Game Notes, 10/28/2025 – World Series Game 4

There’s exhilarating footage of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig taking batting practice before the 1927 World Series – a kind of perfect encapsulation of the knockout combination these two provided.  Watching one finish and the other begin, there is a sense and acknowledgment of the devastation about to be wrought:  those poor Pirates pitchers.  What the two did to Pittsburgh in 1927 looks weak, though, when compared to the demolition that swept across the Fall Classic landscape a year later.  Facing the Cardinals (and sweeping them), Ruth went 10-for-16 with three homers and three doubles and a walk for a 2.022 OPS.  Batting right behind him, Gehrig was 6-for-11 with four homers and a double and six walks for a – take that, Babe – 2.433 OPS.  The standard for teammates having their own “Anything you can do, I can do better” singalong in the postseason rests here.  

In another era, one incorporating an LCS into the postseason maelstrom, Pirates Willie Stargell and Phil Garner lumbered mightily and with great menace in 1979 as Pittsburgh took the crown.  Still later, as more postseason games and rounds were layered into the drama, Boston’s Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz each ran amok in 2007.  Or maybe the choice for the most dynamic duo in the 21st century lands on New York’s Hideki Matsui and Álex Rodríguez in 2009 or the Cardinals’ crushers in 2011 – David Freese and Albert Pujols.  

Toronto is building its own double helix in 2025, entwining the efforts from Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Ernie Clement into an imagined world where two more wins can be exchanged for a World Series crown and perhaps, maybe, possibly, two seats at the table headed by Gehrig and Ruth.

*Blue Jays @ Dodgers, World Series Game 4*

Shane Bieber worked into the sixth, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. delivered a two-run home run against Shohei Ohtani, and Toronto generated a 6-2 win to even the series at two games apiece.  

~For the righty-throwing Bieber, the effort – 5.1 IP, 1 R – shifted him into a slot as just the third Blue Jays starter to record a win in the Fall Classic.  In Game 4 in 1992, southpaw Jimmy Key allowed a run in seven-and-two-thirds innings as part of a 2-1 victory over Atlanta.  A year later, right-hander Pat Hentgen picked up the ‘W’ after allowing a run in six innings in a Game 3, 10-3 victory over the Phillies.  

~For Guerrero, Jr., his effort (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, a walk) shifted his postseason slash line to .419/.500/.806/1.306.  There are 143 players to have amassed at least 70 plate appearances in a single postseason (this is almost exclusively a 1995-and-on collection, with only Davey Lopes in 1981 and Wade Boggs in 1986 coming before the Wild Card Era).  Guerrero’s worst rank among these 143, for each part of his slash line, is third.  Here’s the top five for all four:

Highest BA in the Postseason, min. 70 PA 

.419   Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in 2025

.397   David Freese in 2011

.377   Randy Arozarena in 2020

.367   Jeff Conine in 2003

.366   Pablo Sandoval in 2014

Highest OBP in the Postseason, min. 70 PA 

.581   Barry Bonds in 2002

.521   Gary Sheffield in 1997

.500   Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in 2025

.465   David Freese in 2011

.463   Albert Pujols in 2011

Highest SLG in the Postseason, min. 70 PA 

.978   Barry Bonds in 2002

.831   Randy Arozarena in 2020

.806   Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in 2025

.794   David Freese in 2011

.768   Shohei Ohtani in 2025

Highest OPS in the Postseason, min. 70 PA 

1.559   Barry Bonds in 2002

1.306   Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in 2025

1.273   Randy Arozarena in 2020

1.258   David Freese in 2011

1.182   Shohei Ohtani in 2025

~Counting stat-wise for the 2025 postseason, Guerrero, Jr. is at 16 runs, 26 hits, seven home runs, 10 extra-base hits, 14 RBI, 50 total bases and 37 times on base.  It’s one of the more prolific lines any postseason has witnessed.  

→He is tied for the ninth-most runs, with the co-leaders – Carlos Beltrán in 2004 and Jose Altuve in 2021 – having 21.

→He is tied with Pablo Sandoval in 2014 for the second-most hits, behind Randy Arozarena’s 29 from 2020.

→He is tied for the eighth-most home runs, with the leader – Arozarena in 2020 – having 10.

→He is tied for the 19th-most extra-base hits, with the co-leaders – David Freese in 2011 and Arozarena in 2020 – having 14.  

→He is tied for 33rd in RBI, with the leader – Adolis García in 2023 – having 22.

→He is tied for second, with Freese in 2011 and Corey Seager in 2020, for the second-most total bases.  Arozarena’s 64 in 2020 are the most.

→He is tied, with Gary Sheffield in 1997, for the fourth-most times on base, behind Barry Bonds (43 in 2002), Albert Pujols (38 in 2011) and Arozarena (38 in 2020).

~This Game 4 line marked Guerrero, Jr.’s fourth multi-RBI game of the 2025 postseason, boosting him into a tie with his teammate Alejandro Kirk for the second most in a year for a Blue Jay, these two behind Paul Molitor and his five in 1993.

~This Game 4 marked Guerrero, Jr.’s ninth multi-hit line of the 2025 postseason, quite a notable number (see one of the Ernie Clement notes below for details).

~Guerrero, Jr.’s homer in this Game 4 gave the first baseman seven round-trippers in his postseason career – the most ever for the Blue Jays’ franchise, ahead of the six from Joe Carter and José Bautista.

~The slugger is one of 23 players who can claim at least seven postseason longballs before celebrating their 27th birthday.   Guerrero, Jr. is a few tiers below the most bountiful, with Carlos Correa (17), Manny Ramírez (13) and Albert Pujols (13) leading this train.  

Ernie Clement  doubled and singled for the Blue Jays in the win … Hit-machine Ernie Clement, that is.  

~The third baseman extended his hitting streak to 10 games, one of 40 players ever to stretch a single-year run to double digits.  He can look around and see a few others in the Blue Jays’ color scheme and insignia package:  Pat Borders (12 in 1992), Devon White (10 in 1993) and Roberto Alomar (10 in 1993).

~Clement has hit safely in 13 of his 15 games this postseason – these represent the first 15 opportunities of his career.  He joins 45 others who had at least one knock in at least 13 of their first 15 career postseason games.  Marquis Grissom (1995-1996) and Ketel Marte (2017-2023) went 15-for-15 to lead the line.

~Clement has 24 hits in the 2025 postseason, second on his club behind Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.’s 26 (the 24 are also second most for any player in 2025).  Casting the net backward, there is one other duo that pops up when trolling for teammates with at least two dozen knocks in the same postseason:  Cardinals David Freese (25) and Albert Pujols (24) in 2011.  Clement’s 24 hits tie him with six others for the eighth most in a single postseason.

~Clement has eight multi-hit games in 2025, one shy of matching the best anyone has ever done.  

Most Multi-Hit Games in a Postseason

9    Marty Barrett (1986), Marquis Grissom (1996), Troy Glaus (2002), Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (2025)

8    Bernie Williams (1996), Darin Erstad (2002), Albert Pujols (2004), Marco Scutaro (2012), Pablo Sandoval        (2014), Jose Altuve (2019), Randy Arozarena (2020), Bryce Harper (2022), Yordan Alvarez (2023), Ernie          Clement (2025)

After their Game 1 explosion – an 11-4 win – Toronto’s bats haven’t been quite as scorching and the team’s runs per game in this year’s postseason has dropped to 6.27.  Updating the “best of” chart from a Game 1 Game Note:

Most Runs/Game in a Postseason (min. 10 games)