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Down, But Not Quite Out

Posted by Raphy on October 12, 2009

When Vladimir Guerrero drove in two runs with his ninth inning single last night, he became the 10th player in postseason history to come to bat  with his team losing with 2 outs in the ninth and hand his team the lead:

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1941-10-05    WS     4 Charlie Keller    NYY @BRO Hugh Casey        down   3-4  2B     t 9 12-   2  -        2 Double to RF; Henrich Scores/unER; DiMaggio Scores/unER 
     2   1 1947-10-03    WS     4 Cookie Lavagetto  BRO  NYY Bill Bevens       down   1-2  2B     b 9 12-   2  -        2 *ENDED GAME*:Double to RF; Gionfriddo Scores; Miksis Scores 
     3   1 1985-10-16    NLCS   6 Jack Clark        STL @LAD Tom Niedenfuer    down   4-5  HR     t 9 -23   2 0-0   1   3 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); McGee Scores; Smith Scores 
     4   1 1985-10-20    WS     2 Terry Pendleton   STL @KCR Charlie Leibrand  down   1-2  2B     t 9 123   2 2-1   4   3 Double to LF (Line Drive to LF Line); Clark Scores; Landrum Scores; Cedeno Scores 
     5   1 1986-10-12    ALCS   5 Dave Henderson    BOS @CAL Donnie Moore      down   4-5  HR     t 9 1--   2 2-2   7   2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Gedman Scores 
     6   1 1988-10-04    NLCS   1 Gary Carter       NYM @LAD Jay Howell        down   1-2  2B     t 9 12-   2 0-2   3   2 Double to CF (Line Drive); Strawberry Scores; McReynolds Scores 
     7   1 1988-10-15    WS     1 Kirk Gibson       LAD  OAK Dennis Eckersley  down   3-4  HR     b 9 -2-   2 3-2   7   2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep RF); Davis Scores 
     8   1 1992-10-14    NLCS   7 Francisco Cabrera ATL  PIT Stan Belinda      down   1-2  1B     b 9 123   2 2-1   4   2 *ENDED GAME*:Single to LF (Line Drive to Short LF); Justice Scores/unER; Bream Scores/unER; Berryhill to 2B 
     9   1 2005-10-17    NLCS   5 Albert Pujols     STL @HOU Brad Lidge        down   2-4  HR     t 9 12-   2 0-1   2   3 Home Run (Deep LF); Eckstein Scores; Edmonds Scores 
    10   1 2009-10-11    ALDS   3 Vladimir Guerrero LAA @BOS Jonathan Papelbo  down   5-6  1B     t 9 123   2 0-0   1   2 Single to CF (Line Drive to Short CF); Figgins Scores; Abreu Scores; Hunter to 2B 

It has also be done once in extra innings by Ivan Rodriguez in Game 3 of the 2003 NLDS.

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 2003-10-03    NLDS   3 Ivan Rodriguez    FLA  SFG Tim Worrell       down   2-3  1B     b11 123   2 1-2   5   2 *ENDED GAME*:Single to RF (Line Drive); Gonzalez Scores/unER; Pierre Scores/unER; Castillo to 2B 

2 Responses to “Down, But Not Quite Out”

  1. Baseball-Reference Blog » Blog Archive » All or Nothing Says:

    [...] also became the 11th player overall and second this season to give his team the lead, despite coming to bat trailing with 2 out in the ninth (or [...]

  2. Pitching Sabathia on Three Days’ Rest Is the Right Move - Bats Blog - NYTimes.com Says:

    [...] big hit last night was just the 11th time that a batter came up with two outs in the ninth inning, his team down, and delivered a go-ahead hit. The last [...]