Yankees-Red Sox loads up drama, Skubal strikes again, Ohtani’s 829 ft. of homers: MLB playoffs Day 1

Sports

Happy Wild Card Day — one of the coolest days in North American sports. I don’t know how you spent your day Tuesday. But I know how I spent mine … by watching postseason baseball for 11 hours and eight minutes, just so you didn’t have to.

I was paying rapt attention when Parker Meadows’ fly ball to center kicked off these festivities at 1:08 p.m. in Cleveland. I was still keeping my eyeballs open when Miguel Andujar chopped one last groundball to third in L.A. — at 12:16 a.m. where I live.

Maybe you had other stuff on your plate. But not me. I was on the case because hey, somebody had to do it. So what did I see? Let me tell you all about it.

We had bunts, bloops and a busted camera in Cleveland. We had the first postseason rendition of “Go Cubs Go” in Chicago in eight years.

We had heart-palpitating, bases-loaded showtime in the Bronx. And then, for the nightcap, we had a more familiar Shoh Time at Dodger Stadium.

Maybe you weren’t lucky enough to catch all that. Sorry! But someone needs to let you know what you missed while you were catching up on “The Golden Bachelor.” So the postseason Weird and Wild Department is here for you. Ready or not, here come my favorite developments from Wild Card Day in America.

Another Netflix moment for the rivalry

Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Narváez celebrate Boston’s dramatic Game 1 win. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)

It was epic October theater — and it wasn’t even October yet.

It was the ninth inning in the Bronx. And there were two of baseball’s most humongous humans — Giancarlo Stanton and Aroldis Chapman — glaring at each other as Yankee Stadium shook.

The bases were juiced. The sweatballs rolled down Chapman’s forehead. The drama was what makes October the greatest baseball month of them all.

And have I mentioned it wasn’t even October yet?

We were reminded again Tuesday night that Yankees versus Red Sox never runs out of scripts. Not even Steven Spielberg has more spectacular plot lines up his sleeve than Yankees-Red Sox on the big postseason screen. But this one? This was an all-timer.

Bases loaded. No outs. The Yankees trailing, 3-1. A game, a series, a rivalry — all teetering with every pitch. If this had been any moment in this rivalry from 1920 to 2003, we know exactly how this would have turned out.

Stanton launches a walk-off slam off the Empire State Building? Chapman walks in all three runs? A 47-hopper clanks off Nathaniel Lowe’s glove and caroms into Spike Lee’s lap? Something like that.

But the universe is different now. So that isn’t what happened at all.

Stanton whiff … soft Jazz Chisholm Jr. fly ball to right … Trent Grisham K. Oh … my … goodness. What just happened?

Well, Red Sox 3, Yankees 1. That just happened. And a Weird and Wild finish for the ages. That also just happened. So we dug into exactly how incredible this was, with the help of our friends from STATS Perform. And that answer was: Just as incredible as you’d think.

They didn’t score? The first question I asked STATS was (what else): How many times in postseason history has a team loaded the bases with nobody out, in the ninth inning of a game it was trailing by three runs or less, and then not scored a run?

And that answer is … exactly one other time in history. If it’s any consolation for the Yankees, at least the only other team to do it wound up winning the World Series!

That team was the 2008 Phillies. They rolled into the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 2008 NLDS, trailing the Brewers, 4-1. But Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Shane Victorino all singled with no outs. So they were just one long ball away from a sweep of that series.

Instead, Brewers closer du jour Salomon Torres wriggled out of it. But even that escape was different from this one, because the Phillies actually had a run taken off the board, on an interference call against Victorino in the middle of a 5-4-3 Pedro Feliz double-play ball.

So that’s it — in all 121 postseasons in the World Series era. It had happened just once in history … until this game broke out.

Has this ever happened in a Yankees-Red Sox game? That was my next question. Think about the hundreds of times these two teams have played each other in the last half-century or so, in October and all those other months. Has there ever been an inning like this?

Well, kind of.

STATS found three other games since 1974 when one team loaded the bases with nobody out in the last inning, while trailing, and then didn’t score. But none of those were quite like this one, either.

In two of them — July 17, 2005, and July 5, 2008 — the Red Sox actually scored a run before loading the bases … and before Mariano Rivera then escaped all that trouble. So it’s not accurate to say they didn’t score in the ninth. But you have to love that in that 2005 game, the Red Sox hitter who bounced into a bases-loaded, no-out double play was a fellow named … Alex Cora!

