Here's some windy baseball lore, to tide us through a Day With No Baseball.
You see, it struck me that we might have just seen, in a little more than 24 hours, the worst start by a Blue Jays pitcher in their post-season history, quickly followed by the best start in the team's post-season history.
It seemed possible. I tossed them all into a spreadsheet, clicked Sort by Game Score and I'm here to report:
Not quite. It just felt that way. Here are the five best:
1. Dave Stieb ALCS Game 1, 1985. Game Score 83.
- Stieb threw 8 innings of three-hit ball against the Royals, striking out 8 and walking 1. George Brett (who else) had a double and a single; Dane Iorg had a two-out pinch-hit double in the eighth. No Toronto starter has ever thrown a shutout in the post-season; this is the only time a Toronto starter hasn't allowed a run. Stieb didn't come out for the ninth inning. We don't know his pitch count, but we do know that Bobby Cox was already planning on having Stieb available to make three starts in the seven games.
2. Marco Estrada, ALCS Game 5, 2015. Game Score 73.
- You saw it. This was the sixth post-season game in franchise history when the Jays were facing elimination. They lost deciding games in 1989 and 1991 (Stieb and Candiotti); they won three straight against the Rangers just last week (Estrada, Dickey, Stroman.) Obviously this was the best performance by a Toronto pitcher in a do-or-die game, and almost as impressive as the work of Curt Schilling and Danny Jackson in similar circumstances. (More on them anon.)
3. Juan Guzman, ALCS Game 5, 1993. Game Score 72
- I was in the house for the three home games against the White Sox. I can barely remember them, possibly because I was working. I do remember how this one ended. Guzman pitched seven strong innings, and handed it off to the bullpen. Castillo worked a quiet eighth inning, but in the ninth Ward gave up a two-run homer to Ventura and walked Burks. That brought the tying run to the plate, in the person of Bo Jackson. Post hip surgery Bo Jackson, but still scary. Ward struck him out to end the game. Bo went 0-10 in that ALCS, with 6 Ks, while George Bell wondered why he couldn't get off the bench.
4. David Cone, ALCS Game 2, 1992. Game Score 71
- Man, David Cone was something in 1992. Mike Moore gave the A's a strong start, but Gruber hit a two run homer in the fifth to break up a scoreless tie. Cone took a shutout into the ninth, when he allowed a leadoff triple and Henke came in to finish it up.
5. Jimmy Key, World Series Game 4, 1992. Game Score 71
- Gaston had gone with three starters in the ALCS, but neither Morris nor Cone looked good in their second starts of that series. So Key was added to the WS rotation, and he rose to the occasion. This was his final start as a Blue Jay, and he made it special. He needed to, because Tom Glavine was pitching a nice one himself. Key took a three hitter and a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning. Things got a little scary at that point, as Gant and Hunter began the inning with a double and a single, putting runners on the corners with none out. Key got Berryhill to foul out, but a Lemke groundout scored a run and moved Hunter to second. Key left the game, to an enormous ovation, and Ward came in to close out the inning. He struck out Otis Nixon, but Nixon took first on the wild pitch with Hunter moving to third. Nixon then stole second, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position, before Blauser grounded out to end the threat.
And the five worst:
1. Pat Hentgen, ALCS Game 3, 1993. Game Score 18.
- This was the first post-season game I ever saw in person, and I've pretty much completely forgotten it. The first two innings were scoreless and Hentgen retired the first two batters in the third... when suddenly the roof fell in. Raines grounded a single to left. Cora lined a single to right. A Thomas single scored a run. Hentgen walked Ventura to load the bases.Burks singled, to score two more runs. Hentgen walked Jackson to re-load the bases. Johnson lined a single to left to score two more, before Hentgen ended the inning just as he'd begun it, by striking out Karkovice. Hentgen gave up singles to Guillen and Raines to begin the fourth and Danny Cox came in to the game.
2. Jack Morris, World Series Game 5, 1992. Game Score 22.
- Morris had actually pitched pretty well in the first game of this series - it's just that the other guy (Tom Glavine) had been better. Which is something that happened to a lot of pitchers who matched up with Tom Glavine. But that's not what happened this time. It was a 2-2 game heading into the fifth, and Morris retired the first two batters. But Otis Nixon singled, stole second, and scored on a Sanders single, putting the Braves up 3-2. Terry Pendleton's ground rule double brought up Dave Justice, and the intentional walk to Justice loaded the bases for Lonnie Smith, who hit an opposite field grand slam. And it was off to Atlanta for Game 6....
3. Todd Stottlemyre, World Series Game 4, 1993. Game Score 23.
- This was the fabled 15-14 game of immortal memory. No one who saw it will ever forget. The Jays staked Stottlemyre to a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning. In the home half, Stottlemyre walked four batters and then gave up a bases loaded triple to hand the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Todd then came to the plate for the first at bat of his major league career to lead off the second inning. He drew a walk, and with two out tried to go first to third on Alomar's single to centre. Fans watching were treated to possibly the worst head first slide in the history of the game. Stottlemyre came up short of the bag, landing hard on his chin, where he was tagged out to end the inning. He took his bloody chin back out to the mound and allowed a two run homer to Dykstra in his second inning of work. They pinch hit for him in the third inning, in the midst of a four run rally that would give the Jays a 7-6 lead in this utterly insane game...
