The 1929 Cubs featured a quartet of fearsome right-handed hitters, a foursome of .500 or better sluggers named Rogers Hornsby (slugged .679 that year), Hack Wilson (.618), Riggs Stephenson (.562) and Kiki Cuyler (.532). They all posted on-base percentages above .400 that year, Wilson’s .345 batting average was the lowest among the four that season. What, oh what to do when facing them … in the World Series?
Enter Howard Ehmke, a 35-year-old side-arming right-hander.
On October 8, 1929, Ehmke stood sixty feet, six inches away from those sluggers, selected by Athletics manager Connie Mack to start Game 1 of the Fall Classic. At the end of his 14th season, after 166 regular season victories (including a no-hitter in 1923), Ehmke was, finally, getting a taste of the postseason, even if it was flavored by the formidable task of muting all that prowess in the right side of the batter’s box.
By the time all throws and swings were done, a new level of silence – World Series edition – had been established: 13 Cubs batters whiffed, all by Ehmke, who, by one account, “Never once shot a fast ball at the Cubs … he used a slow hesitating curve, he used a sharp-breaking, shoulder high ‘duster.’ He curved a cross-fire, inside. He threw a floating outside curve.”** In establishing a new World Series record with his 13 K’s, Ehmke threw an eight-hitter, picked up the win and got the Athletics on their way to a title. He’d never record another victory – in the regular or postseason.
It’s been almost 100 years since Ehmke’s dazzling debut and few pitchers in their own first initial forays have been able to match that brilliance and concoct an eruptive amalgam of freshness, bigness of stage and glittering achievement to such astonishing results.
*Red Sox v. Yankees*
Cam Schlittler, making his postseason debut, threw a scintillating and historic eight scoreless innings with 12 K’s and no walks to pace the Yankees to a 4-0 win over the Red Sox in a winner-take-all Game 3.
~Schlittler amassed the most strikeouts ever for any pitcher in any winner-take-all game, eclipsing the 11 from Cliff Lee (Game 5, 2010 ALDS), Justin Verlander (Game 5, 2012 ALDS) and Jake Arrieta (2015 NLWC).
~ Schlittler’s 84 Game Score ties for the sixth highest in a decisive game.
Highest Game Scores in a Winner-Take-All Contest
89 Justin Verlander for the Tigers in Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS
88 Sandy Koufax for the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series
88 Madison Bumgarner for the Giants in the 2014 NLWC
88 Jake Arrieta* for the Cubs in the 2015 NLWC
87 Justin Verlander for the Tigers in Game 5 of the 2013 ALDS
84 Jack Morris for the Twins in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series
84 Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS
84 Cam Schlittler* for the Yankees in Game 3 of the 2025 ALWC
*Making his postseason debut
~Schlitter’s 12 strikeouts tie for the eighth most for a pitcher in his postseason debut, matched with Ed Walsh (1906 WS, G3), Bill Donovan (1907 WS, G1) and Walter Johnson (1924 WS, G1). Those with more:
14 Joe Coleman (1972 ALCS, G3), John Candelaria (1975 NLCS, G3), Mike Boddicker (1983 ALCS, G2), Mike Scott (1986 NLCS, G1), Tim Lincecum (2010 NLDS, G1)
13 Howard Ehmke (1929 WS, G1), Jacob deGrom (2015 NLDS, G1)
~ Schlittler is the seventh pitcher in postseason history to couple no walks with at least a dozen strikeouts. Some details for each, starting with the number of strikeouts.
13 Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1973 NLCS 8.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, Loss
13 Gerrit Cole in Game 1 of the 2020 ALWC 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, Win
12 Gerrit Cole in Game 2 of the 2018 ALDS 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, Win
12 Stephen Strasburg in Game 3 of the 2019 NLCS 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, Win
12 Trevor Bauer in Game 1 of the 2020 NLWC 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, ND
12 Michael King in Game 1 of the 2024 NLWC 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, Win
12 Cam Schlittler in Game 3 of the 2025 ALWC 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, Win
The Yankees-Red Sox postseason rivalry goes 27 games deep. By Game Score, Schlittler’s 84 is the best anyone on either side has done, edging Pedro Martínez’s 83 from Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS. In Game 1 of this 2025 AL Wild Card tilt, Boston’s Garrett Crochet posted the third best mark on either side, a 78.
On the other side of Schlittler’s performance, Red Sox starter Connelly Early was also making his postseason debut. The matchup marked the third to feature two starting pitchers in postseason debuts getting that call in a winner-take-all setting. The other two –
2013 ALWC: Cleveland’s Danny Salazar and Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb
2015 ALWC: New York’s Masahiro Tanaka and Houston’s Dallas Keuchel
~At 23 years and 182 days old, Early is the 16th youngest starter in a winner-take-all affair, with Fernando Valenzuela (20 years and 352 days old for Game 5 of the 1981 NLCS) the youngest. Early is the second youngest Red Sox rep, after Hugh Bedient (22 years, 359 days old) in the final Game of the 1912 World Series.
The Yankees improved to 17-15 in winner-take-all games, with this victory marking the third to be a product of a shutout. In Game 7 of the 1956 World Series, Johnny Kucks pitched the club to a 9-0 win over the Dodgers. In Game 7 of the ’62 Fall Classic, Ralph Terry went the distance in a 1-0 win over the Giants.
The Red Sox fell to 7-7 in winner-take-all affairs, with this defeat marking the first time the team has been blanked.
*Tigers v. Guardians*
Five different Tigers drove in a run as Detroit defeated Cleveland, 6-3, to take the series.
Kerry Carpenter (1-for-2, three walks) doubled in Detroit’s first run of the game and finished the three-game series 4-for-10 with four walks. Carpenter has reached safely in nine of his first 10 career postseason games, and owns a .310/.412/.448/.860 slash line altogether.