And in the other game, on Aug. 17, 2021, the final inning wasn’t the ninth. It was the seventh, because it was the first game of a doubleheader in the 2021 post-pandemic season — and all doubleheaders at that time featured seven-inning games. But for the record, Jonathan Loáisiga did squirm out of a bases-loaded, no-out mess to end it.

So were any of those games really just like this game? Let’s go with no!

How’d those bases get loaded? We remind you that Chapman had a stretch late this season in which he faced 50 straight hitters without allowing a hit. So naturally, he then gave up a hit to three hitters in a row (Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger) to start the ninth in this game.

So how rare was that? Never, at any point all season, did Chapman allow hits to three hitters in the same game, according to Inside Edge. But hey, it’s … baseball! So of course it happened, in the very first game he pitched in this postseason.

And then there’s this: Since arriving in the big leagues, Chapman has pitched in the ninth inning, or an extra inning, 672 times in the regular season. Only twice, in all those outings, has he ever allowed three straight hits to start that inning, according to Baseball Reference.

Once was May 3, 2013, against the Cubs. That wasn’t even a save situation. The other turned into a blown save — in an inning that began single-homer-single-homer — on June 10, 2021, against the Twins. But there are other ways to load the bases with nobody out. So how could I not ask …

Had he ever done this before? Only 11 relievers in history have saved more games than the Cuban Missile. So you’d think that somewhere along the line, Chapman would have wormed his way out of a few bases-loaded, no-out crises before, right?

Nope! In 907 previous trips to the mound, counting the postseason, he’d done this only once. And that was 10 years ago, in a June 21, 2015, game against the Marlins.

That inning opened: error, single, walk. Want to guess how the next three hitters made out? Strikeout … strikeout … strikeout. Classic Chap-mania!

Did he still have 100 mph in him? All right, one more thing. Before the bases filled up in the ninth, Chapman had thrown just one pitch in this game at 100 mph or faster. But what happened after the bases were loaded? That’s when the show began.

Chapman would launch 10 more fastballs in this game. Here are the velo readings:

100.3
100.3
101.1
100.5
101.3
100.7
101.4
100.2
101.3
101.2

The only surprise there was that he didn’t throw one 112!

But that was about the only thing missing in an unforgettable show in the Bronx.

Forever (Cy) Young

Tarik Skubal accomplished something he hadn’t done in his 137 prior starts. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)

There were 2,430 regular-season baseball games played this year. You know how many left-handed pitchers struck out 14 hitters (or more) in any of them?

Zero, as always, is the perfect educated guess when you’re reading a Weird and Wild column.

That’s right. Not a single left-handed pitcher did all year what Tigers ace Tarik Skubal did Tuesday afternoon in the very first game of this postseason. Because of course he did. He’s Tarik Freaking Skubal.

So he fired up a certified postseason masterpiece: 14 strikeouts, just three hits, 26 swings-and-misses, the only run scoring on a thunker over the mound in the Tigers’ massive 3-1 win in Cleveland. In many ways, it wasn’t Weird … or Wild. It was what Cy Youngs do.

Except that even this Cy Young Award winner has never done this.

This was the 138th start of Skubal’s big-league career, counting the postseason. How many times, in all those trips to the mound, had he ever piled up 14 K’s (or more)? You probably know the answer, because once again, it’s zero.

So think about this. The reigning AL Cy Young just set his career high in strikeouts in a postseason game. Does that seem like just another day at the postseason office to you? It didn’t to me.

Naturally, it was time to investigate. So I asked STATS to look into this. Here was the question:

How many starters, who had already won a Cy Young, set their career strikeout high in a postseason game at any point in their career (after winning that Cy Young)?

I was ready for a handful of legendary names to come floating back at me. Bob Gibson maybe? Sandy Koufax possibly? Anyone else thinking we might get a fun little Christy Mathewson mention?

Nah. None of those names came up. That’s because nobody else’s name is on that list. Just the man who did it Tuesday in Cleveland.

According to STATS, Skubal was the first former Cy Young in history to set his career strikeout high (at the time) as a starter in a postseason game. And the only other close call was Cliff Lee, who merely tied his career high in Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS, with a 13-strikeout gem in Yankee Stadium.

So I think this one was actually Weirder … and Wilder … than you would have guessed! And on that note, why not award you two more bonus Skubal tidbits:

Most strikeouts in Game 1 of any team’s postseason — OK, now here come some of those fun names we were dreaming on. It’s the six pitchers in history to strike out 14 hitters or more in their team’s first game of that postseason:

15 — Sandy Koufax, 1963 Dodgers
17 — Bob Gibson, 1968 Cardinals
14 — Mike Scott, 1986 Astros
16 — Kevin Brown, 1998 Padres
14 — Tim Lincecum, 2010 Giants
14 — Tarik Skubal, 2025 Tigers

Most strikeouts by a left-hander — And did you know only two other left-handed pitchers had K’d 14 or more in a postseason game before Skubal did it? True!

