Game Notes, 10/17/2024 – LCS Day 5

The grandeur of postseason baseball is that with the condensed number of games and expanded importance of each contest, the moments turn to MOMENTS and more easily cast us back to “remember when.”  A swing in the bottom of the ninth in Cleveland can instantly be a teleporter to Wrigley Field in 2003 or the Astrodome in 1998 or Yankee Stadium in 1964 or 2001.  Another cut one inning later, one can start in Cleveland and be whizzed to Fenway Park or Busch Stadium in 2004 or perhaps Memorial Stadium in 1979 or maybe the Metrodome in 1991.  Postseason baseball is a time and space magician – stopping, layering, shifting. 

The Guardians won the award for Best Drama with their historic 7-5, 10-inning victory over the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS.  With the win, Cleveland trails two games to one.  Where to start?

~Jhonkensy Noel delivered a pinch-hit, two-out, game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.  Winnowing down, there have been 42 postseason home runs that have come in the ninth inning or later and put the trailing team into the lead or tied the game.  

*Of those 42, 14 have come with the team down to its last out.  

(If there’s anyone out there feeling sorry for the Yankees after this Game 3 loss, note that of the 14 occurrences referenced for this situation, Yankees are responsible for hitting five of the home runs).  Anyway, we’re down to 14 … 

*… Of those 14, three have been delivered by a pinch-hitter.  

2-out, Game-Tying or Go-Ahead Pinch-Hit HR in the 9th Inning or Later, With Team trailing:

1988 WS, G1:  Kirk Gibson, with his Dodgers down 4-3, wins the game with a two-run home run off Dennis Eckersley.

1998 NLDS, G2:  Jim Leyritz, with his Padres down 4-2, hits a two-run homer off Billy Wagner to tie the game at four.

2024 ALCS, G3:  Jhonkensy Noel, with his Guardians down 5-3, hits a two-run home run off Luke Weaver to tie the game at five. 

*More on the earlier reference to 42 postseason home runs that have come in the ninth inning or later and put the trailing team into the lead or tied the game:  Three have come this year, with Noel’s following those hit by Mets Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos.  The three this postseason are the most in any year since the 1986 playoffs also had three such events, courtesy of Lenny Dykstra (NLCS, G3), Billy Hatcher (NLCS, G6), and Dave Henderson (ALCS, G5).

~David Fry delivered a two-run, game-ending home run in the 10th inning.

*Fry’s blast marks the 60th time a postseason game was ended with a longball, and the third time a Cleveland player has done the blasting.  Fry joins Tony Pena (Game 1, 1995 ALDS) and Oscar González (Game 2, 2022 ALWC).  

*Fry’s game-ender marks the 34th extra-inning walk-off home run in postseason history.  With this one, the Yankees have surrendered more than any other club, five.  All three of Cleveland’s walk-off home runs (referenced right above) have come in extra frames.

~This postseason, in addition to his Game 3 walk-off, Fry has a seventh-inning, go-ahead, two-run home run (ALDS, G4).  The Guardians’ DH is one of 14 players in postseason history to have multiple home runs in the same year that came in the seventh inning or later and put his team ahead.  

1923:  Casey Stengel 

1986:  Dave Henderson 

1988:  Kirk Gibson 

1991:  Mike Pagliarulo 

1996:  Brian Jordan

2001:  Alfonso Soriano

2002:  Troy Glaus (he had three this year)

2004:  David Ortiz

2014:  Kolten Wong

2014:  Matt Adams

2019:  Howie Kendrick

2020:  Carlos Correa

2024:  Giancarlo Stanton

2024:  David Fry

~This Guardians’ win marked the seventh time a club won a game with an extra-inning home run after tying the contest with a homer in the ninth (or later).  This list:

1995 ALDS, G1: Indians win.  Albert Belle game-tying HR in the 11th; Tony Pena game-ending HR in the 13th.

2001, WS, G4:  Yankees win.  Tino Martinez game-tying HR in the 9th; Derek Jeter game-ending HR in the 10th.

2005 NLDS, G4:  Astros win.  Brad Ausmus game-tying HR in the 9th; Chris Burke game-ending HR in the 18th

2009 ALDS, G2:  Yankees win.  Alex Rodriguez game-tying HR in the 9th; Mark Teixeira game-ending HR in the 11th.

2012 ALDS, G3:  Yankees win.  Raúl Ibañez game-tying HR in the 9th; Raúl Ibañez game-ending HR in the 12th.

2023 WS, G1:  Rangers win.  Corey Seager game-tying HR in the 9th; Adolis García game-ending HR in the 11th.

2024 ALDS, G3:  Guardians win.  Jhonkensy Noel game-tying HR in the 9th; David Fry game-ending HR in the 10th.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs for New York in the loss.   All-time, Judge’s tally of 15 career postseason longballs ties him for 18th.  He’s matched with Kiké Hernández, Jayson Werth and Babe Ruth.  Stanton’s 14 ties him with David Justice for the 22nd most.

Both Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani homered and reached safely four times as the Dodgers drubbed the Mets 10-2 to move to within one game of winning the pennant.  