4. Tom Candiotti, ALCS Game 1, 1991. Game Score 23.
- Candiotti's best pitch - by far - was a knuckleball, but it wasn't his only pitch. As Pat Borders couldn't catch a knuckleball, he always tried to get Candiotti to use his other pitches as much as possible. This seldom went well. On this day, the Twins scored two runs on three hits in the first inning. They scored two runs on four hits in the second inning. They got one more on a walk and a double in the third before Gaston called for David Wells. I have always regarded Gaston's failure to have Greg Myers catch Candiotti in the two games against the Twins as the most incomprehensible blunder of his managerial career. Not only did Candiotti have a 0.91 ERA in his 8 starts with Myers catching - the Twins couldn't get Myers out that year (Myers hit .563/.563/.813 against the Twins that year.) Still makes me crazy.
5. Jack Morris, ALCS Game 4, 1992. Game Score 27.
- Morris pitched pretty well in the first game of this series (it's still the only complete game ever thrown by a Blue Jays starter in the post-season) but the other guy - Dave Stewart, in this case - was better. Again, that's not what happened this time. Working on three days rest, Morris made it through the first two innings unscathed, but was rocked for five runs on four singles, a double, and three walks in the third inning.
Dickey's effort on Tuesday - Game score 28 - is the next entry on this List of Futility. It is noteworthy for being the quickest hook we've seen any starter given in a Toronto post-season game.
Toronto has never shut out the opposition in a post-season game. Stieb's first game came the closest. It's the only time a Blue Jays starter didn't allow a run (Henke would give up a meaningless ninth inning run that night.) The Blue Jays have been shut out three times, including the performance by Volquez and three relievers in Game One of the current series with the Royals. Two opposing starters have tossed complete game shutouts at them. And oddly enough, neither of those two performances top the list of best starts by opponents.
1. Tom Glavine, World Series Game 1, 1992. Game Score 81.
- The best performance by any pitcher in a post-season series that involved the Blue Jays was Tom Glavine's work in the 1992 World Series. Glavine doesn't have a great post-season reputation, but he pitched a lot of very good games in October over the years, and in 1992 he was outstanding. He made two starts, finished both of them, allowed just 3 runs - and split the decisions. The Braves scored just 4 runs in the two games. In the 1992 series opener, Glavine threw a four-hitter to beat Jack Morris, the one blemish being a Joe Carter homer. (Morris, also allowed just four hits, one of them a homer - but Berryhill's dinger came with two men on base, and that was the ball game.) Later in the series, Glavine was on the losing end of Jimmy Key's brilliant effort in Game 4. Opposing starters have completed six games against the Jays - Glavine's game against Key was the only one that came in a losing effort.
2. Curt Schilling, World Series Game 5, 1993. Game Score 80.
- Hate him or hate him (I think there's a consensus around here!), Curt Schilling was one of the greatest post-season pitchers who ever lived. Him and Gibson and Mathewson. Guys like that. Schilling was just beginning work on his October legend in 1993. He had made two outstanding starts against the Braves in the NLCS (and then cowered in the dugout as Mitch Williams finished them off.) The Jays roughed him up in the first game of the 1993 World Series, and when Schilling pitched again the Phillies were facing elimination. He rose to the occasion and then some, tossing a five-hit shutout to beat a very sharp Juan Guzman 2-0, while throwing a whopping 147 pitches.
3. Danny Jackson, ALCS Game 5, 1985. Game Score 76.
- We were all talking about Danny Jackson yesterday - in 1985, with the Royals facing elimination down 3 games to 1, it was Jackson who scattered 8 hits to beat Jimmy Key 2-0. Interestingly, this was Jackson's only start in the ALCS, as the Royals used all five of their starters. Liebrandt and Saberhagen started twice, Black, Gubicza, and Jackson started one game apiece. The Jays would get some payback against Jackson in the 1993 Series, as Pat Hentgen beat him 10-3 in the third game.
4. Wilson Alvarez, ALCS Game 3, 1993. Game Score 73.
- This was the first post-season game I ever saw in person, and I've pretty much completely forgotten it. This was the game when the White Sox scored 5 runs on Hentgen in the third inning, as discussed above, and Alvarez cruised the rest of the way, scattering seven hits in a complete game. Alvarez is the answer to a trivia question - "Who was the first person born in the 1970s to appear in a major league game?" It's Wilson Alvarez, who was all of 19 years old when he took the mound for his major league debut against the Jays on July 24, 1989. Junior Felix led off with a single. Tony Fernandez and Kelly Gruber followed with back-to-back home runs. Alvarez - possibly a little spooked - walked Bell and McGriff, and Bobby Valentine came walking out of the dugout to get another pitcher. Which means someone else is the answer to the trivia question "Who was the first guy born in the 1970s to record an out?" That would be Alvarez' only appearance in a Texas uniform - they traded him to the White Sox five days later, along with Scott Fletcher and a skinny young outfielder named Sammy Sosa for a 30 year old DH (Harold Baines.)
