Game Notes, 10/14/2025 – LCS Day 3

One of the reflective joys of the postseason comes in the echoes and reverberations, the links to the past that are constructed, seemingly, on the fly.  Something happens in the present, or a series of somethings, and almost instantly, moments and performances and names from the past – often having  been boxed up, collecting dust for years and years – re-animate.  

When’s the last time there was real reason to think about the destruction Orioles hurlers Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally inflicted on the Dodgers – their bats, their psyches, their everythings – in early October of 1966?  Game 2 of the ’66 Fall Classic sees Palmer (still just 20 years old) hurl a four-hit shutout.  After a travel day to shift the scene to Baltimore, the 21-year-old Bunker throws a six-hit shutout.  The next square on the calendar reserves space for 23-year-old McNally and a four-hit shutout.  It’s rare to see members of one starting staff amid the tension of a postseason be so seamless at such a high level of performance, making it appear as if a run, any run, is a miracle.  

*Dodgers v. Brewers, NLCS Game 2*

In Milwaukee, Yoshinobu Yamamoto went the distance on a three-hitter as the Dodgers defeated the Brewers, 5-1, and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.  

~Yamamoto’s effort came as the 547th complete game in postseason history, but the first (to the day) in eight years, following Justin Verlander’s five-hitter on October 14, 2017, in Game 2 of the ALCS.  The Dodgers had last received a complete game effort in Game 3 of the 2004 NLDS, when José Lima blanked the Cardinals on five hits in a 4-0 victory.  

~Of the 547 postseason complete games, 88 of them have come with the hurler limiting the opposition to three-or-fewer hits.  A full dozen of these have come out of an NLCS contest, starting with Ross Grimsley’s two-hitter for the Reds in Game 4 of the 1972 LCS.  The other 10 in between Grimsley and Yamamoto:

1973 NLCS, G2    the Mets’ Jon Matlack allows two hits 

1982 NLCS, G1    the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch allows three hits

1986 NLCS, G4    the Astros’ Mike Scott allows three hits

1987 NLCS, G2    the Giants’ Dave Dravecky allows two hits

1992 NLCS, G5    the Pirates’ Bob Walk allows three hits

1997 NLCS, G5    the Marlins’ Liván Hernández allows three hits

1998 NLCS, G2    the Padres’ Kevin Brown allows three hits

2000 NLCS, G5    the Mets’ Mike Hampton allows three hits

2001 NLCS, G1    the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson allows three hits

2003 NLCS, G5    the Marlins’ Josh Beckett allows two hits

~Of all the complete games thrown by a Dodger in the postseason, five have seen the hurler limit the other side to three hits (no one has done it with fewer knocks).

3-Hitters by Dodgers in the Postseason

1920 WS, G3       Sherry Smith beats the Indians, 2-1

1963 WS, G3       Don Drysdale beats the Yankees, 1-0

1965 WS, G7       Sandy Koufax beats the Twins, 2-0

1988 WS, G2       Orel Hershiser beats the Athletics, 6-0

2025 NLCS, G2   Yoshinobu Yamamoto beats the Brewers, 5-1

~Yamamoto’s effort brought him a Game Score of 83, one night after his teammate Blake Snell posted a 90.  Among teams in the postseason, this back-to-back effort reflected the 13th example of teammates posting a score of 80+ in consecutive games of a series.  The full list below, starting with the only back-to-back-to-back example:

Orioles Jim Palmer (82), Wally Bunker (80) and Dave McNally (81) in Games 2, 3, 4 of the 1966 WS

Cubs Mordecai Brown (83) and Orval Overall (87) in Games 4 & 5 of the 1908 WS

Athletics Eddie Plank (81) and Jack Coombs (88) in Games 2 & 3 of the 1911 WS

Braves Dick Rudolph (80) and Bill James (88) in Games 1 & 2 of the 1914 WS

Red Sox Rube Foster (85) and Dutch Leonard (83) in Games 2 & 3 of the 1915 WS

Reds Jimmy Ring (80) and Hod Eller (89) in Games 4 & 5 of the 1919 WS

Yankees Don Larsen (94) and Bob Turley (80) in Games 5 & 6 of the 1956 WS

Astros Mike Scott (82) and Nolan Ryan (90) in Games 4 & 5 of the 1986 NLCS

Braves Steve Avery (82) and John Smoltz (82) in Games 6 & 7 of the 1991 NLCS

Giants Madison Bumgarner (80) and Tim Lincecum (80) in Games 4 & 5 of the 2010 WS

Astros Justin Verlander (80) and Gerrit Cole (85) in Games 1 & 2 of the 2019 ALDS

Nationals Aníbal Sánchez (81) and Max Scherzer (84) in Games 1 & 2 of the 2019 NLCS

Dodgers Blake Snell (90) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (83) in Games 1 and 2 of the 2025 NLCS

~For what it’s worth, there’s no analogous situation to the one just experienced/produced by Yamamoto – surrender a leadoff home run to open a postseason game and then go the distance and allow no more than three hits.  