~Betts added a double and two singles to his homer, producing a four-hit, four-RBI, three-run line in the box score.  Some of the quicker little connections to be made from this effort include the following:

*Betts produced the 28th postseason line featuring at least four hits and at least four RBI.  In Dodgers lore under this banner, he joins Steve Garvey (1974 NLCS, G4) and Chris Taylor (2021 NLCS, G5).  Garvey and Albert Pujols each did this twice (Garvey’s other effort came with the Padres in 1984).  

*Add in his three runs, and Betts’ company shrinks.  17 players have authored a line featuring at least four hits, four RBI and three runs.  The aforementioned Dodgers – Garvey and Taylor – make this list as well.  And again, Albert Pujols shows up twice.   

*With this effort marking the second four-hit game of his Dodgers tenure, Betts is the first player in franchise history to have more than one in the postseason.  His first came in Game 5 of the 2021 NLDS.  Betts is one of 18 players overall to have multiple four-hit efforts in a postseason career.  

3:  Albert Pujols, Tommy Pham

2:  Brooks Robinson, Steve Garvey, Mickey Rivers, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, George Brett, Roberto Alomar, Nomar Garciaparra, Álex Rodríguez, Manny Ramírez, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jacoby Ellsbury, Eddie Rosario, Kiké Hernández, Mookie Betts

~Ohtani led off the game with a home run.

*Ohtani’s longball marked the seventh time a Dodger has opened the first with one.  Davey Lopes was the first to do this (in 1978).  Before Betts, David Freese had been the last to do it, in 2018 (Freese actually did it twice during the 2018 postseason).  

*With the seven leadoff home runs, the Dodgers are tied with the Phillies and Yankees for the most in postseason history.  

*Ohtani is the fourth player this postseason with a leadoff home run (Jackson Chourio, Kyle Schwarber and Francisco Lindor are the other three).  No postseason has produced this many since 2007, when a record five were hit.  

*In the 2024 postseason, the first inning has been the home of more home runs than any other single frame.  2019 marks the last time a postseason experienced this.  All-time, from 1903-2024, the first inning has witnessed the third most round-trippers, lagging behind the fourth and fifth innings.

~It is rare to see a club’s #1 and #2 batters each reach safely four-or-more times in the same postseason contest.  These are all of the instances I could find:

1936 WS, G2:      Frankie Crosetti and Red Rolfe for the Yankees

1951 WS, G5:      Gene Woodling and Phil Rizzuto for the Yankees

1969 ALCS, G3:   Don Buford and Paul Blair for the Orioles

1979 ALCS, G2:   Al Bumbry and Kiko Garcia for the Orioles

1982 WS, G1:      Paul Molitor and Robin Yount for the Brewers

1986 WS, G6:      Wade Boggs and Marty Barrett for the Red Sox

1999 ALDS, G4:  José Offerman and John Valentin for the Red Sox

2024 NLCS, G4:  Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts for the Dodgers

~Matching the on-base efforts of Ohtani and Betts, Max Muncy also reached safely four times.  Postseason history has seen this – at least three teammates* each reaching safely at least four times – occur in 19 contests.   The Dodgers have a fairly large imprint in this case:

1956 WS, G2:     Jim Gilliam, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider

1974 NLCS, G4:  Joe Ferguson, Steve Garvey, Jim Wynn

2020 NLCS, G3:  Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson  

2024 NLCS, G4:  Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy

*The high mark for this comes from the Red Sox in their 23-7 win over the Indians in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS, when they had six players do it.

Speaking of Max Muncy, the Dodgers first baseman singled and drew three walks.  

~During the course of the game, Muncy extended his streak of reaching safely to 12 consecutive plate appearances (from his HR in the fifth inning in Game 2 to a single in the seventh inning in this Game 4).  According to the Dodgers postgame press notes, that streak of reaching safely in 12 consecutive plate appearances is the longest in any single postseason.   

~Muncy has drawn eight walks in this NLCS and owns a .722 on-base percentage.  

*Since the League Championship Series moved to a best-of-seven format in 1985, the high mark for OBP (min. 12PA) is Lloyd McClendon’s .750 in 1992.  Muncy’s .722 would be the second best mark.  

*Muncy is two walks shy of tying the LCS record, shared by Frank Thomas (1993 ALCS) and Barry Bonds (2002 NLCS).  In the 2020 NLCS, Muncy drew nine walks.  

Mark Vientos went 2-for-5 with a home run. The Mets’ third baseman has played 11 career postseason games and owns a 1.070 OPS.  For all players with at least 33 plate appearances through their first 11 contests, Vientos’ mark ranks 66th, just ahead of the immortal Jimmie Foxx and 2015 World Series champion Eric Hosmer, who both sit at 1.069.  Vientos’ mark is the fourth highest for any Mets player (min. 33 PA):

Mets Top Four

1.292 Daniel Murphy in 2015

1.199 Carlos Delgado in 2006

1.096 Rusty Staub in 1973

1.070 Mark Vientos in 2024

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