One could argue that Shohei Ohtani had the all-time best performance in a postseason game when he hit three homers and struck out 10 batters across six scoreless innings to complete the four-game series sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers in this year's National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. While Ohtani's production in that game is likely unmatched, Los Angeles had minimal pressure for a playoff game, already leading the series 3-0. When factoring in the clutch factor, Ohtani didn't have the best postseason performance in a single game. Jack Morris did.
Twins History: Remembering Jack Morris' gem in Game 7 of 1991 World Series
Thirty-four years ago today, Minnesota native Jack Morris pitched a 10-inning shutout to help lead the Twins to a 1-0 victory against the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, giving the Twins their second World Series victory in history.
It's impressive what Yoshinobu Yamamoto has done in his last two postseason starts for Los Angeles, hurling two complete games where he allowed just one run each in the NLCS and World Series. But imagine he allowed zero runs instead of one in those starts. Now, imagine he did it in winner-take-all games. That is exactly what Morris did during Game 7 34 years ago.
In Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, Morris was opposed on the mound by Braves ace John Smoltz, who pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings. A solid start for Smoltz, just Morris, who collected eight strikeouts and allowed seven hits and two walks, had a better outing.
Because of Morris' heroics, the Twins were still in the game despite scoring zero runs heading into the 10th inning. In the top of the 10th, Morris got three outs without allowing a baserunner. Dan Gladden started the bottom of the inning with a leadoff double off Alejandro Peña, and Gladden subsequently moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt from Chuck Knoblauch. Intentional walks to Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek set up force-outs at every base before Gene Larkin hit a walk-off single to left field to give Minnesota its second World Series win in five years.