Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, postseason edition! We’ll keep you up to speed on everything you need to know every weekday throughout the 2025 MLB playoffs. Thanks for being here.

 

Sal Frelick’s reaction said it all. After one of the weirdest and wildest sequences in recent postseason memory, the Brewers center fielder was just like the rest of us — stunned, confused and wondering what just happened.

 

Honestly, we’re still processing the absurdity of what we saw in Game 1 of the NLCS last night. A near grand slam on a 404-foot fly ball to center field … somehow turning into an inning-ending double play (and a GIDP at that)? It seems impossible, but that’s what the Brewers pulled off against the Dodgers in the top of the fourth inning to keep the game scoreless. (Amazingly, the Dodgers still went on to win, 2-1.)

 

Naturally, that got us reminiscing about the craziest plays from past postseasons, so we decided to put together a list of some of our favorites.

 

Lo Duca’s double tag
Dodgers @ Mets, 2006 NLDS Game 1 Watch >

 

Last night wasn’t the first time the Dodgers were on the short end of an unusual double play in the postseason. In Game 1 of the 2006 NLDS, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca stopped Los Angeles’ second-inning rally cold with an incredible two-for-one at home plate, alertly tagging out a pair of runners in quick succession following an outfield relay. (You might remember Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk pulling off something similar against the Yankees in 1985.) The Dodgers would score just one run in the inning and went on to lose, 6-5, before dropping the next two games as well. — Thomas Harrigan

 

Middlebrooks called for obstruction, Cards walk off

Red Sox @ Cardinals, 2013 World Series Game 3 Watch >

 

This play has a key factor in its favor that the others on this list don’t: It was a walk-off — in the World Series, no less. The chaos started with runners on second and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth of a tied game. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, playing in on the grass, made an incredible diving stop on a ground ball and cut down the winning run at the plate. That’s when things really went haywire.

 

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia tried to turn it into a double play by catching trail runner Allen Craig at third, but his throw went wide, past a sprawling Will Middlebrooks. As the Red Sox third baseman tried to get up, his legs got tangled with Craig, who tripped while trying to run home. While Craig was thrown out at the plate, Middlebrooks was called for obstruction, which gave the Cardinals the run — and the game. As players poured out onto the field, the Red Sox tried to argue their case, but to no avail. They got the last laugh, though, winning the next three games and the Series. — Andrew Simon

 

Martin’s throw hits Choo’s bat

Rangers @ Blue Jays, 2015 ALDS Game 5 Watch >

 

Exactly 10 years ago today, this seemed like it could go down as one of baseball’s all-time blunders before it was immediately overshadowed by one of baseball’s all-time great moments. With a runner on third and two outs in the seventh inning of a tie game, Toronto backstop Russell Martin’s throw back to the pitcher banged off the bat in hitter Shin-Soo Choo’s outstretched hand and rolled away, allowing Rougned Odor to scamper home with the go-ahead run. Over 10 minutes of chaos and confusion ensued, with the run eventually allowed to stand.

It would have been an ignominious end to the Blue Jays’ season, but then Texas made THREE consecutive errors to open the bottom of the inning, setting up José Bautista’s seismic three-run homer and famous bat flip minutes later. — Andy Werle 

 

Ball bounces off Renfroe and over wall, preventing run

Rays @ Red Sox, 2021 ALDS, Game 3 Watch >

 

With their game and series tied in the top of the 13th, the Rays celebrated what appeared to be an easy run on a two-out gapper, but a bizarre bounce knocked the momentum away from them just as quickly. Kevin Kiermaier’s scorcher caromed off the top of Fenway’s right-center-field wall, and before Red Sox right fielder Hunter Renfroe could even react, the ball bounced off his hip and over the wall. Yandy Díaz, who was on first when the pitch was thrown and would’ve scored the go-ahead run standing up, was forced back to third because, as crew chief Sam Holbrook read from his Umpire Manual postgame, “‘If a fair ball not in flight is deflected by a fielder and goes out of play, the award is two bases from the time of the pitch.'” The next batter struck out to end the frame and Boston walked off with a win moments later, then clinched the series the next night. — Tom Vourtsis

Game 2 of the NLCS is tonight, and we’ve got a marquee pitching matchup on tap: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Freddy Peralta, two 2025 All-Stars and two of the best pitchers in the National League all year.

