Game Notes, 09/30/2025 – Wild Card Day 1

In the very first postseason contest in Major League Baseball’s Modern Era – Game 1 of the 1903 World Series – Pittsburgh’s Deacon Phillippe baffled Boston’s batters and silenced the partisans at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds with a 10-strikeout, no-walk display.  This established introduction – reach double-digits in K’s in the very first contest of a playoff round – has been replicated 52 times since.  There are the expected strutters on this stage – Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander; there are the enrollees who elicit more of a sit up unexpectedly and take notice response – Charles Bender, Howard Ehmke, reliever Moe Drabowsky, Adam Wainwright, Dallas Keuchel.  Right-handers reach out and take responsibility for 39 of the high-whiff efforts.  That leaves just 14 for the portsiders, who, thanks to Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet, got to 14 on the very first day of theatrical release in 2025. 

*Tigers v. Guardians*

In Game 1, Tarik Skubal fanned 14, allowed one run and came away a winner as Detroit slipped past Cleveland, 2-1.

~Skubal tied Joe Coleman (1972 ALCS, Game 3) for the most strikeouts in a postseason game by a Tigers hurler.

~Skubal matched Coleman and five others for the eighth most K’s in any postseason contest.  Limiting the lens to a Game 1 in any round, Skubal is one of six to fan at least 14:

Most K’s in a Postseason Game 1 

17    Bob Gibson in the 1968 World Series for the Cardinals

16    Kevin Brown in the 1998 NLDS for the Padres

15    Sandy Koufax in the 1963 World Series for the Dodgers

14    Mike Scott in the 1986 NLCS for the Astros

14    Tim Lincecum in the 2010 NLDS for the Giants

14    Tarik Skubal in the 2025 ALWC for the Tigers

~In Detroit’s collective postseason experience, nine starters have come out with a win in a Game 1.  With his 2025 effort, Skubal is now joined with Jack Morris as the only members of the collection to have two, his first coming in Game 1 of the 2024 ALWC.  Morris’ two came in the 1984 ALCS and ’84 Fall Classic.

~Skubal owns a 2.03 ERA in his four postseason starts, three of which have seen the southpaw allow one run or none at all (in the other, he surrendered five).  Two Tigers hurlers have owned a lower mark through their first four outings, minimum 20.0 innings:

→  George Mullin posts a 1.59 across games in the 1907, 1908 and 1909 World Series 

→  Mickey Lolich posts a 1.70 across games in the 1968 World Series and 1972 ALCS

→  Tarik Skubal posts a 2.03 from the 2024 ALWC, 2024 ALDS, 2025 ALWC

→  Bill Donovan posts a 2.61 across the 1907 and 1908 World Series

→  Schoolboy Rowe posts a 2.67 in the 1934 and 1935 Fall Classics

In the loss, Cleveland’s José Ramírez singled and walked – the 55th and 56th times he’s reached safely in the postseason.  Outside of four of the Indians’ core contributors during the team’s run starting in 1995, no player for the franchise has reached more often than the club’s current third baseman.

Guardians Franchise History – Most Times Reaching Safely

84   Omar Vizquel

75   Manny Ramírez

72   Kenny Lofton

70   Jim Thome

56   José Ramírez

45   Sandy Alomar

42   David Justice

*Padres v. Cubs*

Seiya Suzuki  and Carson Kelly hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning and the Cubs pulled away from the Padres for a 3-1 victory.

~The Suzuki/Kelly pairing marked the fourth time Cubs batters have delivered back-to-back home runs in the postseason, with this occurrence the second to be struck against a Padres pitching staff.

Cubs Back-to-Back Home Runs in the Postseason

Jody Davis & Leon Durham in Game 4 of the 1984 NLCS against the Padres

Kris Bryant & Anthony Rizzo in Game 3 of the 2015 NLDS against the Cardinals

Miguel Montero & Dexter Fowler in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers

Seiya Suzuki & Carson Kelly in Game 1 of the 2025 NLWC against the Padres

~Suzuki and Kelly became the fifth and sixth Cubs to go yard in their initial taste of playoff baseball, joining Rick Sutcliffe (1984), Mark Grace (1989), Tyler Houston (1998) and Kyle Schwarber (2015).

~Suzuki’s longball continued a recent surge where the outfielder homered in four straight games to close out the regular season, something no other Cub in the Modern Era had ever before accomplished.  

~Both of the Cubs’ longballs came against Nick Pivetta, who otherwise was just about flawless, finishing his day with five innings and the two runs on three hits and no walks with nine strikeouts. The performance and outcome makes the right-hander one of 11 postseason hurlers to take a loss following a line that featured at least nine strikeouts with no walks.  The list, which includes Don Newcombe (1949 World Series) and Tom Seaver (1973 NLCS) from the pre-Wild Card Era, also includes a pair of appearances from Justin Verlander, the only pitcher to show up more than once.

With the loss, the Padres dropped to 4-12 in postseason Game 1’s.  Among the 27 franchises with at least 10 Game 1’s (the Mariners, Rockies and Marlins are out of this picture), San Diego’s .250 winning percentage is the worst, followed by the Angels (.286, 4-10) and Blue Jays (.333, 5-10).  The win improved the Cubs’ numbers to 10-17, for a .370 winning percentage that is the fourth worst (there’s one tie for the Cubs as well, in the 1907 World Series).

