Game Notes, 10/11/2024 – LDS Day 7

League Division Series play has produced 39 winner-take-all contests – those ultimate, tension-filled testing grounds that have a way of squeezing out all of the possible drama.  The very first year of this round – 1981 – was especially generous in its largesse, serving up three Game 5’s on the same day, October 11.  

Over in the American League, the Yankees got home runs from Reggie Jackson (of course), Oscar Gamble and Rick Cerone and used a trio of hurlers – Ron Guidry, Dave Righetti and Rich Gossage – to topple the Brewers 7-3.  In the Senior Circuit, things were a little more dramatic.  In Philadelphia, the upstart Expos took on the defending champs and thanks to a Steve Rogers gem (a six-hit shutout in only his second career postseason appearance) moved past the Phillies and onto the next round.  There, they would meet the Dodgers, who attended their own Game 5 master class on pitching prowess, hosted by Jerry Reuss.  The lefty limited the Astros to five hits in a 4-0 win that carried Los Angeles to the NLCS and added his name to Rogers and the rest of those starting pitchers who’ve spun something very special when a postseason series comes down to one game for all the marbles.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers combined on a two-hit shutout to give the Dodgers a 2-0 victory over the Padres in a winner-take-all NLDS Game 5.

~Yamamoto was making only his second career postseason appearance.  He’s the 24th pitcher in Division Series history to be in his first or second career postseason game and be the starter in a Game 5.  With Yamamoto picking up the win, these 24 now hold a collective 9-10 record.  Their teams are 11-13.

~Yamamoto is the first Dodger ever to be in his first or second career postseason game and be the starter in a win-or-go-home contest.

~This win marked the 17th time the Dodgers have played in a do-or-die postseason game.  

*Yamamoto (26 years and 55 days old) is the sixth youngest of the 17 starting pitchers in these winner-take-all affairs.  Fernando Valenzuela (20 years, 352 days) is the youngest, for his start in Game 5 of the 1981 NLCS.  Max Scherzer (37-071) is the oldest, starting in the 2021 Wild Card game. Non-Wild Card, Rich Hill is the oldest, starting Game 5 of the 2016 NLDS at 36 years and 216 days.

*Of the 17 Dodgers’ starters in winner-take-all contests, Yamamoto is the sixth to record a victory.  

1955 WS, G7 Johnny Podres 8-hit shutout

1965 WS, G7 Sandy Koufax 3-hit shutout
1981 NLDS, G5 Jerry Reuss 5-hit shutout

1981 NLCS, G5 Fernando Valenzuela 8.2 IP, 3 H, 1R

1988 NLCS, G7 Orel Hershiser 5-hit shutout

2024 NLDS, G5 Yoshinobu Yamamoto 5.0 IP, 2H, 0R

~There have been 34 hurlers to finish their winner-take-all start with at least five innings and no runs.  Of this collective, three reps from 2024 show up:  Yamamoto from this game, and from Game 3 of the NLWC, Milwaukee’s Tobias Myers and New York’s Jose Quintana.  The 1991 postseason also saw three, with one game producing two (Game 7 of the World Series, with Jack Morris and John Smoltz), and Smoltz also doing it in Game 7 of the NLCS.

This game marked the 17th time the Dodgers have played in a do-or-die postseason contest:  six World Series, six League Division Series, four League Championship Series, and one Wild Card.  

~In these 17, the Dodgers are 11-6 with five team shutouts.  The blankings came in: 

Game 7 of the 1955 World Series

Game 7 of the 1965 World Series

Game 5 of the 1981 NLDS

Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS

Game 5 of the 2024 NLDS

~The five team shutouts in these winner-take-all contests are the most for any franchise.  The Braves, Cardinals and Giants all have three, for the second most.

~The Yankees have played in the most winner-take-all contests, 31.  The Cardinals have 24 and the Dodgers have the third most, with their 17.  The Yankees own a .516 winning percentage in their games, while the Cardinals hold a .667 mark and the Dodgers are at .647.

Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández homered for the Dodgers in the club’s win.  The pair represent the 12th and 13th home run hitters for the Dodgers in winner-take-all contests, with Kiké Hernández hammering his third longball in such a contest.  In this club, Cody Bellinger is the only other player with more than one.  

~ Kiké Hernández and his three home runs in winner-take-all games (2019 NLDS, Game 5; 2020 NLCS, G7; 2024 NLDS, G5):  a couple of different ways to look at his totals.

*Hernández is one of five players to homer in at least three separate winner-take-all contests.  Aaron Judge has gone yard in four, while Hernández is joined at three with Bill Skowron, Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton.

*Hernández’s three total longballs in winner-take-all contests ties him with six others for the second most ever.  

4   Aaron Judge

3   Yogi Berra

3   Bill Skowron

3   Troy O’Leary

3   Didi Gregorius

3   Jose Altuve

3   Giancarlo Stanton

3   Kiké Hernández

~ Kiké Hernández has 14 career postseason home runs, including nine for the Dodgers.  His nine with Los Angeles ties him with Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Chris Taylor for the sixth most in franchise history.  Hernández played his first postseason game in 2015; since then, his 14 round-trippers are the seventh most in the big leagues.  

Most Postseason Home Runs Since 2015

27   Jose Altuve

21   Kyle Schwarber

19   Alex Bregman

19   Corey Seager 

19   George Springer

18   Carlos Correa

14   Kiké Hernández

The Dodgers were limited to four hits in their victory.  Two other clubs have collected so few knocks while still coming out on top in a do-or-die contest.  The Athletics tallied four in their Game 5 ALCS victory over the Tigers in 1972.  The Rays collected just three in their win over the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2020 ALDS.

 
San Diego’s Yu Darvish allowed two runs on three hits in 6.2 innings to take the loss.  The right-hander fell to 0-3 in his three winner-take-all starts.  

~Darvish is one of 13 pitchers to have at least three starts in these do-or-die affairs, and one of four within this baker’s dozen to be without a win.  In that quartet, he’s joined by Jon Lester (0-1), Zack Greinke (0-1), and Max Scherzer (no decisions).  

~Among the 13, Darvish’s 4.80 ERA is exceeded by only Greinke’s (4.86).  On the other end, Charlie Morton owns the lowest ERA, with no runs allowed in his 15.2 innings (over three starts).

Before this loss, the Padres had been 3-0 in do-or-die postseason games.  They beat the Cubs in Game 5 of the 1984 NLCS, the Cardinals in the third game of the 2020 NLWC, and the Mets in Game 3 of the 2022 NLWC.

To close out the series, the Dodgers produced shutouts in Games 4 and 5.  When it comes to multiple shutouts in a series:  previously, Los Angeles had three team shutouts in the 1965 World Series (Games 3, 5, 7), two in the 2016 NLCS (Games 2 and 3) and two in the 2018 NLDS (Games 1 and 2).

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