Game Notes, 10/01/2025 – Wild Card Day 2

Entering 2025, the postseason account books showed 67 players who drove in at least 14 runs through their first 18 games, with Lou Gehrig and Adolis García tied for the most, 22.  A second focus revealed a much smaller collection to have scored at least 17 runs through their first 18 contests, just 10 players (led by Carlos Beltrán and his 25).  Putting the chocolate in the peanut butter (or the other way around), seven batters made the cut in both evaluations.  Why all these numbers?   At this moment, after another Dodgers postseason win in which their leadoff hitter was a significant part of the action, these are Shohei Ohtani’s numbers, and as has been shown time and again, when the 31-year-old steps on a ballfield, he tends to do things that have few precedents.  

*Reds v. Dodgers*

Mookie Betts doubled three times and added a run-scoring single to highlight the Dodgers’ offense in an 8-4 win that moved Los Angeles onto the next round.

→Betts tied Jim Gilliam (1953 World Series, Game 4) for the Dodgers’ high mark in doubles in a postseason game.  

→Betts moved to within one hit of tying Steve Garvey (63) for the second-most knocks in Dodgers postseason history, with everyone craning their necks to glimpse Justin Turner (85) at the top.  

→Among all active players, Betts (82) is just behind Turner (still at 85) for the most hits in the postseason, with Jose Altuve’s 118 at the top.  In between he and Turner and Betts … Carlos Correa (91), Yuli Gurriel (91) and Alex Bregman (91).

Shohei Ohtani scored one run and had an RBI in the win, giving him 17 career runs and 14 RBI in 18 postseason games.  

Players With 17+ Runs & 14+ RBI Through Their First 18 Postseason Games

Charlie Keller       17 runs and 18 RBI

George Brett        17 runs and 14 RBI

Willie McGee       17 runs and 14 RBI

Larry Walker        17 runs and 14 RBI

Bernie Williams    22 runs and 19 RBI

Troy Glaus           17 runs and 15 RBI

Carlos Beltrán      25 runs and 17 RBI

Shohei Ohtani      17 runs and 14 RBI

Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed two unearned runs across six-and-two-thirds innings in the Dodgers’ victory.  The right-hander, who allowed 5.86 hits per nine innings in the regular season to lead the Majors, surrendered four knocks in this effort and for his postseason career, has allowed 16 in 25.1 innings for a rate of 5.68.  Yes, Yamamoto’s figure is subject to a lot of change, but as a snapshot, that figure currently rests in a tie with Sandy Koufax for the second lowest among Dodgers starters with at least 25.0 innings.  Only Sherry Smith (5.04) owns a lower mark.  

Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart drove in three runs in the loss – a noteworthy day at the plate.

→At 21 years and 298 days old, Stewart became the youngest Red ever to drive in at least three runs in a postseason contest, knocking Don Gullett (24 years, 271 days) off the perch; the pitcher drove in three in Game 1 of the 1975 NLCS.

→At 21 years and 298 days old, Stewart is the 14th youngest player to have at least three RBI in a postseason contest, in between Fernando Tatis, Jr. (21, 273 for Game 2 of the 2020 NLCW) and Mickey Mantle (21, 349 for Game 5 of the 1953 World Series).  Andruw Jones (19, 177) gets the top slot, thanks to his three-RBI effort in Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS.

→Stewart also drove in a run in Game 1 of this series, as did Tyler Stephenson (who had one RBI in Game 2).  These two are two of six Reds to open a postseason career with an RBI in each of their first two contests, joining Dutch Ruether in 1919, Joe Morgan in 1972, Paul O’Neill in 1990 and Mark Lewis in 1995.

*Red Sox v. Yankees*

The Yankees squeaked out a 4-3 win to push their tilt against the Red Sox to a winner-take-all Game 3.  

~Boston and New York have met 26 times in the postseason, with each team having 13 wins.  The Red Sox have outscored the Yankees 130-119.  Each of the last three times the two rivals have met, Boston has moved on (2004 ALCS, 2018 ALDS, 2021 ALWC).  

~Ben Rice – making his postseason debut – clocked a two-run home run for the Yankees.  The 26-year-old is the 10th player for the franchise to go yard in his very first taste of the playoffs.  The entire list is below, arranged from youngest to oldest.