5. Mike Moore, ALCS Game 2, 1989. Game Score 70.
- Moore pitched 7 innings of two-hit ball, allowing a single unearned run, and came out holding a 6-1 lead. I don't remember this game, either. I can barely remember Mike Moore, come to think of it. Maybe it's because he spent most of his career in the Pacific time zone, and there was nothing flashy or memorable about him. He was like your generic number 3 starter. He lasted a long time, he had some pretty good years (won 17 or more four times) and I still can't remember a damned thing about him. Big right-hander. That's about it.
And the five worst:
1. Johnny Cueto, ALCS Gane 3 2015. Game Score 10.
- Johnny! You da man.
2. Tommy Greene, World Series Game 4 1993. Game Score 12.
- The other half of the legendary 15-14 game. Greene allowed 3 runs in the top of the first, but his Phillies promptly abused Todd Stottlemyre, as noted already, and Greene took a 6-3 lead into the third. With one out, Greene walked Olerud, gave up consecutive singles to Molitor, Fernandez, and Borders and excused from the rest of the proceedings. All the inherited runners came around to score, and with the Phillies down 7-6, Greene was (briefly) on the hook for the loss. Little did we know that another sixteen runs were going to score that night.
3. Derek Holland, ALDS Game 4, 2015. Game Score 21.
- That was also quite recent, and I gotta say - it serves the guy right. A guy who pretends to wipe his butt with one of the towels the fans were waving at the Dome should not be complaining about anyone flipping a bat after a home run.
4. Charlie Liebrandt, ALCS Game 1, 1985. Game Score 21.
- Liebrandt was one of the most famously star-crossed pitchers ever to work in October. He had a career record of 1-7 in the post-season, although his post-season ERA - 3.77 - isn't that bad at all. He pitched very well indeed in some of those games. Liebrandt lost post-season games when he posted Game Scores of 74, 63, and 60. He was on the hook to lose Game 6 of the 1985 WS, despite another brilliant effort (Game Score 69) when Don Denkinger came to the Royals' rescue (and don't you think that there still ought to be some karmic payback due to Kansas City for that. Now would be a good time.) Liebrandt also lost two games out of the bullpen that the fan bases in Minnesota (Kirby Puckett's 11th inning homer in Game 6 of the 1991 WS) and Toronto (Dave Winfield's 11th inning double in Game 6 of the 1992 WS) will never, never forget. But this game really was a stinker, one where Liebrandt actually deserved his fate. Not that it made much difference what he did anyway, because this game was also Stieb's masterpiece.
5. Jack McDowell, ALCS Game 1, 1993. Game Score 22.
- The Blue Jays always had McDowell's number. Always. Of all the teams Black Jack made 10 or more starts against in his career, he had his worst ERA (5.25) and his only losing record (5-8) against Toronto. But he was Gene Lamont's ace, he was the 1993 Cy Young winner, and he did win 22 games that year. I assume that's why he was left in to pitch into the seventh inning. He ended up allowing 13 hits and 7 runs. No pitcher has given up as many hits in a post-season game (Stroman is the only other to hit double figures) and only Johnny Cueto has allowed more runs in a game.
Do we need a Data Table? Of course we do. Here's all the post-season starts, sorted by Game Score.
First the Jays:
Then the Other Guys:
So... big game tomorrow.
You see, it struck me that we might have just seen, in a little more than 24 hours, the worst start by a Blue Jays pitcher in their post-season history, quickly followed by the best start in the team's post-season history.
It seemed possible. I tossed them all into a spreadsheet, clicked Sort by Game Score and I'm here to report:
Not quite. It just felt that way. Here are the five best:
1. Dave Stieb ALCS Game 1, 1985. Game Score 83.
- Stieb threw 8 innings of three-hit ball against the Royals, striking out 8 and walking 1. George Brett (who else) had a double and a single; Dane Iorg had a two-out pinch-hit double in the eighth. No Toronto starter has ever thrown a shutout in the post-season; this is the only time a Toronto starter hasn't allowed a run. Stieb didn't come out for the ninth inning. We don't know his pitch count, but we do know that Bobby Cox was already planning on having Stieb available to make three starts in the seven games.
2. Marco Estrada, ALCS Game 5, 2015. Game Score 73.
- You saw it. This was the sixth post-season game in franchise history when the Jays were facing elimination. They lost deciding games in 1989 and 1991 (Stieb and Candiotti); they won three straight against the Rangers just last week (Estrada, Dickey, Stroman.) Obviously this was the best performance by a Toronto pitcher in a do-or-die game, and almost as impressive as the work of Curt Schilling and Danny Jackson in similar circumstances. (More on them anon.)
3. Juan Guzman, ALCS Game 5, 1993. Game Score 72
- I was in the house for the three home games against the White Sox. I can barely remember them, possibly because I was working. I do remember how this one ended. Guzman pitched seven strong innings, and handed it off to the bullpen. Castillo worked a quiet eighth inning, but in the ninth Ward gave up a two-run homer to Ventura and walked Burks. That brought the tying run to the plate, in the person of Bo Jackson. Post hip surgery Bo Jackson, but still scary. Ward struck him out to end the game. Bo went 0-10 in that ALCS, with 6 Ks, while George Bell wondered why he couldn't get off the bench.
