The Baseball Buffet for 10/5/2025

Now Taking the Field's daily buffet of baseball goodness! News from yesterday includes the Brewers, Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Tigers each winning in game one. What's on deck for today?

Issue #416

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 192nd day of the season featured game one of each ALDS and NLDS series:

  • CHC 3, MIL 9 - The Cubs’ Michael Busch hit a solo HR in the top of the first, but then starter Matthew Boyd couldn’t get through the bottom of the frame (0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), and the Brewers scored all of their nine runs in the first two innings. Overall they tallied 13 hits on the day, though none were homers. Jackson Chourio was 3-3 with a double and 3 RBI, and Brice Turang, William Contreras, and Blake Perkins had two hits apiece. Freddy Peralta allowed a second HR in the 6th inning, this time to Ian Happ, but overall did well striking out nine (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K). Nico Hoerner hit a solo HR in the eighth, but then Nick Mears struck out two in the ninth to close it out.

  • NYY 1, TOR 10 - As I noted in yesterday’s Baseball Buffet, Kevin Gausman entered this game with rather extreme histories against many Yankees’ hitters: doing rather poorly against some, but quite well against others. But this time he did well all-around really (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), and four Toronto relievers pitched over three innings of shutout ball. Meanwhile, Luis Gil allowed solo homers to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk. Tim Hill and Camilo Doval did fine in over three innings of relief, but then Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz, and Paul Blackburn gave up eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Alejandro Kirk hit a second HR; Nathan Lukes was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI; Daulton Varsho was 2-3 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs; and Andrés Giménez was 2-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs.

  • LAD 5, PHI 3 - The Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, including J.T. Realmuto hitting a 2-run triple. But then Dodgers’ starter Shohei Ohtani did well after that, striking out 9 over 6 innings (6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). Cristopher Sánchez also pitched pretty well, until giving up two runs in the sixth (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K). The Dodgers took the lead in the seventh when Teoscar Hernández hit a 3-run HR, and even though Orion Kerkering and Jhoan Duran each had two strikeouts and no runs allowed in the eighth and ninth innings, the damage was done. The Dodgers used starter Tyler Glasnow for five outs of relief work, and Roki Sasaki pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

  • DET 3, SEA 2 - The Mariners scored first, with Julio Rodríguez hitting a solo HR in the bottom of the fourth. That was the only run that Troy Melton allowed in a short start (4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), and Seattle’s George Kirby also pitched pretty well (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), only giving up a 2-run HR to Kerry Carpenter in the fifth (which was not a big surprise, as you’ll recall that yesterday’s Baseball Buffet had noted Carpenter came into this game 4-8 with 4 HR against Kirby!). Down 2-1 and with runners on first and third and no outs, Rodríguez came through again with a single that drove in Randy Arozarena to tie the game. Both bullpens then threw shutout ball from the 7th through the 10th innings. Finally in the top of the 11th, with two outs via strikeouts by Carlos Vargas, the Tigers’ Zach McKinstry hit a single to center which drove in Spencer Torkelson. With their best end-of-game arms already used, Detroit turned to mixed starter/reliever Keider Montero and he pitched a scoreless bottom of the 11th for the save.

Today’s Trivia Question

Who led all of the majors this year in times grounded in double plays? The leader for this dubious honor was far ahead of everyone else.

League Leaders

Not a big year for doubles, as no one reached 50, and only six reached 40 or more, with only Bobby Witt Jr even getting 45 or more. Overall, the doubles rate was just a hair below last year’s, but that does make it the second lowest in the past 33 years (only 2020 was lower).

  • 47 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

  • 44 - TOR Bo Bichette

  • 41 - NYM Pete Alonso

  • 41 - BOS Jarren Duran

  • 41 - ATL Matt Olson

  • 40 - ATH Brent Rooker

  • 39 - LAD Freddie Freeman

  • 39 - KCR Maikel Garcia

  • 38 - PIT Bryan Reynolds

  • 38 - WAS James Woods

New Baseball Books!

The following are some new titles that were published in September, 2025. (Links are Amazon affiliate links, so any purchases made will help support my work with The Baseball Buffet.)