25 years, 160 days    Aaron Judge in the 2017 ALWC

26 years, 025 days    Roger Maris in Game 1 of the 1960 WS

26 years, 142 days    Rick Cerone in Game 1 of the 1980 ALCS

26 years, 217 days    Elston Howard in Game 1 of the 1955 WS

26 years, 221 days    Ben Rice in Game 2 of the 2025 ALWC

26 years, 222 days    Shane Spencer in Game 2 of the 1998 ALDS

28 years, 270 days    George Selkirk in Game 1 of the 1936 WS

28 years, 329 days    Giancarlo Stanton in the 2018 ALWC

30 years, 220 days    Rondell White in Game 1 of the 2002 ALDS

31 years, 281 days    Jim Leyritz in Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS 

~Aaron Judge drove in a run in the Yankees’ win, giving him 35 career postseason RBI.  He’s tied with Lou Gehrig for eighth on the franchise’s all-time list, with Yogi Berra and Hideki Matsui (39 apiece) on the closest rung above.

~Trevor Story drove in all three Red Sox runs, courtesy of a two-run single and solo home run.  The shortstop has seven games on his own postseason ledger and has produced multiple hits in five of them.  That a lot?  It is.

First 7 Postseason Games, Most Multi-Hit Lines

6    Ken Griffey, Jr. (1995) for the Mariners

5    Claude Rossman (1907-1908) for the Tigers

5    Pepper Martin (1931) for the Cardinals

5    Chris Chambliss (1976) for the Yankees

5    Alan Trammell (1984) for the Tigers

5    Jim Edmonds (2000) for the Cardinals

5    Carlos González (2009, 2017) for the Rockies

5    Tim Anderson (2020-2021) for the White Sox

5    Mark Vientos (2024) for the Mets

5    Trevor Story (2017-2018, 2025) for the Rockies/Red Sox

*Tigers v. Guardians*

A five-run eighth broke a 1-1 tie and Cleveland forced a decisive Game 3 as they defeated Detroit, 6-1.  

~24-year-old Brayan Rocchio broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer.  Putting all of the variables at hand into play for this round-tripper, Rocchio became the first member of the Guardians franchise to produce a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later in a potential elimination game.  

~Rocchio’s blast also made him the third player for the franchise to have multiple postseason home runs before turning 25, joining Manny Ramírez and Francisco Lindor, each with five.  Rocchio’s first came in Game 1 of the 2024 ALCS.

~José Ramírez drew three walks to tie the high mark for any Cleveland batter in any postseason game.  

3 Walks in a Postseason Contest – Cleveland 

Manny Ramírez in Game 3 of the 1995 World Series; goes 0-for-2 with a run scored

Kenny Lofton in Game 3 of the 1995 World Series; goes 3-for-3 with three runs scored

Jim Thome in Game 3 of the 1997 ALCS; goes 0-for-1 with one run scored

Brian Giles in Game 5 of the 1997 World Series; goes 0-for-1

Matt Williams in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series; goes 0-for-2

Travis Fryman in Game 2 of the 1999 ALDS; goes 0-for-0 with a run scored

José Ramírez in Game 2 of the 2025 ALWC; goes 0-for-1 with a run scored

~Leadoff hitter Steven Kwan went 1-for-4 with a run scored and now owns a lifetime .386 on-base percentage in 19 postseason games.  The mark currently stands in a tie – with Brayan Rocchio – for the sixth highest in Guardians franchise history among the 35 players with at least 40 plate appearances; Matt Williams’ .413 lands at the top.

*Padres v. Cubs*

Manny Machado delivered a two-run home run to help the Padres to a 3-0 win over the Cubs and help force a decisive Game 3.

~Machado is the Padres’ all-time postseason leader in home runs (eight), total bases (51) and RBI (15).  The run he scored on the four-bagger also moved him out of a tie with Tony Gwynn and into sole possession of third – with 12 runs – on the franchise’s leaderboard.  

~Fernando Tatis, Jr. scored two runs in a 1-for-4 day with a single and a walk.  The outfielder is the Padres’ all-time postseason leader in runs (15) and among the leaders in the three rate-state categories (minimum 30 plate appearances), with a .339/.439/.750 line.  In batting he is second, behind Alan Wiggins and his .341; in on-base percentage, he’s ahead of Wiggins (.372); in slugging, he out-muscles Jim Leyritz (.563).

~Mason Miller (1.2 IP, 5 K’s) was part of a dominant bullpen effort that saw the Friars’ relievers combine for one hit and six strikeouts in five-and-a-third innings.  Miller’s line made him the third San Diego reliever to record five strikeouts in a postseason game (no one has more), joining a pair that did their stuff in the 1984 Fall Classic.  In Game 2, Craig Lefferts fanned five over three scoreless innings and in Game 3, Greg Harris racked up his five K’s across five-and-a-third scoreless frames.  

Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki doubled for the club’s only extra-base hit of the game.  Suzuki, who homered in Game 1, is the fourth Cub to open his postseason career with extra-base hits in each of his first two contests, joining Woody English (1929), Joe Marty (1938) and Mark Grace (1989). 

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