5 best performances from Friday's full postseason slate
Friday saw all eight remaining postseason teams in action, which means there was a whole lot of baseball being played.
As far as individual performances go, Friday served as a showcase for some absolutely incredible pitching. And as good as St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty was, he misses the cut by virtue of not being up to the lofty standard he set for himself with his superhuman second half.
Without further ado, here are the five best performances from Friday's games.
1) Justin Verlander, Astros
"We got Verlandered," Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game, according to Alyson Footer of MLB.com.
The veteran went seven scoreless and didn't allow a hit until Brandon Lowe's leadoff single in the fifth. He struck out seven, walked three, and secured the Game 1 victory. Even a shaky Ryan Pressly performance out of the bullpen couldn't sour the Houston ace's outing.
Verlander threw exactly 100 pitches and didn't see a baserunner reach scoring position while also passing Roger Clemens for third on the all-time playoff strikeout list. It's the exact performance you expect - and one the Rays desperately didn't want to see - from Verlander.
2) Mike Foltynewicz, Braves
Folty was dominant, and the Cardinals never stood a chance. He's the first Braves pitcher since Tom Glavine in 2001 to complete seven or more shutout innings in a postseason game. The big right-hander allowed only three hits - all singles - and struck out seven without issuing a walk while throwing 58 of his 81 pitches for strikes.
His performance was key in securing a home split with the Cardinals before the NLDS shifts to St. Louis. While Foltynewicz started the season poorly, his dynamite showing Friday shouldn't be all that surprising. Including this outing, he has a 1.48 ERA over his last eight starts.
If it wasn't for a lack of run support, he may have stuck around longer. Fortunately for Atlanta, it worked out for the best as Adam Duvall - more on him later - crushed a pinch-hit, two-run homer in his place.
3) Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
Strasburg retired the first 14 Dodgers he faced with eight strikeouts before Will Smith hit a single in the fifth. If it wasn't for a bumpy sixth that saw Los Angeles break through for its first run of the game, Strasburg looked like he could've gone the distance. He finished with 10 strikeouts over six innings of one-run ball.
The 31-year-old has now allowed just two earned runs in 28 postseason innings over his career, good for a 0.64 ERA. The all-time leader (Baseball Reference's leaderboards require a minimum of 30 innings) is Mariano Rivera with a 0.70 mark over 141 innings. Strasburg's line isn't quite as impressive as that, but depending on how the rest of the postseason goes, we could have a new leader when the dust settles.
If this were based solely on the strongest stretches of the day, Strasburg's first five innings would've taken the cake.
4) DJ LeMahieu, Yankees
LeMahieu led all batters Friday with three hits off Twins pitching to lead the beatdown against Minnesota. Maybe he was frustrated by a second-inning error on a C.J. Cron pop-up.
At any rate, LeMahieu - who lost the AL batting title to Tim Anderson - finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in four of New York's 10 runs in the rout.
5) Adam Duvall, Braves
No, Duvall's home run wasn't a game-winner, but it definitely took the pressure off. With the Braves nursing a one-run lead, pinch-hitting for Foltynewicz was risky, but Duvall sent the ball to the moon in his lone at-bat and helped send the series to St. Louis in a 1-1 deadlock.
It's also Duvall's first foray into the postseason. So far, so good, as he's a perfect 2-for-2 in the NLDS.
(Videos courtesy MLB.com)