4. David Cone, ALCS Game 2, 1992. Game Score 71
- Man, David Cone was something in 1992. Mike Moore gave the A's a strong start, but Gruber hit a two run homer in the fifth to break up a scoreless tie. Cone took a shutout into the ninth, when he allowed a leadoff triple and Henke came in to finish it up.
5. Jimmy Key, World Series Game 4, 1992. Game Score 71
- Gaston had gone with three starters in the ALCS, but neither Morris nor Cone looked good in their second starts of that series. So Key was added to the WS rotation, and he rose to the occasion. This was his final start as a Blue Jay, and he made it special. He needed to, because Tom Glavine was pitching a nice one himself. Key took a three hitter and a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning. Things got a little scary at that point, as Gant and Hunter began the inning with a double and a single, putting runners on the corners with none out. Key got Berryhill to foul out, but a Lemke groundout scored a run and moved Hunter to second. Key left the game, to an enormous ovation, and Ward came in to close out the inning. He struck out Otis Nixon, but Nixon took first on the wild pitch with Hunter moving to third. Nixon then stole second, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position, before Blauser grounded out to end the threat.
And the five worst:
1. Pat Hentgen, ALCS Game 3, 1993. Game Score 18.
- This was the first post-season game I ever saw in person, and I've pretty much completely forgotten it. The first two innings were scoreless and Hentgen retired the first two batters in the third... when suddenly the roof fell in. Raines grounded a single to left. Cora lined a single to right. A Thomas single scored a run. Hentgen walked Ventura to load the bases.Burks singled, to score two more runs. Hentgen walked Jackson to re-load the bases. Johnson lined a single to left to score two more, before Hentgen ended the inning just as he'd begun it, by striking out Karkovice. Hentgen gave up singles to Guillen and Raines to begin the fourth and Danny Cox came in to the game.
2. Jack Morris, World Series Game 5, 1992. Game Score 22.
- Morris had actually pitched pretty well in the first game of this series - it's just that the other guy (Tom Glavine) had been better. Which is something that happened to a lot of pitchers who matched up with Tom Glavine. But that's not what happened this time. It was a 2-2 game heading into the fifth, and Morris retired the first two batters. But Otis Nixon singled, stole second, and scored on a Sanders single, putting the Braves up 3-2. Terry Pendleton's ground rule double brought up Dave Justice, and the intentional walk to Justice loaded the bases for Lonnie Smith, who hit an opposite field grand slam. And it was off to Atlanta for Game 6....
3. Todd Stottlemyre, World Series Game 4, 1993. Game Score 23.
- This was the fabled 15-14 game of immortal memory. No one who saw it will ever forget. The Jays staked Stottlemyre to a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning. In the home half, Stottlemyre walked four batters and then gave up a bases loaded triple to hand the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Todd then came to the plate for the first at bat of his major league career to lead off the second inning. He drew a walk, and with two out tried to go first to third on Alomar's single to centre. Fans watching were treated to possibly the worst head first slide in the history of the game. Stottlemyre came up short of the bag, landing hard on his chin, where he was tagged out to end the inning. He took his bloody chin back out to the mound and allowed a two run homer to Dykstra in his second inning of work. They pinch hit for him in the third inning, in the midst of a four run rally that would give the Jays a 7-6 lead in this utterly insane game...
4. Tom Candiotti, ALCS Game 1, 1991. Game Score 23.
- Candiotti's best pitch - by far - was a knuckleball, but it wasn't his only pitch. As Pat Borders couldn't catch a knuckleball, he always tried to get Candiotti to use his other pitches as much as possible. This seldom went well. On this day, the Twins scored two runs on three hits in the first inning. They scored two runs on four hits in the second inning. They got one more on a walk and a double in the third before Gaston called for David Wells. I have always regarded Gaston's failure to have Greg Myers catch Candiotti in the two games against the Twins as the most incomprehensible blunder of his managerial career. Not only did Candiotti have a 0.91 ERA in his 8 starts with Myers catching - the Twins couldn't get Myers out that year (Myers hit .563/.563/.813 against the Twins that year.) Still makes me crazy.
5. Jack Morris, ALCS Game 4, 1992. Game Score 27.
- Morris pitched pretty well in the first game of this series (it's still the only complete game ever thrown by a Blue Jays starter in the post-season) but the other guy - Dave Stewart, in this case - was better. Again, that's not what happened this time. Working on three days rest, Morris made it through the first two innings unscathed, but was rocked for five runs on four singles, a double, and three walks in the third inning.
Dickey's effort on Tuesday - Game score 28 - is the next entry on this List of Futility. It is noteworthy for being the quickest hook we've seen any starter given in a Toronto post-season game.
Toronto has never shut out the opposition in a post-season game. Stieb's first game came the closest. It's the only time a Blue Jays starter didn't allow a run (Henke would give up a meaningless ninth inning run that night.) The Blue Jays have been shut out three times, including the performance by Volquez and three relievers in Game One of the current series with the Royals. Two opposing starters have tossed complete game shutouts at them. And oddly enough, neither of those two performances top the list of best starts by opponents.
