Some of the best storylines this postseason were rooted in stats — from the 18-inning Game 3 in the World Series game to David Price’s redemption to the Astros’ prolific postseason home run hitting. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable numbers from the postseason, starting with the World Series and working backward through the various series.
1. The Red Sox went 10-0 this postseason when scoring first. That 10-game win streak when scoring first was tied for the longest single-season streak in postseason history, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. The only other team to win 10 straight games in a postseason when scoring first was the 2004 Red Sox, who also won the World Series. The third-longest streak also belongs to the Red Sox — the 2007 team won nine straight when scoring first.
2. David Price was the winning pitcher for the Red Sox in the clinching game of the ALCS opposite Justin Verlander, as well as the clinching game of the World Series opposite Clayton Kershaw. Verlander and Kershaw have each won a Cy Young Award in their careers. (Price has, too.) Elias research tells us that Price is the first pitcher to win LCS and World Series clinchers in the same year, defeating Cy Young Award winners in both.
3. The Dodgers lost the World Series at Dodger Stadium — just as they did in 2017. Both games had the same score, 5-1. They’re just the third team to lose the World Series at home in at least back-to-back years, joining the 1936-37 New York Giants and 1907-09 Tigers.
4. Kershaw allowed three home runs in World Series Game 5, pushing his career total to 22 allowed in the postseason, which is second most in postseason history. Only Andy Pettitte allowed more — with 31 (in 124 2/3 more innings). Pettitte also won five World Series titles, whereas Kershaw has yet to win one.
5. Ryan Madson had a World Series to forget. He allowed seven inherited runners to score, the most by a pitcher in one postseason series, according to Elias research. Madson allowed four of 14 inherited runners to score in the regular season.
6. The Dodgers lost World Series Game 4 despite leading by four runs after a Yasiel Puig home run. The Dodgers went 54-0 when leading by four runs at any point in 2018 — including the postseason — until that game.
7. It’s hard to pick out one number from the 18-inning World Series Game 3, or even two numbers. The game was the longest in postseason history in terms of time, tied for the longest in terms of innings and took longer than the entire 1939 World Series. The teams combined to use 46 players and 18 pitchers, both of which were records for any postseason game. They combined for 34 strikeouts, the most in a World Series game and tied for the most in any postseason game.
8. The Red Sox’s top four spots in the order went 0-for-28 in Game 3. Elias research tells us that it was the first game in the modern era (since 1900) in the regular season or postseason in which a team’s 1 through 4 hitters went 0-for-28 or worse.
9. The Dodgers started an all-right-handed lineup in World Series Games 1 and 2. That meant they did not have Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson or Yasmani Grandal in their lineup — the team’s top four regular-season home run hitters. Elias research tells us that those were the first two times in World Series history that a team did not start any of its top four regular-season home run hitters in a game.
10. Kershaw allowed five runs in World Series Game 1, his second game in the 2018 postseason allowing five or more runs. It was his eighth career postseason start allowing five-plus runs, the most such starts in postseason history.
11. We heard about “bullpenning” and “openers” throughout the 2018 season — and it didn’t stop with the postseason. The Brewers’ bullpen threw 45 1/3 innings in the NLCS. That’s the most innings from a team’s bullpen in a postseason series, according to Elias research.
12. The 2018 ALDS and 2018 ALCS both featured 100-win teams. The 2017 World Series was as well. Before these three series, there hadn’t been a postseason series between 100-win teams since the 1977 ALCS. That’s zero from 1978 to 2016, then three in the 2017 and 2018 postseasons combined.
13. Kershaw allowed a home run to Brandon Woodruff in NLCS Game 1. Woodruff was pitching in relief. He became just the third pitcher in postseason history to hit a home run when pitching in relief, joining Travis Wood in 2016 NLDS Game 2 and Rosy Ryan in 1924 World Series Game 3.
14. It’s tough to mention numbers from the 2018 postseason without noting the Red Sox’s 16-1 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS. That 15-run victory was the largest run differential in postseason history. The 16 runs that the Yankees was the most they’d allowed in a postseason game.
15. The Braves have been eliminated in nine straight postseason rounds, a streak that dates to 2001. That’s the second-longest such streak all time. Only the Cubs had a longer streak, of 10 straight (from 1910-1998).
16. The Indians have lost nine straight games when facing elimination, the longest streak in postseason history. No other team has lost more than seven games consecutively when facing elimination.
17. The A’s have lost eight consecutive postseason winner-take-all games, the longest streak in history.
18. We had the first season in MLB history with more strikeouts than hits this year, so did that continue in the postseason? Yes. There were 143 more strikeouts than hits this postseason (635 K’s and 492 hits), the largest such differential in a postseason, according to Elias. The previous high was 140 more strikeouts than hits — done last season. Only three postseasons have had a 100-or-more differential of strikeouts to hits — and they’ve been each of the past three postseasons.