There were 35 games in the 2016 playoffs, and while there’s one that will be remembered forever, the entire month, from Oct. 4 through the wee hours of Nov. 3, was full of excitement.
Personally, I covered 16 of those 35 games, starting with the National League wild-card game and going all the way through the end of the World Series. But I was keeping tabs throughout, of course, and caught action at the games I wasn’t covering on either television or radio.
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So what were the best games of the 2016 playoffs? Here’s one ranking of the top contests of an incredibly exciting postseason. Games I attended are marked with an asterisk.
10. NLCS Game 1: Cubs 8, Dodgers 4
The Cubs’ quest for their first National League pennant since 1945 started with Javier Baez’s steal of home, and even though Andre Ethier got the Dodgers on the board in the fifth inning with a home run pinch-hitting for Kenta Maeda, it felt like the Cubs’ 3-1 lead was more like 13-1, as Jon Lester was cruising. In the eighth, though, the Chicago bullpen ran into trouble, as Mike Montgomery gave up a single to Andrew Toles and Pedro Strop came in to give up a walk to Chase Utley and a single to Justin Turner to load the bases. Aroldis Chapman came into the bases-loaded, nobody-out situation and struck out Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig, but gave up a two-run single to Adrian Gonzalez, tying the game. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs, so Miguel Montero batted for Chapman and hit the third pinch-hit grand slam in playoff history, the first since 1999 and the first ever to put a team in the lead. Dexter Fowler made it back-to-back home runs, and Hector Rondon closed out the game, working around a Joc Pedrson single and Andrew Toles double that gave Los Angeles a consolation run.
9. World Series Game 3: Cleveland 1, Cubs 0*
No game in the playoffs was a better showcase of the evolution of pitching philosophy than this one, in which, for the first time in World Series history, neither starter allowed a run yet neither made it through five innings. Josh Tomlin and Kyle Hendricks combined to pitch nine innings of shutout ball on eight hits before turning things over to their respective bullpens. Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, for the win, while Justin Grimm, Carl Edwards, Mike Montgomery, Pedro Strop and Aroldis Chapman pitched the final 4 2/3 innings for Chicago. Edwards gave up the game’s lone run, as Coco Crisp — pinch-hitting for Miller — singled home Michael Martinez, who was pinch-running for catcher Roberto Perez. There were 18 strikeouts in the game. In the first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945, welcome to a new era of baseball.
8. ALCS Game 5: Cleveland 3, Blue Jays 0*
Cleveland reached the World Series for the first time in 19 years on the left arm of Ryan Merritt, who had all of 11 innings of major league experience coming in. Merritt allowed only two hits over 4 1/3 innings against one of baseball’s most fearsome lineups, getting support from a Mike Napoli RBI double and solo homers by Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp. Bryan Shaw, ALCS MVP Andrew Miller and Cody Allen pitched the final 4 2/3 innings to get Cleveland the pennant.
7. ALDS Game 3: Blue Jays 7, Rangers 6, 10 innings
Some of the drama was taken out of this by the fact the series was a sweep, but what a bonkers game. Texas scored in the first as Carlos Gomez walked, stole second and came around on pair of groundouts. Toronto got a 3-1 lead on homers by Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin, then extended its lead to 5-2 before Rougned Odor, the midseason puncher of Jose Bautista, hit a two-run shot. Texas took the lead on Mitch Moreland’s two-run double in the sixth, but Toronto got even on Jonathan Lucroy’s passed ball. Things settled down as relievers dominated, but then, in the 10th inning, Josh Donaldson doubled off Matt Bush and raced home from second when Odor, of all people, made a throwing error, helped by a legal slide from Encarnacion, and Moreland’s throw home was just a bit too late.