1. Tom Glavine, World Series Game 1, 1992. Game Score 81.
- The best performance by any pitcher in a post-season series that involved the Blue Jays was Tom Glavine's work in the 1992 World Series. Glavine doesn't have a great post-season reputation, but he pitched a lot of very good games in October over the years, and in 1992 he was outstanding. He made two starts, finished both of them, allowed just 3 runs - and split the decisions. The Braves scored just 4 runs in the two games. In the 1992 series opener, Glavine threw a four-hitter to beat Jack Morris, the one blemish being a Joe Carter homer. (Morris, also allowed just four hits, one of them a homer - but Berryhill's dinger came with two men on base, and that was the ball game.) Later in the series, Glavine was on the losing end of Jimmy Key's brilliant effort in Game 4. Opposing starters have completed six games against the Jays - Glavine's game against Key was the only one that came in a losing effort.
2. Curt Schilling, World Series Game 5, 1993. Game Score 80.
- Hate him or hate him (I think there's a consensus around here!), Curt Schilling was one of the greatest post-season pitchers who ever lived. Him and Gibson and Mathewson. Guys like that. Schilling was just beginning work on his October legend in 1993. He had made two outstanding starts against the Braves in the NLCS (and then cowered in the dugout as Mitch Williams finished them off.) The Jays roughed him up in the first game of the 1993 World Series, and when Schilling pitched again the Phillies were facing elimination. He rose to the occasion and then some, tossing a five-hit shutout to beat a very sharp Juan Guzman 2-0, while throwing a whopping 147 pitches.
3. Danny Jackson, ALCS Game 5, 1985. Game Score 76.
- We were all talking about Danny Jackson yesterday - in 1985, with the Royals facing elimination down 3 games to 1, it was Jackson who scattered 8 hits to beat Jimmy Key 2-0. Interestingly, this was Jackson's only start in the ALCS, as the Royals used all five of their starters. Liebrandt and Saberhagen started twice, Black, Gubicza, and Jackson started one game apiece. The Jays would get some payback against Jackson in the 1993 Series, as Pat Hentgen beat him 10-3 in the third game.
4. Wilson Alvarez, ALCS Game 3, 1993. Game Score 73.
- This was the first post-season game I ever saw in person, and I've pretty much completely forgotten it. This was the game when the White Sox scored 5 runs on Hentgen in the third inning, as discussed above, and Alvarez cruised the rest of the way, scattering seven hits in a complete game. Alvarez is the answer to a trivia question - "Who was the first person born in the 1970s to appear in a major league game?" It's Wilson Alvarez, who was all of 19 years old when he took the mound for his major league debut against the Jays on July 24, 1989. Junior Felix led off with a single. Tony Fernandez and Kelly Gruber followed with back-to-back home runs. Alvarez - possibly a little spooked - walked Bell and McGriff, and Bobby Valentine came walking out of the dugout to get another pitcher. Which means someone else is the answer to the trivia question "Who was the first guy born in the 1970s to record an out?" That would be Alvarez' only appearance in a Texas uniform - they traded him to the White Sox five days later, along with Scott Fletcher and a skinny young outfielder named Sammy Sosa for a 30 year old DH (Harold Baines.)
5. Mike Moore, ALCS Game 2, 1989. Game Score 70.
- Moore pitched 7 innings of two-hit ball, allowing a single unearned run, and came out holding a 6-1 lead. I don't remember this game, either. I can barely remember Mike Moore, come to think of it. Maybe it's because he spent most of his career in the Pacific time zone, and there was nothing flashy or memorable about him. He was like your generic number 3 starter. He lasted a long time, he had some pretty good years (won 17 or more four times) and I still can't remember a damned thing about him. Big right-hander. That's about it.
And the five worst:
1. Johnny Cueto, ALCS Gane 3 2015. Game Score 10.
- Johnny! You da man.
2. Tommy Greene, World Series Game 4 1993. Game Score 12.
- The other half of the legendary 15-14 game. Greene allowed 3 runs in the top of the first, but his Phillies promptly abused Todd Stottlemyre, as noted already, and Greene took a 6-3 lead into the third. With one out, Greene walked Olerud, gave up consecutive singles to Molitor, Fernandez, and Borders and excused from the rest of the proceedings. All the inherited runners came around to score, and with the Phillies down 7-6, Greene was (briefly) on the hook for the loss. Little did we know that another sixteen runs were going to score that night.
3. Derek Holland, ALDS Game 4, 2015. Game Score 21.
- That was also quite recent, and I gotta say - it serves the guy right. A guy who pretends to wipe his butt with one of the towels the fans were waving at the Dome should not be complaining about anyone flipping a bat after a home run.
4. Charlie Liebrandt, ALCS Game 1, 1985. Game Score 21.
- Liebrandt was one of the most famously star-crossed pitchers ever to work in October. He had a career record of 1-7 in the post-season, although his post-season ERA - 3.77 - isn't that bad at all. He pitched very well indeed in some of those games. Liebrandt lost post-season games when he posted Game Scores of 74, 63, and 60. He was on the hook to lose Game 6 of the 1985 WS, despite another brilliant effort (Game Score 69) when Don Denkinger came to the Royals' rescue (and don't you think that there still ought to be some karmic payback due to Kansas City for that. Now would be a good time.) Liebrandt also lost two games out of the bullpen that the fan bases in Minnesota (Kirby Puckett's 11th inning homer in Game 6 of the 1991 WS) and Toronto (Dave Winfield's 11th inning double in Game 6 of the 1992 WS) will never, never forget. But this game really was a stinker, one where Liebrandt actually deserved his fate. Not that it made much difference what he did anyway, because this game was also Stieb's masterpiece.