~There are 49 Tigers who make the cut in looking at a player’s first 10 career postseason games with a minimum of 30 plate appearances. Organized by highest to lowest OPS, they range from Craig Monroe (1.219) to Marv Owen (.170), with Carpenter and his .860 coming in 13th, between Curtis Granderson’s .865 and Lance Parrish’s .848.
~Carpenter is riding a nine game on-base streak – he’s one of three Tigers who extended a fairly long run in this Game 3 victory, along with Riley Greene (2-for-5, RBI single) and Parker Meadows (2-for-4, two runs scored), each of whom ran their on-base streak to 10. Miguel Cabrera owns the Tigers’ longest on-base streak in the postseason, having reached safely in 31 straight.
~As for Greene and Meadows, they can rub shoulders with a couple of Hall of Famers – Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg – as Tigers who started their postseason careers by posting an on-base streak of at least 10 games, with Greenberg’s run extending to 18 contests and Gehringer’s to 16.
~With his three free passes, Carpenter tied the Tigers’ team mark for most walks in a postseason game, a feat previously accomplished nine times. There are a couple of others among the 10 that did their work in a winner-take-all contest: Roy Cullenbine in Game 7 of the 1945 World Series (a win) and Parker Meadows in Game 5 of the 2024 ALDS (a loss).
Dillon Dingler snapped an 0-for-9 skid in the postseason with a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning. The catcher produced the fourth home run by a Tiger in a winner-take-all game, following blasts from Don Kelly and Delmon Young (2011 ALDS, Game 5) and Miguel Cabrera (2013 ALDS, Game 5).
The Tigers improved to 6-5 all-time in winner-take-all postseason contests. Cleveland fell to 2-9. There are 11 clubs who’ve experienced at least 10 of these taut affairs, with the Guardians’ .182 winning percentage the worst of the 11. More positively, the Tigers own a collective 2.97 ERA in their 11 winner-take-all games; again, among the 11 clubs with at least 10 entries, that ERA comes in as the third lowest, behind the Giants’ 1.98 and the Dodgers’ 2.47.
Playing in his fifth winner-take-all contest for Cleveland, José Ramírez singled in a run. The 33-year-old is among the top-six all-time for Cleveland in postseason hits, runs, RBI, total bases, extra-base hits and times on base. As for those five “sudden death” starts, that’s the most for the franchise, ahead of the four experienced by Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel. Yadier Molina gets to claim the most across all of baseball, having started in 10 of them (all for the Cardinals).
*Padres v. Cubs*
The Cubs never trailed in an eventual 3-1 win over the Padres and advanced to the NLDS. Chicago improved to 5-4 all-time in winner-take-all postseason games, while San Diego fell to 3-2.
In the victory, Seiya Suzuki doubled and now has collected an extra-base hit in each of his first three career postseason games. The outfielder is one of 35 players to be able to make this claim, and one of two, along with Mark Grace, to do this as a Cub. Looking ahead, only nine were able to make it four-for-four, with Grace one of the nonet.
Cubs leadoff hitter Michael Busch went 3-for-4 with a home run and concluded the three-game series with a nifty and tidy .400/.500/.700 line.
~Postseason history shows 26 leadoff hitters who produced a three-hit (or more hit) line in a winner-take-all contest – the clubs that received the energizing production went 20-6 in these games. Busch gets to join Dexter Fowler as Cubs to make the list, with Fowler having two of these 26 efforts – first in the 2015 Wild Card win and then in Chicago’s historic 2016 World Series Game 7 victory. Among all 26 names, Fowler’s is the only one to appear twice.
~Cubs With a 1.100 (or better) OPS in a postseason series (min. 12 PA):
World Series
1.333 Joe Marty (1938)
1.197 Harry Steinfeldt (1907)
1.160 Hack Wilson (1929)
1.115 Phil Cavarretta (1945)
NLCS
1.799 Mark Grace (1989)
1.258 Ryne Sandberg (1989)
1.250 Jorge Soler (2015)
1.202 Jody Davis (1984)
NLDS
2.341 Jorge Soler (2015)
1.683 Kyle Schwarber (2015)
1.402 Derrek Lee (2008)
1.125 Eric Karros (2003)
NLWC
1.200 Michael Busch (2025)
Like his teammate, Pete Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-4 with an RBI to help the Cubs to the win. The pair make up one of eight duos to generate at least three hits and at least one RBI in a winner-take-all contest. All eight did it for the winning team … all eight are identified below.
1976 ALCS, Game 5 Chris Chambliss and Thurman Munson for the Yankees
1979 WS, Game 7 Omar Moreno and Willie Stargell for the Pirates
1995 ALDS, Game 5 Jay Buhner and Edgar Martínez for the Mariners
2004 NLDS, Game 5 Carlos Beltrán and Craig Biggio for the Astros
2007 ALCS, Game 7 Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis for the Red Sox
2017 ALDS, Game 5 Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius for the Yankees
2023 ALCS, Game 7 Adolis García and Corey Seager for the Rangers
2025 NLWC, Game 3 Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong for the Cubs
In the loss, Jackson Merrill homered for the Padres’ lone run. The 22-year-old is one of 27 players to have multiple postseason longballs before a 23rd birthday (his first came in Game 2 of the 2024 NLDS). Among others, Merrill joins fellow Padre Fernando Tatis, Jr. (also with two), fellow Jackson (Jackson Chourio, with two) and these fellas with at least four: Kyle Schwarber (5), Juan Soto (5), Mickey Mantle (4), Andruw Jones (4), Miguel Cabrera (4) and Bryce Harper (4).
**Thanks to the Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers for the quote.**
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.