Once Again, a Bruce Bochy-Led Pitching Staff Dominated in the Playoffs

By throwing a shutout on Sunday night in Game 1 of the ALCS, the Texas Rangers extended an already commanding lead in baseball history for skipper Bruce Bochy.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

this was the 16th shutout pitched by a Bruce Bochy team in the postseason

that’s 5 more than any other manager in postseason history (Bobby Cox, 11)

this was the 16th shutout pitched by a Bruce Bochy team in the postseason

that’s 5 more than any other manager in postseason history (Bobby Cox, 11) https://t.co/8hYGKrpXls
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 16, 2023

Now, sure, Bochy has managed a lot of games (over 4,100 regular season games and more than 60 postseason games), so he's had ample chances to accumulate stats like this, but he also deserves credit for how he navigates a game.

Left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery went 6.1 innings in the win, allowing no runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out six.

Relivers Josh Sborz, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc combined for the rest of the game, allowing no runs and striking out one.

Bochy has won three World Series titles, all with the San Francisco Giants, and has joined a small group in managerial history of people who have taken three different organizations to the Fall Classic (Padres, Giants, Rangers).

He will see if his pitching staff can keep up its dominance in Game 2 of the series, which will be played on Monday afternoon in Houston.

The Rangers will go with Nathan Eovaldi in that contest, who is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA this postseason. He's been a notoriously good playoff performer, going 6-3 lifetime over 13 appearances. He helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2018 World Series.

Game time is 4:37 p.m. ET.

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