The Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks featured the best of the best of their respective rotations in Games 1 and 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola had taken the mound for Philadelphia, and Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly did it for the D-Backs.
On Thursday, it was time to test the depth of both rotations.
As it turns out, we got our first true pitching duel of the series.
Brandon Pfaadt held the Phillies scoreless for 5.2 innings and struck out nine batters.
On the other hand, Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez kept the Diamondbacks in check for 5.1 frames, allowing just three hits and a walk and fanning seven batters.
Suarez has now made six postseason starts since the beginning of the 2022 postseason.
He has a 0.94 ERA over eight games and six starts in the playoffs, and that’s good enough to place him at the top of the October rankings.
“Best ERA in postseason history (min. 5 starts) 1. Ranger Suarez: 0.94; 2. Sandy Koufax: 0.95; 3. Christy Mathewson: 1.06,” MLB reporter/producer Paul Casella tweeted.
Best ERA in postseason history (min. 5 starts)
1. Ranger Suarez: 0.94
2. Sandy Koufax: 0.95
3. Christy Mathewson: 1.06— Paul Casella (@Paul_CasellaMLB) October 19, 2023
Among those who have made at least five starts, Suarez’s 0.94 ERA is the lowest in playoff history: lower than Sandy Koufax, lower than Christy Mathewson, lower than anybody.
He has covered 28.2 innings over that span, which may not be close to Koufax’s 57 playoff innings, but it’s also not exactly insignificant.
Suarez, with a 3.41 ERA, is a very good regular-season pitcher, so this doesn’t exactly come out of the blue.
Still, seeing him dominate offenses at such a high level is quite shocking.
He has been a major factor in the Phillies’ playoff runs of 2022 and 2023.
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