Game Notes, 10/16/2024 – LCS Day 4

Imagine a postseason résumé that contains the following numbers for a single year:  10 games played, 15 hits with seven going for extra-bases, 12 RBI, a .341/.370/.750/1.120 slash line.  Looks and feels like a middle of the order guy, right?  Maybe Jay Buhner in 1995 or Bernie Williams in 1996 or Jayson Werth in 2009 or Adolis García in 2023.  Nope, even though these four did have similar rate numbers while hitting in the heart of a lineup.  Nope, this particularly gaudy representation of seriously wielding some lumber belongs to leadoff hitter Davey Lopes, of the 1978 pennant-winning Dodgers.  That year, as Lopes assembled one of the great sustained leadoff lines in postseason history, the second baseman had four games with multiple runs driven in, including a high of five in Game 1 of the World Series.  

No Dodgers leadoff hitter has ever matched Lopes’ RBI numbers – either for one postseason or a single playoff game.  But it sure feels like with Shohei Ohtani hanging around, it’s only a matter of time.

Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández homered to power the Dodgers to an 8-0 win and 2-1 series lead over the Mets in the NLCS.

~ Ohtani produced his second 3-RBI line of the 2024 postseason, with the first coming in his playoff debut (Game 1 of the NLDS).  He is one of five leadoff batters who’ve produced multiple examples of three-or-more RBI in a single postseason.  Davey Lopes was the first to do this, with two in 1978.  Lenny Dykstra had two in 1993, Derek Jeter posted two in 2004, and then Jose Altuve had a pair in 2021.  

~Muncy is tied with Justin Turner and Corey Seager for the most round-trippers in Dodgers franchise history, 13.  With 10, Hernández and Steve Garvey are matched for the fifth most.  

~Overall, Hernández has 15 career postseason home runs (the other five came with the Red Sox in 2021).  His 15 stands tied for the 18th most ever, a slot shared with Babe Ruth and Jayson Werth. 

~In addition to his four-bagger, Muncy also singled and drew three walks for a pristine line:  five plate appearances, five times on base.  He’s one of 19 players in postseason history to have at least five plate appearances, to reach safely in every one of them and to have a home run as part of that line.  Before Muncy’s night, it had last happened in 2020, when Travis d’Arnaud did it in Game 1 of the NLDS for the Braves.  Of the 19 names to populate this list, two appear twice:  Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.  Muncy is the only Dodgers representative.  There are two Mets among the 19:  Rusty Staub (G4, 1973 WS) and Carlos Beltrán (G4, 2006 NLCS).

Walker Buehler and four relievers combined on the four-hit shutout that moved the Dodgers into the series lead.

~The 8-0 win marks the fourth team shutout posted by the Dodgers in 2024.  The four represent a new franchise high for a single postseason, eclipsing the three the 1965 club generated (all in the World Series, of course).

~The four shutouts from the Dodgers this postseason place the club in a tie for the second most ever in one year.  The 2016 Indians hold the top mark, with five during their run all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.  The clubs who’ve welcomed the Dodgers into the second spot:  1905 Giants, 1998 Yankees, 2010 and 2012 Giants, 2020 and 2021 Braves.

~The Dodgers now have shutouts in Games 1 and 3 of the 2024 NLCS.  The 1991 Braves had three in their LCS that year – the only club with that many in any League Championship Series.  

In an interesting sidenote … before this postseason, 11 teams had produced at least two shutouts in a single LCS.  Of the 11, 10 used that pitching prowess to launch to the World Series.  The only club to lose an LCS with two shutouts in its pocket:  the 2016 Dodgers.

2+ Team Shutouts in an LCS  

1991 Braves

1974 Athletics

1983 Orioles

1987 Cardinals

1995 Indians

1996 Braves

1998 Padres

2012 Giants

2013 Cardinals

2016 Indians

2016 Dodgers

2024 Dodgers

~The Dodgers have 25 postseason shutouts on their ledger – Buehler has been the  starter in two of them.  Clayton Kershaw has been the starter in the most, with three.  Orel Hershiser and Sandy Koufax were responsible for two apiece, with those hurlers of another era going the distance in theirs.  Hyun Jin Ryu has also been the starter in two of them.  

~The Dodgers have played in 284 postseason games, with 84 of them coming in the LCS.  

*In LCS play, Los Angeles has a team ERA of 3.55.  Among the 20 franchises with at least 20 LCS games, that 3.55 ranks as the ninth lowest.  The Orioles (2.64 in 41 games) own the best mark, while the Twins (4.90 in 21 games) own the worst.  The Mets own the third lowest LCS ERA, at 3.30 in 46 games.

*In all postseason play, the Dodgers have a 3.63 ERA, 14th lowest among all 30 franchises.  Like in the LCS cutout, the Orioles own the lowest mark, with a 2.80.  And like in the LCS subset, the Mets are fairly close to the top, with a 3.26 that is tied for the fourth best.  

Mark Vientos singled in four at-bats.  The Mets’ third baseman has played 10 career postseason games and recorded 15 hits (five for extra-bases) and 11 RBI.  

~There are 42 players in postseason history to have at least 15 knocks through their first 10 career postseason contests.  Vientos is one of 17 to sit at exactly 15.  At the very top, Thurman Munson had 20.  There’s another Met between Munson and Vientos – Daniel Murphy, whose 18 tie him for the second most.  

~Vientos is one of 24 players to have at least 11 RBI in his first 10 career postseason games.  Nomar Garciaparra is the king of this category, with 17.  For the Mets, Vientos is tied with Carlos Delgado and Murphy for the most.

~Vientos owns a 1.029 OPS in his 10 career postseason games.  For all players with at least 30 plate appearances through their first 10 contests, Vientos’ mark ranks 91st; the Mets third baseman is tied with the immortal Al Kaline and the less enduring Desmond Jennings.  All the way at the apex, the top-five are:

1.697   Carlos Beltrán for the Astros in 2004

1.610   Colby Rasmus for the Cardinals in 2009, Astros in 2015

1.533   Bernie Williams for the Yankees in 1995-96

1.528   Fernando Tatis, Jr. for the Padres in 2020, 2024

1.426   Todd Walker for the Red Sox in 2003

Mets Top-Six

1.324   Daniel Murphy in 2015

1.199   Carlos Delgado in 2006

1.116   Pete Alonso in 2022, 2024

1.080   Rusty Staub in 1973

1.036   Lenny Dykstra in 1986

1.029   Mark Vientos in 2024

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