*Reds v. Dodgers*

The Dodgers doubled up the Reds, 10-5, thanks in large part to multi-homer efforts from Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández.

~The duo joined these others as teammates to each produce multi-homer lines in the same game:

→  Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the Yankees in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series 

→  Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Wil Myers for the Padres in Game 2 of the 2020 NL Wild Card

→  Chris Taylor and AJ Pollock for the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS

→  Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos for the Phillies in Game 3 of the 2023 NLDS

→  Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2025 NL Wild Card

~Hernández flaunted his second career multi-homer game in the postseason, with his first coming for the Blue Jays in the 2022 AL Wild Card round.  He’s one of 26 players to have at least two, with Babe Ruth (4), Manny Ramírez (3) and Carlos Beltrán (3) standing above the rest at two.  

~Ohtani is 17th leadoff hitter with two home runs in a postseason game – the entire list, organized by series, with the three Dodgers starred*:

WS:      Patsy Dougherty (1903), Harry Hooper (1915), Davey Lopes* (1978), Lenny Dykstra (1993)

NLCS:  Kyle Schwarber (2023)

ALCS:   George Brett (1978), Rickey Henderson (1989), Johnny Damon (2004), Kiké Hernández (2021)

NLDS:   Marquis Grissom (1995), Carl Crawford* (2013)

ALDS:   Desmond Jennings (2011), George Springer (2018), George Springer (2020)

NLWC:  Jackson Chourio (2024), Shohei Ohtani* (2025)

ALWC:  Yandy Díaz (2019)

With Tommy Edman also homering for Los Angeles, this Dodgers lineup tied a franchise record for four-baggers in a postseason game (5), matching the outputs from Game 3 of the 2020 NLCS and Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS.  The powerful effort also matched the apex for any club in any Game 1, tying 1984 Cubs in the NLCS, the 2004 Cardinals in the NLDS and the 2005 White Sox in the ALDS.

Blake Snell struck out nine over seven innings to pocket the win.  The left-hander has fanned 70 over his postseason career, a workload that has seen him make 11 starts and 13 total appearances.  His tally doesn’t lift Snell among the most prolific, it just serves as the excuse to look at them:

Most K’s Through First 13 Postseason Games

112   Randy Johnson

108   Gerrit Cole

96     Curt Schilling

96     Josh Beckett

92     Walker Buehler

92     Bob Gibson (Gibson reached this mark in nine total games)

This victory gave the Dodgers’ franchise 141 postseason wins, second to only the Yankees’ 252. Aside from those two franchises, one other club in this year’s postseason has triple-digit wins – the Red Sox, with 109.

*Red Sox v. Yankees*

Garrett Crochet allowed a run with 11 K’s over seven-and-two-thirds innings and came away the winner as the Red Sox took down the Yankees, 3-1.  

~The left-hander fell one strikeout shy of matching Boston’s franchise best, held by Pedro Martínez from his effort in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS, also against New York.  The other Red Sox pitchers with 11:  Bill Dinneen (Game 2, 1903 WS), Smoky Joe Wood (G1, 1912 WS) and Josh Beckett (Game 5, 2007 ALCS).

~With his 11 strikeouts against no walks, Crochet soared into some rare air.  

Most Strikeouts in a No-Walk Game

13   Tom Seaver (1973 NLCS), Gerrit Cole (2020 ALWC)

12   Gerrit Cole (2018 ALDS), Stephen Strasburg (2019 NLCS), Trevor Bauer (2020 NLWC), Michael King               (2024 NLWC)

11   Don Newcombe (1949 WS), Sterling Hitchcock (1998 NLDS), Cliff Lee (2010 ALDS), Hiroki Kuroda (2012         ALCS), Jake Arrieta (2015 NLWC), Clayton Kershaw (2017 WS), Lance McCullers, Jr. (2020 ALCS),                Garrett Crochet (2025 ALWC).

~Altogether, Crochet’s work gave him a 78 Game Score – a mark bettered by two Red Sox in any Game 1.

→87   Josh Beckett throws a four-hit shutout with eight K’s and no walks in the 2007 ALDS

→84   Luis Tiant tosses a three-hitter with an unearned run, eight K’s and three walks in the 1975 ALCS

→78   Babe Ruth throws a six-hit shutout with four strikeouts and one walk in the 1918 World Series

 →78   Luis Tiant throws a five-hit shutout with three K’s and two walks in the 1975 World Series

→78   Bruce Hurst throws eight innings of scoreless ball with eight strikeouts and four walks in the 1986 Fall              Classic

→78   Garrett Crochet allows one run in seven-and-two-thirds innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks in the              2025 AL Wild Card.

~Boston’s Alex Bregman doubled (as did, on the other coast, Los Angeles’ Freddie Freeman).  Bregman is tied for sixth all-time in postseason extra-base hits (38); he’s matched with Albert Pujols and behind Derek Jeter (57), Bernie Williams (51), Manny Ramírez (48), Jose Altuve (48) and David Ortiz (41).  Freeman (28) is now tied with Yordan Alvarez for 25th.  

Yankees southpaw Max Fried came away with a no-decision after finishing his day with six-and-a-third scoreless innings.  Before this game, New York had received nine offerings from a Game 1 starter that saw the hurler come out of the contest with no runs allowed; the club had won all nine of the games in which this had happened.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.