72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee
by Geddy Lee
Harper
September 30, 2025
160 pages

Make Me Commissioner: I Know What's Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It
by Jane Leavy
Grand Central Publishing
September 9, 2025
384 pages

Baseball in the Roaring Twenties: The Yankees, the Cardinals, and the Captivating 1926 Season
by Thomas Wolf
University of Nebraska Press
September 1, 2025
264 pages

Ebbets to Paradise: O'Malley's Journey to the Coliseum & Dodger Stadium
by Allen Schery
Brooklyn Bridge Books
September 12, 2025
256 pages

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 5…

  • 1942: Whitey Kurowski hits a HR for a Cardinals’ World Series victory. “Whitey Kurowski hits a two-run home run in the 9th inning of Game 5, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-2 victory to capture the World Series over the Yankees.”

  • 1945: Claude Passeau throws a one-hitter in the World Series. “Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs pitches a one-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers, 3-0, in Game 3 of the World Series.”

  • 1949: Tommy Henrich hits the first World Series walk-off HR. “In Game 1 of the World Series, Allie Reynolds and Don Newcombe are locked in a scoreless duel in the bottom of the 9th inning, until Tommy Henrich leads off with a walk-off home run, the first in World Series history, and the Yankees beat the Dodgers, 1-0.”

  • 1967: Jim Lonborg throws a one-hitter in the World Series. “Jim Lonborg of the Boston Red Sox pitches a one-hit, 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals to tie the World Series, 1-1. Carl Yastrzemski hits two home runs.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Jim Bagby (1889)

  • 9-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1912-1923, almost all with the Cleveland Indians

  • Was 23-13 with a 1.99 ERA in 1917, and then was 31-12 with a 2.89 ERA and league-best 30 complete games in 1920

  • Performance declined for three more years in the majors, and then pitched in the minors from 1924-1930

  • Was a fairly good hitter as a pitcher, with a .218 average, 35 doubles, 2 HR, and 60 RBI in 660 AB

  • Overall had a 127-89 (.588) record, a 3.11 ERA, and a 109 ERA+

Sam West (1904)

  • 16-year major league career, spanning from 1927-1942, mostly as a CF for the Senators and Browns

  • Four-time All-Star

  • Was a high-average hitter with modest power, but did hit 10+ triples in five seasons

  • Good defensively and led the AL in CF Fielding % twice, and was frequently near the top of several CF fielding statistics

  • Overall had 101 triples, 934 runs, a .299/.371/.425 slash line, and a 104 OPS+

John Reilly (1858)

  • 10-year major league career, spanning from 1880-1891, as a 1B for Cincinnati in the AA and NL

  • Good hitter who led the AA with 11 HR in 1884 and 13 HR and 103 RBI in 1888

  • Led the NL with 26 triples in 1890, and scored 100+ runs five times

  • Statistics for stolen bases are not available for his first four seasons, but he had 50 SB in 1887 and 82 SB in 1888

  • Overall had 139 triples, 898 runs, a .289/.325/.438 slash line, and a 129 OPS+

Claude Ritchey (1873)

  • 13-year major league career, spanning from 1897-1909, mostly as a 2B with Pittsburgh and Boston in the National League

  • He had a .273 career average, but was a light hitter with only 18 HR in 6,858 plate appearances

  • Had 15+ SB five times

  • Was good defensively, leading the NL in 2B Fielding % five times, and was regularly near the top in several 2B fielding statistics

Currently active players who were born on October 5 include CIN Zack Littell, PIT Braxton Ashcraft, ATH Tyler Ferguson, and TOR Buddy Kennedy.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have just two games, the second games of each of the ALDS matchups, as the next NLDS games are on Monday (pitching stats shown below are regular season totals):

  • NYY vs. TOR at 4:08pm ET - New York’s ace Max Fried (2.86 ERA, 189 K in 195.1 IP) will be up against Toronto’s 22-year old rookie Trey Yesavage (3.21 ERA, 16 K in 14 IP in three starts).

  • DET vs. SEA at 8:03pm ET - Detroit will use their ace Tarik Skubal (2.21 ERA, 241 K in 195.1 IP), while the Mariners will counter with Luis Castillo (3.54 ERA, 162 K in 180.2 IP).

Enjoy the games today!
 

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Today’s Trivia Answer

Here is the 2025 MLB leaderboard for times grounded into double plays… where Tampa’s young slugger Junior Caminero led by quite a lot:

  • 31 - TBR Junior Caminero

  • 23 - NYM Pete Alonso

  • 20 - HOU Jose Altuve

  • 20 - STL Iván Herrera

  • 19 - HOU Carlos Correa

  • 19 - MIN Trevor Larnach

  • 18 - NYY Ben Rice

  • 18 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

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Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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