Where Does Shohei Ohtani's NLCS Game 4 Rank Among Greatest Playoff Performances Ever?
Baseball fans were treated to a performance for the ages on Friday night, courtesy of Shohei Ohtani, who showed why he is baseball's GOAT with an epic night in the batter's box and on the mound.
But where does it rank among the greatest single-game playoff performances of all time?
From Jack Morris tossing a 10-inning shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series to David Freese pulling the St. Louis Cardinals back from the brink in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, there have been some truly memorable games over the years in our national pastime.
Here are the 10 best of the best.
10. Roy Halladay: 2010 NLDS, Game 1
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Stat Line: 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
In his 13th big league season and at the age of 33, Roy Halladay finally made his postseason debut, taking the ball in Game 1 of the NLDS in his first season with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He made the bright lights of October look easy.
After going 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 250.2 innings during the regular season to win NL Cy Young honors, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds on 104 pitches with just one walk allowed to set the tone in a three-game series sweep.
9. Reggie Jackson: 1977 World Series, Game 6
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Stat Line: 3-for-3, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 1 BB
Reggie Jackson already had two World Series rings and a World Series MVP trophy from his time with the Oakland Athletics when he joined the New York Yankees, but it was the 1977 World Series when he earned the Mr. October moniker.
In Game 6 of the 1977 Fall Classic, he became the first player since Babe Ruth in 1928 to hit three home runs in a World Series game, and his performance came in the clincher against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He finished the series 9-for-20 with five home runs to win his second World Series MVP trophy.
8. Grover Alexander, 1926 World Series, Game 7
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Stat Line: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
This one is a deep cut from almost 100 years ago, but it's worth celebrating.
A future Hall of Famer coming down the homestretch of his career at 39 years old, Grover Alexander recorded complete game victories in Game 2 (9.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 10 K) and Game 6 (9.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 6 K) of the 1926 World Series for the St. Louis Browns against the New York Yankees.
When starter Jesse Haines ran into trouble in the seventh inning of Game 7, Alexander came out of the bullpen the day after throwing 108 pitches and got out of a bases-loaded jam with a 3-2 lead intact.
He then pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to close out the victory and record the save.
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7. Bob Gibson: 1968 World Series, Game 1
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Stat Line: 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 17 K
Bob Gibson put together arguably the most dominant pitching season in MLB history in 1968, going 22-9 with a 1.12 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 268 strikeouts in 304.2 innings, spinning 28 complete games and 13 shutouts in 34 starts.
That performance helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the NL pennant, and he didn't miss a beat in Game 1 of the World Series.
Starting opposite 31-game winner and AL MVP Denny McLain, he struck out 17 batters in a five-hit shutout, setting the single-game postseason strikeout record that still stands today.
6. Sandy Koufax: 1965 World Series, Game 7
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Stat Line: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
In eight career World Series starts, Sandy Koufax had a 0.95 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 57 innings, logging four complete games and two shutouts.
Both of those shutouts came in the 1965 World Series, with a four-hit, 10-strikeout performance in Game 5, and a three-hit, 10-strikeout follow-up on two days rest in Game 7.
Between the regular season and his three World Series starts that season, he worked a combined 359.2 innings and allowed just 77 earned runs.
5. Don Larsen: 1956 World Series, Game 5
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Stat Line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
On a list loaded with superstars, Don Larsen stands out as a career journeyman who played for seven different teams and tallied a modest 12.5 WAR over a 14-year career.
He started Game 2 of the 1956 World Series and lasted just 1.2 innings, walking four batters and allowing four runs against a stacked Brooklyn Dodgers lineup.
Despite that dud, he was on the mound again three days later as the Game 5 starter, and he pitched the game of his life. He recorded the first and only postseason perfect game and needed just 97 pitches to do it against a lineup that featured the likes of Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and others.
4. David Freese: 2011 World Series, Game 6
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Stat Line: 2-for-5, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
With the Texas Rangers leading 3-2 in the series and 7-5 on the scoreboard in Game 6 heading into the ninth inning, the St. Louis Cardinals were running out of chances.