5. Jack McDowell, ALCS Game 1, 1993. Game Score 22.
- The Blue Jays always had McDowell's number. Always. Of all the teams Black Jack made 10 or more starts against in his career, he had his worst ERA (5.25) and his only losing record (5-8) against Toronto. But he was Gene Lamont's ace, he was the 1993 Cy Young winner, and he did win 22 games that year. I assume that's why he was left in to pitch into the seventh inning. He ended up allowing 13 hits and 7 runs. No pitcher has given up as many hits in a post-season game (Stroman is the only other to hit double figures) and only Johnny Cueto has allowed more runs in a game.
Do we need a Data Table? Of course we do. Here's all the post-season starts, sorted by Game Score.
First the Jays:
Series Year Date Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP BF Pit GSc
Stieb TOR ALCS g1 1985 8-Oct KCR W,6-1 W 8 3 0 0 1 8 0 0 28 --- 83
Estrada TOR ALCS g5 2015 22-Oct KCR W,7-1 W 7.2 3 1 1 1 5 1 0 26 108 73
Guzman TOR ALCS g5 1993 10-Oct CHW W,5-3 W 7 3 1 1 1 6 1 0 24 112 72
Cone TOR ALCS g2 1992 8-Oct OAK W,3-1 W 8 5 1 1 3 6 0 0 30 107 71
Key TOR WS g4 1992 21-Oct ATL W,2-1 W 7.2 5 1 1 0 6 0 0 27 91 71
Guzman TOR ALCS g6 1992 14-Oct OAK W,9-2 W 7 5 1 1 2 8 0 0 29 118 69
Guzman TOR WS g3 1992 20-Oct ATL W,3-2 - 8 8 2 1 1 7 0 0 32 115 66
Stieb TOR ALCS g4 1985 12-Oct @KCR W,3-1 - 6.2 2 1 1 7 6 0 0 28 101 65
Guzman TOR WS g5 1993 21-Oct @PHI L,0-2 L 7 5 2 1 4 6 0 0 29 105 63
Estrada TOR ALDS g3 2015 11-Oct @TEX W,5-1 W 6.1 5 1 1 0 4 0 0 24 89 63
Cone TOR WS g6 1992 24-Oct @ATL W,4-3 - 6 4 1 1 3 6 0 0 25 103 63
Stewart TOR ALCS g6 1993 12-Oct @CHW W,6-3 W 7.1 4 2 2 4 3 0 1 30 120 61
Stewart TOR ALCS g2 1993 6-Oct @CHW W,3-1 W 6 4 1 1 4 5 0 0 26 --- 61
Hentgen TOR WS g3 1993 19-Oct @PHI W,10-3 W 6 5 1 1 3 6 0 0 25 99 61
Morris TOR ALCS g1 1992 7-Oct OAK L,3-4 L 9 6 4 4 4 4 3 0 35 119 59
Stroman TOR ALDS g2 2015 9-Oct TEX L,4-6 - 7 5 4 3 2 5 0 0 28 93 56
Stroman TOR ALDS g5 2015 14-Oct TEX W,6-3 - 6 6 2 2 1 4 1 0 25 98 55
Key TOR ALCS g3 1991 11-Oct MIN L,2-3 - 6 5 2 2 1 1 0 0 23 92 54
Morris TOR WS g1 1992 17-Oct @ATL L,1-3 L 6 4 3 3 5 7 1 0 27 98 54
Dickey TOR ALDS g4 2015 12-Oct @TEX W,8-4 - 4.2 5 1 1 0 3 0 0 19 78 53
Guzman TOR ALCS g2 1991 9-Oct @MIN W,5-2 W 5.2 4 2 2 4 2 0 0 24 102 51
Price TOR ALDS g1 2015 8-Oct TEX L,3-5 L 7 5 5 5 2 5 2 2 29 90 50
Price TOR ALCS g2 2015 17-Oct @KCR L,3-6 L 6.2 6 5 5 0 8 0 0 26 96 50
Guzman TOR ALCS g3 1992 10-Oct @OAK W,7-5 W 6 7 2 2 3 3 0 1 27 102 50
Estrada TOR ALCS g1 2015 16-Oct @KCR L,0-5 L 5.1 6 3 3 0 6 1 0 23 90 50
Stieb TOR ALCS g5 1989 8-Oct OAK L,3-4 L 6 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 25 102 48
Guzman TOR ALCS g1 1993 5-Oct @CHW W,7-3 W 6 5 3 2 8 3 0 1 32 --- 47
