS Game 2. First Red Sox pitcher to make two starts of under 2 IP vs Yankees in same season since Earl Wilson in 1963.
⚾ Red Sox, Game 3: Third road game in past 60 years where they scored 16+ runs while hitting no more than one homer. One was a 16-2 win in Oakland two seasons ago; the other was in Kansas City on April 13, 1983 (18-4).
⚾ Neil Walker, Game 4: Third player in postseason history to take a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the 9th inning. Boston's Calvin Schiraldi tied 1986 ALCS Game 4 by hitting the Angels' Brian Downing, and Dennis Martinez of the Orioles hit Pittsburgh's Bill Robinson in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series.
⚾ Yankees: 14th time in team history being eliminated from the postseason at home. Tied with Braves (who did it on Sunday) for most in MLB history, though "only" 12 of theirs are in Atlanta. Fourth time the last loss was by 1 run (also 2011, 1926, 1921).
Take me to!: Dodgers/Braves ... Brewers/Rockies ... Astros/Indians ... Red Sox/Yankees ... Wild Card games ▼
Wild Wild Life
Have You Ever Seen?: The Rockies be victorious in a winner-take-all game? Or the Yankees win one by 5 or more runs at home?
Nope. Not until this year. Given their limited history, the Rockies note isn't that surprising, and if you're having flashbacks to the game where Matt Holliday may or may not have touched home plate, remember that was a regular-season tiebreaker, not an official postseason game. According to the fine folks at Stats LLC, that leaves the White Sox as the only current franchise never to come out on top in a winner-take-all game, and that's only because they've never played in one. Their only Game 7 in postseason history was in the 1919 "Black Sox" World Series, and at time the Fall Classic was best-of-9.
It did, however, take a while for the Rockies to get that win in Tuesday's NL Wild Card game after Javier Baez dropped an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th to score pinch runner Terrance Gore. That was only the second tying or go-ahead hit in Cubs history in a winner-take-all game; you might remember the other one. It was Ben Zobrist's double in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series-- after the 10th-inning rain delay where the team held an impromptu clubhouse meeting. Baez's hit actually bailed out Jon Lester who had allowed just one run (and that was three batters into the game) and then settled down to strike out his customary nine opponents. While he didn't lose the game thanks to Baez, Lester also didn't win it, becoming the first pitcher in Cubs postseason history with the 1-run, 9-strikeouts line to not do so.
An inning later, we had the 12th winner-take-all game in postseason history to reach extra innings, and as we've said before, some extra-inning games are exciting and it's like 8-8 and you can feel that someone's going to untie this one real soon. Tuesday was not that game. It was 1-1 and fairly obvious that both teams were running on fumes, especially after both played in Games 163 the day before. The Rockies had started the week at home in Denver, had to play in Los Angeles the next day, and lost there to earn their trip back over Colorado all the way to Chicago. So another hour passes with not even a hint that someone might score soon, and suddenly our 12th winner-take-all game to go extras becomes the first one ever to reach a 13th inning. Only two others had gone to 12 frames, and those were both walked off in B12 (one of them, famously, Earl McNeely's 1924 double to give the Washington Senators their only World Series title). Finally the Rockies wake up enough to connect for three straight singles, the last one by Tony Wolters to score Trevor Story, just the third go-ahead anything for the Rockies in extra innings of a postseason game. Willy Taveras drew a bases-loaded walk in the 2007 NLCS at Arizona, and Andres Galarraga singled off Atlanta's Mark Wohlers in Game 3 of the 1995 Division Series. (You may remember that the Matt Holliday play-- while still a regluar-season game-- was also in the 13th inning.)
Scott Oberg, who under Colorado state law must find his way into every postseason game somehow, ended up striking out all four batters he faced, including Gore and Baez again in the 13th, plus Albert Almora to end the game. Only Kenley Jansen (2017 NLCS 1) and the Cardinals' Todd Worrell (1985 WS 5) have done that in postseason history, and the only other Rockies hurler to do it was Justin Miller against the Padres on September 7, 2015.
And we love to talk about Those Boring Middle Innings, but notice that the Rockies' two runs came in the top of the 1st and the top of the 13th. Only one other team in postseason history had won a game where it went 11 straight innings without scoring (obviously you need at least a 12-inning game for this to happen). The 1999 Mets hung two in the 1st and then walked off the 15th against Atlanta in NLCS Game 5. You might have heard of this game too; it's the Robin Ventura "grand slam single".
Meanwhile, over in the AL Wild Card game, there was less drama when Aaron Judge became the second player in Yankees postseason history to hit a two-run homer as the second batter of the game. Like Ventura, Derek Jeter posted his hit in Game 5 of the 1999 League Championship Series, and also off a former Braves pitcher (Kent Mercker, by then with Boston). Luis Severino didn't allow a hit until the 5th, becoming the first Yankee to get that far in a winner-take-all game since Ralph Terry in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. (Fortunately we didn't need to consult our file to find the Yankees' longest postseason no-hitter in any game.) The A's, who went full-#bullpenning mode and started Former New Britain Rock Cat Liam Hendricks, were down to Fernando Rodney by the 6th, and their radio broadcast pointed out that they had a flight at 12:30 on Thursday, it was just a question of whether it was headed east or west. Well, Rodney made sure that arrow pointed back to Oakland by giving up back-to-back doubles to The Aarons (Judge & Hicks), bouncing the first pitch to Giancarlo Stanton, and getting pulled in the middle of an at-bat. Rodney is just the fourth pitcher in postseason history to give up multiple extra-base hits, throw a wild pitch, and get nobody out. Brandon Morrow of the Dodgers did it in last year's World Series, as did Hunter Strickland for the Giants in 2014, and Brooklyn's Roger Craig in 1956 (also against the Yankees).
Luke Voit then tripled in two more runs and the Yankees cruised to a 7-2 win, their second-largest victory margin ever in a winner-take-all game. Thanks in part to Roger Craig's effort mentioned above, they rolled over the Dodgers 9-0 in Game 7 of that 1956 World Series. However, that game was at Ebbets Field, meaning Wednesday's 5-run win is their largest ever in a winner-take-all game at home. The Athletics have lost eight straight such games, the longest streak in MLB history; their last winner-take-all win was Game 7 of the 1973 World Series. The Indians, however, are sitting on an active seven-game streak as well. Wednesday's game was also Oakland's largest loss at Yankee Stadium since the famous "Three Grand Slams" game on August 25, 2011 (22-9).
And the last batter in Wednesday's game? Matt Chapman grounds out to first. Putout recorded by the pitcher covering-- that would be Aroldis Chapman. It's only the second time in postseason history that a game has been ended by a batter facing a pitcher with the same surname, and in the other case the pitcher didn't record the out. Alex Rodriguez ("A-Rod") grounded out against Francisco Rodriguez ("K-Rod") to end Game 2 of the Yankees/Angels 2005 Division Series.
What other names will get etched in October history in 2018? Only one way to find out... on to the pennants!
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