With Rangers closer Neftalí Feliz on the mound, third baseman David Freese stepped into the batter's box with two outs and runners on first and second base, and he fell behind in the count 1-2.
Down to his final strike, he hit a line drive to right field that initially looked catchable, but it got over the head of Nelson Cruz for a game-tying triple to send the game to extra innings.
After both teams scored two runs in the 10th inning, Freese again delivered in the bottom of the 11th, hitting a walk-off home run to send things to a Game 7, which the Cardinals won.
3. Madison Bumgarner: 2014 World Series, Game 7
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Stat Line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
In the age of closely monitored pitch counts and extreme bullpen usage, it's not often a pitcher truly puts his team on his shoulders the way guys like Christy Mathewson and Bob Gibson did during epic postseason runs of yesteryear.
That made what Madison Bumgarner did in 2014 all the more special.
After throwing a four-hit shutout in the NL Wild Card Game back when it was still a one-game, winner-take-all format, he delivered three more quality starts in the NLDS and NLCS to get the Giants back to the World Series for the third time in five years.
He was brilliant in Game 1 (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) and Game 5 (9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER), and manager Bruce Bochy called on him in relief on two days rest to get the Giants across the finish line in Game 7.
After starter Tim Hudson recorded just four outs and Jeremy Affeldt worked 2.1 scoreless innings behind him, Bumgarner entered the game in the fifth inning looking to protect a 3-2 lead.
He allowed a leadoff single in the fifth, but just one more hit the rest of the way over five scoreless innings for the most impressive save in World Series history.
2. Jack Morris: 1991 World Series, Game 7
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Stat Line: 10.0 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Forget about the moment for a minute, and just imagine a manager sending his starter out to pitch the 10th inning with a pitch count of 118.
Jack Morris signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins prior to the 1991 season to be the ace of the staff, and that's exactly what he was, winning 18 games and earning an All-Star selection on his way to a fourth-place finish in AL Cy Young balloting.
After Kirby Puckett hit a walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Morris took the ball in Game 7 on three days rest opposite 24-year-old John Smoltz, who was a rising star in the Atlanta Braves rotation.
Both pitchers put up zeroes through seven innings before the Braves went to the bullpen, and the zeroes continued through the ninth inning. Despite his pitch count, Morris took the mound in the top of the 10th and needed just eight pitches for a 1-2-3 inning.
The Twins pushed across the series-winning run in the bottom of the 10th, and Morris walked away with the biggest complete game shutout in MLB history.
1. Shohei Ohtani: 2025 NLCS, Game 4
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Hitting Stat Line: 3-for-3, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB
Pitching Stat Line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
It might not have been under the same high-stakes conditions of a World Series Game 7 like several other entries on this list, but what Shohei Ohtani did on Friday night is simply in another stratosphere.
After striking out three batters in the top of the first inning, Ohtani stepped into the batter's box and crushed a leadoff home run off Jose Quintana—one year to the day after homering off him in Game 4 of the 2024 NLCS—to put the Dodgers up early with a trip to the World Series in their sights.
He was just getting started.
The strikeouts kept coming on the mound, and the home runs kept flying off his bat, with a majestic 469-foot bomb with a 116.9 mph exit velocity that made him the seventh player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, making it a 4-0 game in the fourth inning.
He pitched into the seventh inning, racking up 10 strikeouts along the way against a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that had the fifth-fewest strikeouts in baseball during the regular season, and in the bottom of the seventh, he put the finishing touches on an all-time performance with his third homer.
A few fun facts from his memorable night, courtesy of Paul Casella of MLB.com:
- 1st pitcher in MLB history with a leadoff home run
- 1st pitcher in Dodgers history with a playoff home run
- 1st player in Statcast era (2015) with multiple home runs of 116+ mph exit velocity in same game
- 11th player with a three-homer game in the playoffs
- 1st pitcher with multi-homer game in playoffs
All in a day's work for the greatest baseball player on the planet.
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