Key TOR ALCS g3 1989 6-Oct OAK W,7-3 W 6 7 3 3 2 2 1 0 26 102 46
Stewart TOR WS g6 1993 23-Oct PHI W,8-6 - 6 4 4 4 4 2 1 0 28 120 46
Key TOR ALCS g5 1985 13-Oct @KCR L,0-2 L 5.1 8 2 2 1 3 0 0 23 71 46
Guzman TOR WS g1 1993 16-Oct PHI W,8-5 - 5 5 4 4 4 6 0 0 24 121 43
Stewart TOR WS g2 1993 17-Oct PHI L,4-6 L 6 6 5 5 4 6 1 0 27 122 42
Stottlemyre TOR ALCS g4 1993 9-Oct CHW L,4-7 L 6 6 5 5 4 4 2 0 26 93 40
Stieb TOR ALCS g1 1989 3-Oct @OAK L,3-7 L 5.1 8 4 4 2 6 2 0 26 88 40
Candiotti TOR ALCS g5 1991 13-Oct MIN L,5-8 - 5 9 4 2 1 3 1 0 26 102 39
Stottlemyre TOR ALCS g2 1989 4-Oct @OAK L,3-6 L 5 7 4 4 2 3 1 0 22 80 38
Alexander TOR ALCS g6 1985 15-Oct KCR L,3-5 L 5.1 7 5 5 3 6 1 0 27 103 37
Alexander TOR ALCS g3 1985 11-Oct @KCR L,5-6 - 5 7 5 5 0 3 3 0 22 76 36
Cone TOR WS g2 1992 18-Oct @ATL W,5-4 - 4.1 5 4 3 5 2 0 0 22 94 36
Stroman TOR ALCS g3 2015 19-Oct KCR W,11-8 W 6.1 11 4 4 1 1 0 0 31 94 35
Stieb TOR ALCS g7 1985 16-Oct KCR L,2-6 L 5.2 6 6 6 2 4 1 1 25 92 35
Key TOR ALCS g2 1985 9-Oct KCR W,6-5 - 3.1 7 3 3 1 2 1 0 18 --- 35
Cone TOR ALCS g5 1992 12-Oct @OAK L,2-6 L 4 6 6 3 2 3 1 0 21 80 33
Stottlemyre TOR ALCS g4 1991 12-Oct MIN L,3-9 L 3.2 7 4 4 1 3 1 1 19 72 33
Flanagan TOR ALCS g4 1989 7-Oct OAK L,5-6 L 4.1 7 5 5 1 3 3 0 19 65 31
Dickey TOR ALCS g4 2015 20-Oct KCR L,2-14 L 1.2 4 5 4 2 1 2 1 12 48 28
Morris TOR ALCS g4 1992 11-Oct @OAK W,7-6 - 3.1 5 5 5 5 2 0 0 20 71 27
Candiotti TOR ALCS g1 1991 8-Oct @MIN L,4-5 L 2.2 8 5 5 1 2 0 0 16 60 23
Stottlemyre TOR WS g4 1993 20-Oct @PHI W,15-14 - 2 3 6 6 4 1 1 0 13 53 23
Morris TOR WS g5 1992 22-Oct ATL L,2-7 L 4.2 9 7 7 1 5 2 0 23 83 22
Hentgen TOR ALCS g3 1993 8-Oct CHW L,1-6 L 3 9 6 6 2 3 0 0 19 64 18
Then the Other Guys:
Series Year Date Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP BF Pit GSc
Glavine ATL WS g1 1992 17-Oct TOR W,3-1 W 9 4 1 1 0 6 1 0 30 --- 81
Schilling PHI WS g5 1993 21-Oct TOR W,2-0 W 9 5 0 0 3 6 0 0 33 147 80
Jackson KCR ALCS g5 1985 13-Oct TOR W,2-0 W 9 8 0 0 1 6 0 0 35 113 76
Alvarez CHW ALCS g3 1993 8-Oct @TOR W,6-1 W 9 7 1 1 2 6 0 0 33 126 73
Moore OAK ALCS g2 1989 4-Oct TOR W,6-3 W 7 3 1 0 2 3 0 0 26 113 70
Volquez KCR ALCS g1 2015 16-Oct TOR W,5-0 W 6 2 0 0 4 5 0 0 24 111 69
Avery ATL WS g3 1992 20-Oct @TOR L,2-3 L 8 5 3 3 1 9 2 0 29 116 68
Stewart OAK ALCS g5 1992 12-Oct TOR W,6-2 W 9 7 2 2 3 5 1 0 35 139 67
Liebrandt KCR ALCS g4 1985 12-Oct TOR L,1-3 L 8 5 2 2 2 1 0 0 29 117 63
Stewart OAK ALCS g1 1989 3-Oct TOR W,7-3 W 8 5 3 3 3 6 1 0 31 114 63
Stewart OAK ALCS g5 1989 8-Oct @TOR W,4-3 W 8 8 2 2 0 3 2 0 31 110 61
Black KCR ALCS g2 1985 9-Oct @TOR L,5-6 - 7 5 3 2 1 5 0 1 27 --- 61
Welch OAK ALCS g4 1992 11-Oct TOR L,6-7 - 7 7 2 2 1 7 1 0 29 117 61
Fernandez CHW ALCS g2 1993 6-Oct TOR L,1-3 L 8 8 3 1 3 5 0 0 33 123 60