 

The Brewers are sending Peralta to the mound in Milwaukee trying to even the series after the Dodgers’ tense win in Game 1 last night. If Game 2 is anything like Game 1, we’re in for a treat.

 

And guess what? It’s not the first time these two aces have clashed this season. Peralta and Yamamoto met on July 7, also at American Family Field. And the Brew Crew is sure hoping for a repeat of that matchup.

 

In that game, Peralta spun six shutout innings. The Brewers ambushed Yamamoto for five runs in the first inning and knocked him out of the game — his shortest start of the year. And Andrew Vaughn made his Brewers debut that day and crushed a home run off Yamamoto — the start of his magical run in Milwaukee that’s now turned into postseason heroics.

 

The Dodgers, meanwhile, will hope Yamamoto flips the script on that July outing and pitches a gem like Blake Snell did in Game 1. They’ll also need Shohei Ohtani to get hot at some point — even though Ohtani drew three walks last night, the two-way superstar is just 1-for-20 at the plate since the start of the NLDS.

MLB.com has you covered with all the latest news and storylines to watch for in NLCS Game 2 (8:08 p.m. ET, TBS).

 

— David Adler

Sometimes all it takes is a name and a year for fans to immediately recall players going on ridiculous postseason tears:

Randy Arozarena, 2020. Daniel Murphy, 2015. David Freese, 2011. Jorge Polanco, 2025? It’s certainly starting to look that way, as the slugging Mariners second baseman is already having a playoffs run for the ages.

His three-run homer in the fifth inning Monday was the turning point of Game 2 of the ALCS, breaking a 3-3 tie and helping to propel Seattle to a 10-3 victory and a 2-0 series lead. On the heels of his Game 1 go-ahead RBI and his ALDS-winning hit in the 15th inning on Friday, Polanco became just the third player since 1974 with a game-winning RBI in at least three straight postseason games.

“I love those situations,” Polanco said. “I don’t know what to say, man. I’m clutch, but I’m just trying to keep it simple.”

 

— Ed Eagle

With frontline starting pitching at a premium around the league, Framber Valdez and Dylan Cease are expected to be in high demand this winter. But which is the more attractive play?

Valdez is one of the best starting arms available on the market, going 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA to begin his season. But it’s possible one pitch could have an outsize impact on Valdez’s free agency.

“I definitely think that incident will impact his market; I’m not sure to what degree, but I am confident that there are players and teams that will be somewhat hesitant to trust him,” a National League executive told Mark Feinsand. “That said, he’s really good, so he’ll still do just fine.

The pitch: A 92.8 mph sinker that struck Astros catcher César Salazar in the chest, following Salazar’s call for a curveball. It came just two pitches after Valdez served up a grand slam, throwing the pitch in question while Salazar was motioning for him to step off the mound.

Both players labeled the incident as a cross-up postgame, but some executives believe it could limit his number of potential suitors.

Meanwhile, Cease’s stat line took a dip in ’25. The righty went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA, while posting his lowest innings total (168) since 2021, though he did leave a positive final impression with a scoreless start (albeit just 3 2/3 innings) in the NL Wild Card Series vs. the Cubs.

— Justin Morris

Baseball isn’t baseball without food.

Heck, its most beloved song directly references both peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Ballpark patrons can expect to indulge in hearty helpings on any given day, but in October, the treats are taken up a notch.

Postseason baseball means premier bites, and from Murph’s Pocket Pancakes to Seattle’s Pacific Pitmaster Potato, there is no shortage of variety across MLB’s playoff participants. Available offerings range from sweet (mango-flavored popping boba) to spicy (Sumo Dog) to everything in between. Claws in a helmet with caviar, anyone?

These are October’s best ballpark bites. (Warning: Don’t watch this slideshow on an empty stomach.)

— Justin Morris

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