Baseball playoffs produce 2 thrillers on 1 day

One day, two fantastic finishes.Baseball fans had plenty to get excited about Monday as the playoffs produced a pair of thrilling games, one right after the other.First, the Los Angeles Angels edged the New York Yankees 5-4 in Game 3 of the AL championship series on Jeff Mathis’ RBI double in the 11th inning. About 3 hours, 15 minutes later, Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to rally the Philadelphia Phillies past the Los Angeles Dodgers by the same 5-4 score in Game 4 of the NLCS.”You have to play 27 outs,” Rollins said. “We’ve been on the other end of that a number of times this year, so just because you have two strikes and two outs, things can still happen. All it takes is a slip-up of a pitch, one swing of the bat, an error, anything to get the ball rolling.”The two game-ending hits marked the sixth time a pair of postseason games have ended in walk-off fashion on the same day, according to STATS LLC.Here’s a look at the first five:Oct. 5, 2007-ALDS, Game 2. Cleveland 2, New York 1. Travis Hafner hits RBI single off Luis Vizcaino in the 11th inning.-ALDS, Game 2. Boston 6, Los Angeles 3. Manny Ramirez hits three-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning at Fenway Park.Oct. 18, 2004-ALCS, Game 5. Boston 5, New York 4. David Ortiz hits RBI single off Esteban Loaiza in the 14th inning.-NLCS, Game 5. Houston 3, St. Louis 0. Jeff Kent hits three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen in the ninth inning.Oct. 1, 1998-NLDS, Game 2. Houston 5, San Diego 4. Bill Spiers hits RBI single off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning.-NLDS, Game 2. Atlanta 2, Chicago 1. Chipper Jones hits RBI single off Terry Mulholland in the 10th inning.Oct. 11, 1986-NLCS, Game 3. New York 6, Houston 5. Lenny Dykstra hits two-run homer off Dave Smith in the ninth inning at Shea Stadium.-ALCS, Game 4. California 4, Boston 3. Bobby Grich hits RBI single off Calvin Schiraldi in the 11th inning.Oct. 11, 1972-ALCS, Game 4. Detroit 4, Oakland 3. Jim Northrup hits RBI single off Dave Hamilton in the 10th inning at Tiger Stadium.-NLCS, Game 5. Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3. Pinch-runner George Foster scores on Bob Moose’s wild pitch to send Reds to World Series.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!