Glavine ATL WS g4 1992 21-Oct @TOR L,1-2 L 8 6 2 2 4 2 1 0 31 114 60
Hamels TEX ALDS g2 2015 9-Oct @TOR W,6-4 - 7 6 4 2 0 6 1 0 27 114 59
Morris MIN ALCS g4 1991 12-Oct @TOR W,9-3 W 8 9 2 2 1 3 0 0 34 110 58
Smoltz ATL WS g2 1992 18-Oct TOR L,4-5 - 7.1 8 3 2 3 8 0 0 31 --- 57
Hamels TEX ALDS g5 2015 14-Oct @TOR L,3-6 L 6.1 4 5 2 2 8 1 0 28 111 57
Moore OAK ALCS g2 1992 8-Oct @TOR L,1-3 L 7 4 3 3 4 3 1 0 28 105 56
Fernandez CHW ALCS g6 1993 12-Oct TOR L,3-6 L 7 7 3 2 3 5 0 1 33 132 55
Darling OAK ALCS g3 1992 10-Oct TOR L,5-7 L 6 4 3 2 2 3 2 0 22 91 55
Smoltz ATL WS g5 1992 22-Oct @TOR W,7-2 W 6 5 2 2 4 4 0 0 27 114 54
Saberhagen KCR ALCS g7 1985 16-Oct @TOR W,6-2 - 3 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 14 45 54
Stewart OAK ALCS g1 1992 7-Oct @TOR W,4-3 - 7.2 7 3 3 3 2 2 0 31 108 52
Young KCR ALCS g4 2015 20-Oct @TOR W,14-2 - 4.2 3 2 2 2 4 0 0 19 78 52
Gallardo TEX ALDS g1 2015 8-Oct @TOR W,5-3 W 5 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 20 79 51
Welch OAK ALCS g4 1989 7-Oct @TOR W,6-5 W 5.2 8 2 2 1 4 0 0 27 100 48
Gubicza KCR ALCS g6 1985 15-Oct @TOR W,5-3 W 5.1 4 3 3 3 2 0 0 22 78 47
Mulholland PHI WS g2 1993 17-Oct @TOR W,6-4 W 5.2 7 3 3 2 4 1 0 25 105 45
Erickson MIN ALCS g3 1991 11-Oct @TOR W,3-2 - 4 3 2 2 5 2 1 0 20 82 45
Tapani MIN ALCS g2 1991 9-Oct TOR L,2-5 L 6.1 8 4 4 2 5 0 0 27 86 44
Ventura KCR ALCS g2 2015 17-Oct TOR W,6-3 - 5.1 8 3 3 2 6 0 0 25 97 44
Davis OAK ALCS g3 1989 6-Oct @TOR L,3-7 L 6.1 5 6 5 2 3 0 0 25 81 42
Avery ATL WS g6 1992 24-Oct TOR L,3-4 - 4 6 2 2 2 2 1 0 19 60 42
Morris MIN ALCS g1 1991 8-Oct TOR W,5-4 W 5.1 8 4 4 0 4 0 0 23 89 40
Jackson PHI WS g3 1993 19-Oct TOR L,3-10 L 5 6 4 4 1 1 1 0 22 89 39
Volquez KCR ALCS g5 2015 22-Oct @TOR L,1-7 L 5 3 5 5 4 2 1 1 22 88 39
Perez TEX ALDS g3 2015 11-Oct TOR L,1-5 L 5 6 4 4 3 2 0 0 21 90 38
Bere CHW ALCS g4 1993 9-Oct @TOR W,7-4 - 2.1 5 3 3 2 3 0 1 15 49 36
Mulholland PHI WS g6 1993 23-Oct @TOR L,6-8 - 5 7 5 5 1 1 1 0 23 70 33
McDowell CHW ALCS g5 1993 10-Oct @TOR L,3-5 L 2.1 5 3 3 3 1 0 0 15 61 33
Schilling PHI WS g1 1993 16-Oct @TOR L,5-8 L 6.1 8 7 6 2 3 2 0 28 99 32
Tapani MIN ALCS g5 1991 13-Oct @TOR W,8-5 - 4 8 5 5 1 4 0 0 21 65 29
Saberhagen KCR ALCS g3 1985 11-Oct TOR W,6-5 - 4.1 9 5 5 1 4 2 0 21 81 28
Moore OAK ALCS g6 1992 14-Oct @TOR L,2-9 L 2.2 7 6 5 1 4 2 0 17 54 25
McDowell CHW ALCS g1 1993 5-Oct TOR L,3-7 L 6.2 13 7 7 2 4 1 0 35 114 22
Liebrandt KCR ALCS g1 1985 8-Oct @TOR L,1-6 L 2 7 5 5 1 0 0 1 15 --- 21
Holland TEX ALDS g4 2015 12-Oct TOR L,4-8 L 2 5 6 6 1 0 3 0 12 37 21
Greene PHI WS g4 1993 20-Oct TOR L,14-15 - 2.1 7 7 7 4 1 0 0 17 66 12
Cueto KCR ALCS g3 2015 19-Oct @TOR L,8-11 L 2 6 8 8 4 2 1 1 17 69 10
So... big game tomorrow.