15 — Koufax (Game 1, 1963 World Series)
14 — John Candelaria (Game 3, 1975 NLCS)

Tarik Skubal. He’s officially special.

On with the Shoh

Shohei Ohtani decided to double-dip in the Dodgers’ Game 1 rout of the Reds. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

So what’s he going to do in this postseason?

C’mon, I know you’re wondering, too. His name is Shohei Ohtani. He’s a Marvel superhero who’s come to life on a baseball field near you. So when this postseason began, I knew something Oh-tanic was coming. I just wasn’t sure what.

A six-homer game? Seven no-hit innings on the mound, with 21 strikeouts? A game with a leadoff homer and then a strike-out-the-side-in-the-ninth save?

Something like that is over the horizon, don’t you think? But on Tuesday night, in the Dodgers’ 10-5 mashing of the Reds, Ohtani’s first act was cool enough. It was 829 feet worth of majestic home runs, disappearing into the haze, soaring off toward the San Gabriel Mountains.

And what’s so Weird and Wild about that? How about this:

Want to take a stab at how many players in history have hit 50 homers (or more) in the regular season and then pounded two more long balls in their first game of that postseason?

What do you think? Four? Six? Eight? Wrong! How about one. It’s just that man they call Ohtani, who did it in this game.

But let’s drop the requirement that this had to happen in the first game of the postseason. According to STATS, only two players have ever hit at least 50 home runs in a season and then erupted for a multi-homer game at any point in that postseason:

Babe Ruth, Game 4, 1928 World Series — 3 HR
Greg Vaughn, Game 1, 1998 World Series — 2 HR

But both Vaughn and the Babe forgot to also pitch in that postseason. So once again, history has brought us many sluggers, stars and legends. But it has brought us only one Ohtani.

Hey, it’s that song again

The Cubs had Wrigley Field singing in the sunshine. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

It’s America’s catchiest ballpark anthem — and no, we’re not talking about “Sweet Caroline.” It’s “Go, Cubs, Go” — warbled only in 41,000-part harmony at Wrigley Field after the Cubs have done that thing they don’t do nearly enough. By which I mean win a baseball game this time of year.

The Cubs played their first postseason game at Wrigley a mere 96 years ago, in 1929. It seems hard to comprehend, but what we’re about to tell you is 100 percent true. What happened at Wrigley on Tuesday has occurred just 16 other times in all those years: namely … Cubs win!

So did those people sing that song Tuesday afternoon? Oh, yes they did.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cubs’ 17-31 record at the “Friendly” Confines is historic. Just not in a good way. It’s the worst record of any team that has played more than 10 postseason home games at any park. So how friendly is that?

But let’s keep going. Isn’t it a little hard to believe that this is only the fourth time the Cubs have won a game at Wrigley since they kept their curse-busting dreams alive by winning Game 5 of the 2016 World Series? That seems impossible, but hey, they’re the Cubs!

And finally, here’s our musical daily double. Did you know Tuesday’s 3-1 triumph over San Diego was the first time the Wrigley Chorus has gotten to sing its favorite Wrigley Anthem after a postseason game since Game 4 of the 2017 NLCS … a mere 2,904 days earlier?

So what’s so Weird and Wild about that? Thanks for asking. It’s a chance for us to let you know that in between Cubs wins at Wrigley …

The Dodgers won 27 postseason games at Dodger Stadium.

The Astros won 26 postseason games at Enron/Minute Maid/Whatever It’s Called Now Park.

And 20 different teams won at least one postseason game in their home park …

All while the Cubs were waiting and waiting and waiting to hear one more spirited rendition of “Go, Cubs, Go” — in perfect, only slightly sloshy, 41,000-part harmony. But now that wait … is … over!

Party of Five

Masataka Yoshida, left, channeled Big Papi in Boston’s comeback win. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)

Finally, here are five more Weird and Wild morsels from Tuesday’s wild-card marathon.

Just call him Big Yoshi! Let’s circle back to that Yankees-Red Sox classic. Don’t forget that there would never have been a bases-loaded Chapman moment if it weren’t for the electrifying Masataka Yoshida moment that preceded it.

The Yankees were eight outs away from taking Game 1 of this series before Yoshida rocketed the first postseason pitch he’d ever seen up the middle — for a lead-flipping two-run pinch single. It was suddenly, shockingly, Red Sox 2, Yankees 1. And Yoshida no doubt had no idea the company he had just joined.