6. NLDS Game 4: Cubs 6, Giants 5
Chicago had taken a 2-0 lead in the series, but it seemed San Francisco’s even-year magic was alive and well, that maybe the goat was kicking too, and that a decisive fifth game would be necessary in Chicago, as the Giants had won Game 3 in 13 innings and held a 5-2 lead going to the ninth. Bruce Bochy took out Matt Moore, who had allowed only two hits while striking out 10, but had thrown 120 pitches. Derek Law gave up a single to Kris Bryant, so Bochy went to the bullpen again. Javier Lopez walked Anthony Rizzo, so Bochy went to the bullpen again. Sergio Romo gave up a double to Ben Zobrist, so Bochy went to the bullpen again. Will Smith gave up a single to Willson Contreras and a sacrifice bunt to Jason Heyward, so Bochy went to the bullpen again. Hunter Strickland gave up the tiebreaking single to Javier Baez before getting out of the inning with a double play. The Cubs went to Chapman, who struck out the side, and the Cubs were on to the NLCS.
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5. World Series Game 5: Cubs 3, Cleveland 2*
This was Cleveland’s first of three chances to close out its first World Series victory since 1948, and the closest that they got — 18 outs away with a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Terry Francona, aggressive in his bullpen usage all October, elected to let Trevor Bauer, on three days’ rest, face the Cubs’ best hitters a second time through the lineup, in part because Bauer had looked so good the first time through. It was a defensible decision because it met with traditional baseball norms, but there were other options available, like having Danny Salazar work an inning or two before setting up the big guns in the bullpen. Kris Bryant homered to tie the game and Anthony Rizzo doubled to start a rally that plated another two runs. Cleveland got back within a run on Francisco Lindor’s single in the sixth, and had the tying run in scoring position in the seventh and eighth, but Aroldis Chapman threw 42 pitches in an eight-out save to keep the Cubs’ dream alive.
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4. NLDS Game 5: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3*
Washington came into the seventh inning of the winner-take-all game with a 1-0 lead and Max Scherzer rolling. Then Joc Pederson tied the score with a home run. By the time the seventh-inning stretch came, the Nationals had used five relief pitchers and the Dodgers had taken a 4-1 lead. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Dodgers reliever Grant Dayton couldn’t get anyone out, so the Dodgers called on Kenley Jansen. The best closer in the National League got out of trouble, but wound up issuing four walks to go with four strikeouts in his 51-pitch outing. That meant, in the ninth inning, that Clayton Kershaw came in to get the final two outs of an amazing ballgame.
3. National League wild-card game: Giants 3, Mets 0*
Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 in seven innings of two-hit shutout ball, taking a no-hit bid into the sixth, while Madison Bumgarner’s masterpiece included pitching around a leadoff double by T.J. Rivera in the fifth inning. The best pitchers’ duel in a sudden-death game since Jack Morris and John Smoltz 25 years ago in the World Series was decided by a three-run homer by Conor Gillaspie off Jeurys Familia in the ninth inning, with Bumgarner setting down the Mets in order in the ninth to close it out.
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2. American League wild-card game: Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2, 11 innings
The first game of the playoffs oddly foreshadowed what followed in October, with Buck Showalter’s failure to utilize Zach Britton standing in stark contrast to Terry Francona’s aggressive usage of Andrew Miller and Joe Maddon pushing Aroldis Chapman to his limit. The drama leading up to Edwin Encarnacion’s walkoff homer was compelling, with Jose Bautista and Mark Trumbo trading early dingers, Toronto drawing even with a fifth-inning rally and the Blue Jays' bullpen spinning five no-hit innings.
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1. World Series Game 7: Cubs 8, Cleveland 7 (10 innings)*
I didn’t think Game 7 of the 2014 World Series would only last two years as the greatest game I ever covered. Then this happened. Remove the context of the Cubs winning their first World Series in 108 years, and it’s still great. It started with Dexter Fowler’s homer — the first leadoff blast ever in a Game 7 — and continued with dramatic homers by Javier Baez and David Ross to atone for defensive blunders before the most memorable homer of them all, Rajai Davis’ tying two-run blast off Aroldis Chapman. There was daring baserunning by Kris Bryant on both a shallow sacrifice fly and scoring from first on an Anthony Rizzo single. Then there was the rain delay, which we didn’t know at the time included Jason Heyward motivating his Cubs teammates with a clubhouse speech. Finally, the Cubs got two runs in the top of the 10th, and Cleveland got one run back, bringing the winning run to the plate before Mike Montgomery got Michael Martinez out to end it. Now, put the context of the Cubs’ championship back into it, and this will be a tough game to top, ever.