~The lone mark against Yamamoto came via a Jackson Chourio home run to lead off the bottom of the first, Chourio’s second career longball to open a postseason game (his first came in Game 2 of the 2024 NLWC).  

Most Career Leadoff Home Runs in the Postseason

5    Kyle Schwarber

3    Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins

2    Brady Anderson, Johnny Damon, Ángel Pagán, David Freese, Shohei Ohtani, Michael Busch, George              Springer, Jackson Chourio

~Chourio has gone yard four times in his postseason career, already tying for the most in Brewers history, matched with Prince Fielder and Orlando Arcia.  Beyond his almost instant imprint on Milwaukee’s record books, Chourio’s four make waves elsewhere.

→Chourio’s four homers have come in 10 postseason games.  His four tie him – with many others – for the 18th most for any player through his first 10 contests.  There are nine players who powered up to at least six, led by Carlos Beltrán and his eight.  Melvin (B.J.) Upton and Daniel Murphy each contacted for seven.  These fellas had six:  Bernie Williams, Ken Griffey, Jr., Juan González, Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Glaus and Evan Longoria.  

→Chourio’s four homers have come before the outfielder turns 22 years old.  Only one player – Juan Soto, with five – hit more, finding Chourio matched alongside Mickey Mantle, Andruw Jones, Miguel Cabrera and Bryce Harper.  

~Chourio owns a 1.135 OPS in his 10 career postseason games – 40th among the 996 players in postseason history who had, through their first 10 games, at least 30 plate appearances.  Chourio’s cluster looks like this:

Rank     OPS         Name

   37     1.143       Mark Grace

t-38      1.139       Home Run Baker

t-38      1.139       José Offerman

   40     1.135       Jackson Chourio

   41     1.130       Chipper Jones

   42     1.129       Eric Hosmer

Some record keeping for various Dodgers …

~Max Muncy delivered his 14th career postseason home run to establish a new benchmark for the franchise, moving past the tallies from Justin Turner and Corey Seager.  Muncy and his 14 are tied with David Justice for 24th most all-time across the Majors.

~Freddie Freeman doubled for his 32nd career postseason extra-base hit, moving him into a tie with Carlos Beltrán and Bryce Harper for the 16th most in history.  Kiké Hernández doubled for his 28th career postseason extra-base hit, tying Yordan Alvarez for 27th most.  

→Hernández owns a career .521 slugging percentage over 94 postseason games.  Among the 59 players with at least 250 plate appearances in the playoffs, his mark ranks 12th.  There are a few others involved in the 2025 postseason who are also at .500 or above:

Bryce Harper owns a .596 – second highest ever

Kyle Schwarber owns a .545 – fifth

George Springer owns a .532 – ninth

Freddie Freeman owns a .511 – 14th  

~Teoscar Hernández hit his fourth home run of the 2025 postseason, tying 11 others for the third most by a Dodger in a single postseason.  He and his peers are behind Davey Lopes (five in 1978) and Corey Seager (eight in 2020).

The Dodgers joined the 2025 Mariners as one of 17 teams since 1985 (the year the LCS expanded to a best-of-seven format), to have won the first two games of an LCS as the road team.  Reposting the breakdowns of how things went after that, from yesterday’s notes … 

11 of the previous 15 went on to sweep the series or win it in five games and 14 of the 15 did ultimately win the series.  The breakdown is below, ending with the one club that went on to lose the LCS, albeit in odd “road/home” circumstances.

Swept the Series

1988 Athletics 

1990 Athletics

1995 Braves 

2006 Tigers 

2007 Rockies

2012 Tigers 

2014 Royals

2019 Nationals

Won the Series in 5 Games

2000 Mets
2001 Yankees 

2002 Giants

Won the Series in 6 Games

1993 Blue Jays 

1998 Padres

Won the Series in 7 Games

2023 Rangers 

Lost the Series in 7 Games

2020 Braves to the Dodgers (all games played in Texas, at Globe Life Field)

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