Dominant Postseason Pitching Performances

As the freight train that is the Washington Nationals marches on towards their first-ever NL pennant and the first World Series appearance for a team from the Nation's Capital in 86 years, it got me thinking about how this team is going to be scary for whichever lineup emerges from that Yankees-Astros series.  And the reason why is their dominant starting pitching (which further debunks that whole mindset of modern baseball about shorter outings and a roster full of nothing but relief pitchers). 

In fact, what the Nationals have done in this NLCS ranks right up there among the best postseason pitching performances by any team in history.  Some teams have won championships because of the efforts of one or two pitchers (I'm looking at you, 2014 Giants), while it's been a collective effort for others.  And in this NLCS, St. Louis has been completely overmatched by the trio of Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg (and, outside of 1/3 of an inning in Game 2, they haven't even seen Patrick Corbin yet!).

Regardless of how many games it takes them to clinch the pennant, the Nationals' collective pitching effort in the 2019 NLCS will go down as one of the all-time great performances by a team in a single postseason series.  Here are 10 others, in no particular order.

2005 White Sox (ALCS): They lost the first game 3-2.  Jose Contreras went "only" 8.1 innings.  That would be the only time Ozzie Guillen went to the bullpen in the entire series.  Starting with Mark Buerhle in Game 2, White Sox pitchers tossed four consecutive complete games to close out the series, as they won their first pennant since 1959.

1905 Giants (World Series): This is one of the single all-time great pitching performances by anyone, period.  Over the course of six days, Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson tossed three complete game shutouts.  The Giants did lose one game, when they gave up three unearned runs in Game 2.  Those were the only runs they allowed in the entire series, giving them a team ERA of 0.00.

1966 Orioles (World Series): The Dodgers scored two runs in Game 1.  And that was it.  Baltimore's pitching staff ended the series by tossing 33 consecutive scoreless innings, including shutouts in the final three games of the sweep.  Jim Palmer bested Sandy Koufax in Game 2, then they Orioles posted back-to-back 1-0 wins to close out the series.

1963 Dodgers (World Series): Sandy Koufax struck out 15 Yankees in Game 1, and that set the tone for the entire series.  The Yankees scored a total of four runs in the four games, two of which were Koufax complete game victories.  Don Drysdale, meanwhile, pitched a 1-0 shutout in Game 3.

1988 Dodgers (World Series): After his absurd 1988 regular season, it stands to reason that Orel Hershiser would be just as dominant in the playoffs.  He shut down the Mets in the NLCS, then did the same to the A's in the World Series, being named MVP of both.  Against Oakland, he pitched two complete games, a 6-0 shutout in Game 2 where he allowed just three singles, and a 5-2 win in the clinching Game 5.  It was more than just Hershiser, though.  If you take out Jose Canseco's grand slam in Game 1, Oakland scored just seven runs the rest of the series.

2014 Giants (World Series): Can you believe it was five years ago that we saw Madison Bumgarner single-handedly win a World Series?  That's the only reason 2014 makes this list.  Salvador Perez homered off Bumgarner in Game 1, and that's the only run he's ever given up in the World Series!  Bumgarner won that game 7-1, pitched a four-hit shutout in Game 5, then earned a five-inning save three days later in Game 7, as the San Francisco even-year thing resulted in a third title in five seasons.

2001 Diamondbacks (World Series): When you think about it, it's remarkable that the Yankees almost won this series.  They scored only 14 runs in seven games and hit under .200 for the series.  This was, of course, the World Series of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson, who combined to earn all four of Arizona's wins.  Schilling started three times, while Johnson won Game 7 in relief the day after pitching seven innings in a Game 6 victory.

1968 Tigers (World Series): In the "Year of the Pitcher," it only stands to reason that pitchers would dominate the World Series.  Two pitchers actually.  The Cardinals' Bob Gibson and the Tigers' Mickey Lolich.  They were both 2-0 in the series when they went against each other in Game 7.  Detroit won 4-1, giving Lolich his third complete-game victory of the series.  Oh, yeah, and he started Game 7 on two-days' rest.  Gibson, meanwhile, had 35 strikeouts in the series.

2012 Tigers (ALCS): Outside of a four-run bottom of the ninth in Game 1 (while trailing 4-0), the Yankees only scored two runs over the remaining 38 innings.  They hit just .157 in the series and struck out a lot.  Detroit's starters in the final three games: Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.  Those names sure sound familiar, don't they?  (Fun fact: I was at Game 2, which is still the only ALCS or World Series game I've ever attended.)

2010 Phillies (NLDS): Remember when the Phillies were the best team in the National League for that three-year stretch?  In 2010, they were the two-time defending NL champions and entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.  And all that happened in Game 1 was Roy Halladay throwing a no-hitter.  Cole Hamels pitched a shutout of his own in Game 3.  The Reds did manage four runs in Game 2, the only ones they scored in the series.

That's just a sampling of the great pitching performances we've seen throughout MLB playoff history.  There are plenty more that could've been included, too.  And the Nationals' combined efforts in the 2019 NLCS is among them.  As it turns out, there is value in having ridiculously good starting pitching after all.