The last go-ahead postseason hit by a Red Sox hitter against the Yankees in the seventh inning or later? Close your eyes. You’ll remember it. It was David Ortiz’s 14th-inning walk-off single in Game 5 of the history-rewriting 2004 ALCS — in the 349th minute of that game.

And that was the first hit like that by any member of the Red Sox since … the night before, when Ortiz lofted a home run that changed everything – a 12th-inning walk-off in Game 4 of that series that landed at 1:22 a.m.

But now back to Yoshida. Here’s the entire list of Red Sox hitters who have ever had a go-ahead postseason hit against the Yankees that late in a game:

Masataka Yoshida
David Ortiz

And that, my friends, is it!

Zach McKinstry and the Tigers squeezed out a win in Game 1. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)

A tight squeeze! Then there was the Weird and Wild way the Tigers manufactured their winning run, in the seventh inning Tuesday — with a Zach McKinstry squeeze bunt. And what’s so Weird and Wild about that? Oh, man.

Let’s start here. Only one team in the whole sport dropped fewer sacrifice bunts this season than the Tigers (five). None of those bunts came with a runner on third. And they last laid one down in the late innings in April. So who saw this one coming?

But that’s not even the Weird and Wild part. Ready for this?

According to Baseball Reference, this was the first go-ahead squeeze bunt, in the seventh inning or later of any postseason game, in which the run didn’t score on an error.

There had only been six previous go-ahead late-inning squeezes — by the Giants in the 2014 NLCS, the Nationals in the 2014 NLDS, the Yankees in the 1996 ALDS, the Mets in the 1969 World Series, the Red Sox in the 1918 World Series and the Braves in the 1914 World Series. And somehow, not one of them was handled cleanly. They led to five errors by pitchers and one by a third baseman.

So at least the Guardians got an out on this one. Unfortunately, they also got a loss.

All Arraez! In the third inning of the Padres’ loss to the Cubs, a truly bizarre thing happened: The un-whiffable Luis Arraez struck out! But that wasn’t even the Weird and Wild part.

What made this our kind of postseason moment was this: Arraez swung and missed at two pitches in a row from Matthew Boyd — on a changeup for strike two and then on a slider for strike three.

On ABC, play-by-play genius Kevin Brown was all over this shocking moment. So of course, I looked into it.

It turned out that only twice all year did Arraez swing-and-miss at strike two and three in any at-bat: July 13, versus Cristopher Sánchez, and May 25, versus Spencer Schwellenbach. But then it happened again in a postseason game — against a pitcher who struck out only one other hitter all day? How wacky is …

Baseball!

Cleanup in aisle four! Hitting cleanup for the Guardians today was a rookie outfielder named Johnathan Rodríguez. And why, you ask, would he get dragged into one of these Weird and Wild columns?

Oh, only because his batting average in the big leagues this year was … um … .197!

Granted, that was in just 77 major-league plate appearances … and he did have a .912 OPS in Triple A. Nevertheless, do you remember many .197 hitters batting fourth for a team in its postseason opener? I didn’t. So of course, I needed to find if this was a record.

The answer? It’s a little tricky, because STATS tells us there were three cleanup hitters with lower averages in Game 1 following the shrunken 60-game 2020 pandemic season: Kyle Schwarber (.188), Max Muncy (.192) and Matt Olson (.195). But I hate to compare anything to what happened in that season. So …

What about in full seasons? Here are the only two men in history to bat cleanup in Game 1 of their team’s postseason following any full season:

Joey Gallo, 2021 — .199
Johnathan Rodríguez, 2025 — .197

Sounds like a historic development to me!

He Hedges his bets! Finally, how Weird and Wild is baseball? We present to you this fascinating postseason duel from Tuesday.

Austin Hedges was the No. 9 hitter for the Guardians. He batted .161 this year, the second-lowest average of any American League hitter who got to the plate at least 150 times. His lifetime average is .185. That’s the lowest of any active position player.

He dug into the box in the second inning to face Tarik Skubal — a man who threw a higher percentage of pitches in the strike zone this season (48.5 percent) than any full-time starter in baseball.

So what happened? Hedges drew a four-pitch walk, from baseball’s No. 1 strike-thrower! What? How even? According to one of my favorite researchers, Jessica Brand, Hedges drew exactly one four-pitch walk all season — and it was on April 9!

Have I ever mentioned that some things in baseball you just can’t explain? But you should always remember the fundamental truth that clears up everything. It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s …

Baseball!

(Top photo of Aroldis Chapman: Ishika Samant / Getty Images)




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