One day, two fantastic finishes.Baseball fans had plenty to get excited about Monday as the playoffs produced a pair of thrilling games, one right after the other.First, the Los Angeles Angels edged the New York Yankees 5-4 in Game 3 of the AL championship series on Jeff Mathis’ RBI double in the 11th inning. About 3 hours, 15 minutes later, Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to rally the Philadelphia Phillies past the Los Angeles Dodgers by the same 5-4 score in Game 4 of the NLCS.”You have to play 27 outs,” Rollins said. “We’ve been on the other end of that a number of times this year, so just because you have two strikes and two outs, things can still happen. All it takes is a slip-up of a pitch, one swing of the bat, an error, anything to get the ball rolling.”The two game-ending hits marked the sixth time a pair of postseason games have ended in walk-off fashion on the same day, according to STATS LLC.Here’s a look at the first five:Oct. 5, 2007-ALDS, Game 2. Cleveland 2, New York 1. Travis Hafner hits RBI single off Luis Vizcaino in the 11th inning.-ALDS, Game 2. Boston 6, Los Angeles 3. Manny Ramirez hits three-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning at Fenway Park.Oct. 18, 2004-ALCS, Game 5. Boston 5, New York 4. David Ortiz hits RBI single off Esteban Loaiza in the 14th inning.-NLCS, Game 5. Houston 3, St. Louis 0. Jeff Kent hits three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen in the ninth inning.Oct. 1, 1998-NLDS, Game 2. Houston 5, San Diego 4. Bill Spiers hits RBI single off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning.-NLDS, Game 2. Atlanta 2, Chicago 1. Chipper Jones hits RBI single off Terry Mulholland in the 10th inning.Oct. 11, 1986-NLCS, Game 3. New York 6, Houston 5. Lenny Dykstra hits two-run homer off Dave Smith in the ninth inning at Shea Stadium.-ALCS, Game 4. California 4, Boston 3. Bobby Grich hits RBI single off Calvin Schiraldi in the 11th inning.Oct. 11, 1972-ALCS, Game 4. Detroit 4, Oakland 3. Jim Northrup hits RBI single off Dave Hamilton in the 10th inning at Tiger Stadium.-NLCS, Game 5. Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3. Pinch-runner George Foster scores on Bob Moose’s wild pitch to send Reds to World Series.
Baseball playoffs produce 2 thrillers on 1 day
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