Let's say goodbye to October by ranking every single 2017 postseason game
As wonderful as Hot Stove Season is, it's going to be a little while before big league baseball returns to our lives in earnest.
But don't fret, there's still one more order of 2017 business to attend to: In celebration of one of the craziest postseasons in recent memory, we've gone ahead and ranked all 38 games that took place this October. Disagree with our list? Make sure to let us know in the comments.
38. ALDS Game 2: Astros 8, Red Sox 2
The Astros jumped on
37. ALDS Game 1: Indians 4, Yankees 0
36. ALCS Game 3: Yankees 8, Astros 1
Three-run homers from
35. NLCS Game 3: Dodgers 6, Cubs 1
34. NLDS Game 1: Dodgers 9, D-backs 5
The D-backs hung around, hitting four homers off of
33. ALCS Game 5: Yankees 5, Astros 0
New York got to the previously invincible Keuchel for four runs in 4 2/3 innings, and that was more than enough for a dominant Masahiro Tanaka.
32. ALDS Game 4: Yankees 7, Indians 3
The Indians committed four errors in what was a sloppy game, and that was more than enough for Judge and the Yankees offense to force a Game 5.
31. NLDS Game 2: Dodgers 8, D-backs 5
A
30. NLDS Game 3: Dodgers 3, D-backs 1
Darvish faced
29. World Series Game 3: Astros 5, Dodgers 3
Houston jumped on Darvish early, knocking him out after just 1 2/3 innings. L.A. chipped away against
28. NLCS Game 4, Cubs 3, Dodgers 2
Facing a 3-0 series deficit,
27. ALDS Game 1: Astros 8, Red Sox 2
This was a tie game in the fourth, and then Houston's lineup went absolutely nuts -- especially
26. NLCS Game 1: Dodgers 5, Cubs 2
The Cubs jumped on Kershaw for two early runs, but the Dodgers stormed back in large part thanks to the shenanigans of one
I still don’t know why my bats are so slippery 😝😝😝😇 pic.twitter.com/uHVT2d9gke
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) October 15, 2017
25. ALCS Game 6: Astros 7, Yankees 1
24. NLDS Game 1: Cubs 3, Nationals 0
23. World Series Game 1: Dodgers 3, Astros 1
We'd waited a decade to finally see Kershaw get a crack at the World Series, and he didn't disappoint: The lefty struck out 11 over seven dominant innings, and
22. ALDS Game 3: Red Sox 10, Astros 3
The Astros jumped out early, looking to complete the sweep of Boston. Of course, Fenway Park is never that easy: Boston put up a six-spot in the seventh, capped by one of the most cosmically weird home runs you'll ever see.
21. ALCS Game 7: Astros 4, Yankees 0
Judge did his best to keep things scoreless, but Houston eventually broke through against
20. AL Wild Card Game: Yankees 8, Twins 4
When Minnesota knocked
19. NL Wild Card Game: D-backs 11, Rockies 8
Arizona built a 6-0 lead against
18. ALDS Game 5: Yankees 5, Indians 2
New York had won two in a row to force a Game 5, but the Indians were still the AL's best team -- with arguably the AL's best pitcher,
17. ALCS Game 1: Astros 2, Yankees 1
A pitchers' duel in which just about every at-bat was tense. Keuchel was awesome, holding New York scoreless over seven innings with a pretty big assist from
16. NLCS Game 5: Dodgers 11, Cubs 1
15. World Series Game 7: Astros 5, Dodgers 1
Yes, it was Game 7 of the World Series, but Houston's five runs over the first two innings -- combined with Morton's great work in relief -- sucked most of the suspense out of things. Still, watching the Astros celebrate was hard to top -- particularly
14. NLDS Game 3: Cubs 2, Nationals 1
Once again a Washington starter flirted with a no-hitter only to watch it -- and the lead -- slip away. This time it was
13. ALDS Game 3: Yankees 1, Indians 0
Tanaka and
12. World Series Game 6: Dodgers 3, Astros 1
Houston scratched across an early run, and with Verlander looking just as dominant as he had been all postseason, it seemed like the Astros were well on their way to winning it all. Then the sixth inning rolled around:
L.A. scored two runs to take the lead, and
11. NLDS Game 2: Nationals 6, Cubs 3
After being shut out by Hendricks in Game 1, Washington was again frustrated on offense, trailing, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the eighth. Luckily, when you have
10. NLDS Game 4: Nationals 5, Cubs 0
Otherwise known as Strasburg's Flu Game. Once the righty took the mound, he pitched the game of his life. Strasburg struck out 12 over seven shutout innings, and
9. ALDS Game 4: Astros 5, Red Sox 4
Making his first-ever relief appearance, Verlander gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to
8. World Series Game 4: Dodgers 6, Astros 2
7. NLCS Game 2: Dodgers 4, Cubs 1
6. ALCS Game 2: Astros 2, Yankees 1
When the Astros acquired Verlander just seconds before the August Trade Deadline, this was the kind of performance they envisioned: a complete game five-hitter with 13 strikeouts. Of course, the Astros still needed to provide some run support, and in the bottom of the ninth, Altuve and Correa combined to do it in breathtaking fashion:
5. ALCS Game 4: Yankees 6, Astros 4
After
In the seventh and eighth innings, New York scored six runs on six hits in a comeback for the ages.
4. ALDS Game 2: Indians 9, Yankees 8
The Yankees hammered Kluber, building an 8-3 lead in the sixth -- at which point utter madness descended on Progressive Field. With two men on and two out for the Indians,
Replays showed that the ball actually hit the knob of Chisenhall's bat and caromed into
3. NLDS Game 5: Cubs 9, Nationals 8
With a trip to the NLCS on the line, the Cubs and Nats packed a whole series worth of twists and turns into one game.
First, Washington scored four in the second, only to watch the Cubs come right back and cut it to 4-3. Chicago then took the lead in the fifth on one of the most bizarre sequences you'll ever see: intentional walk, dropped third strike/throwing error, catcher's interference, hit by pitch. The Nationals trailed, 9-7, heading into the eighth, when two walks and two singles put the tying run into scoring position ... until
With the entire baseball world sufficiently exhausted, Davis, in his third inning of work, retired Harper for the final out.
2. World Series Game 2: Astros 7, Dodgers 6
In just about every other Fall Classic, this would have been the headline game. The Dodgers had things right where they wanted them: a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth inning, the untouchable Jansen on the mound, just three outs from a 2-0 series lead. Gonzalez, however, had other plans.
That dinger was the first of six the two teams would combine for over the game's final three innings -- including five in extras -- setting a new Major League record. With the Dodgers' bullpen depleted, Altuve and Correa went deep in the top of the 10th and Houston looked to have things wrapped up. But Puig launched a homer of his own, and with two outs, Hernandez smacked a game-tying single into right.
In the 11th, Springer launched his campaign for World Series MVP with a two-run shot off of
1. World Series Game 5: Astros 13, Dodgers 12
The Dodgers staked Kershaw to leads of 4-0 and 7-4, but the Astros answered every time. Houston kept on hitting, eventually taking a 12-9 lead into the ninth inning. This time, though, it was the Dodgers who rallied: Puig got things going with a two-run homer, and
LOL
— MLB (@MLB) October 30, 2017
Finally, in the 10th, Houston sent everybody home -- Bregman lined a walk-off single to hand Jansen the first postseason loss of his career.