Most career walk-off home runs in MLB history (answer key)

Jim Thome

There are 18 players in MLB history who have hit 10 or more walk-off home runs in their careers.

Here are the answers to Saturday's quiz:

13 walk-off home runs (1)

1. The all-time leader in walk-off homers, this hitter is the only player to hit a walk-off blast for his 500th career homer.

Jim Thome

12 walk-off home runs (6)

2. This player is the active leader in walk-off homers -- one of only two active players on this list.

Albert Pujols

3. This former Yankee was the first player to reach double-digits in walk-off homers.

Babe Ruth

4. This former Cardinal had nine bases-empty walk-offs, the most in MLB history.

Stan Musial

5. This player hit five walk-off homers while his team was trailing, tied for the most in MLB history.

Frank Robinson

6. This former Yankees had 12 walk-offs in the regular season, plus one in the postseason.

Mickey Mantle

7. This three-time MVP led the AL in home runs three times in four years from 1932-35.

Jimmie Foxx

11 walk-off home runs (3)

8. This former Red hit a record seven walk-off homers with two outs.

Tony Perez

9. This active player won a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.

Ryan Zimmerman

10. Two outs and two strikes with his team trailing? This player hit two walk-offs in that situation.

David Ortiz

10 walk-off home runs (8)

11. This longtime Philadelphia Phillies slugger won his lone MVP award with the White Sox.

Dick Allen

12. This player once was drafted first overall by the White Sox.

Harold Baines

13. This player is baseball's all-time home run king. (Duh.)

Barry Bonds

14. This player was with the White Sox earlier this decade, and was considered a bust.

Adam Dunn

15. This former MVP had a record three walk-offs with two outs and two strikes.

Jason Giambi

16. This slugger has 10 career World Series home runs, in only 27 games.

Reggie Jackson

17. This former White Sox player is the only man to hit 60-plus homers in three separate seasons.

Sammy Sosa

18. This Philadelphia slugger hit four home runs in a game at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1976.

Mike Schmidt

Washington Nationals beat Houston Astros in first two games of World Series

Juan Soto

It's Oct. 24, and the Washington Nationals haven't lost a game since Oct. 6.

The Nationals not so long ago had a well-earned reputation as playoff chokers -- they lost in the National League Division Series in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. They had never won a playoff series before this season, but hey, look at them now.

Washington has won 18 of its past 20 games dating back to the regular season, and it has won eight consecutive playoff games after its 12-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday in Game 2 of the World Series.

The Nationals have won three elimination games in these playoffs -- the wild card game against the Milwaukee Brewers and Games 4 and 5 of the NLDS against the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers. And they came from behind in the eighth inning in two of those three elimination games. That's clutch.

Now, Washington leads this World Series, 2-0, and it has the next three games at home. Two more wins and the franchise will permanently shed the "playoff choker" label.

How have they done it? Well, they've gone on the road in this World Series and beat the two best pitchers in baseball, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, on back-to-back days.

Cole and Verlander were a combined 41-11 this season, but all that matters now is that they are 0-2 this week. The Astros had only lost two in a row at home once since July 1. Make it twice.

The Nationals scored five runs in seven innings off Cole in Game 1, and their cleanup hitter -- Juan Soto -- led the charge with three hits and three RBIs in a 5-4 victory. And Ryan Zimmerman, a member of the Nationals since 2005, hit a solo home run. Good for him. He's been there through all the postseason disappointment, so he probably has a great appreciation for this run.

Washington ace Max Scherzer only went five innings, but he got the win, and I thought it was interesting that Patrick Corbin worked an inning in relief -- a scoreless sixth (more on that in a minute).

Tanner Rainey gave up a run in the seventh, and Daniel Hudson gave up a run in the eighth. But with a 5-2 lead sliced to 5-4, Sean Doolittle closed it out for Washington with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

In Game 2, Verlander and Stephen Strasburg battled through a 2-2 deadlock after six innings. Strasburg was over 100 pitches in the bottom of the sixth, but he extricated himself from a first-and-second, one-out jam to keep the game tied.

His teammates rewarded him by erupting for six runs in the top of the seventh. Kurt Suzuki's homer off Verlander put Washington ahead to stay, and the Nationals tacked on a whole bunch more against the Houston bullpen. As a matter of fact, Washington scored 10 runs in the last three innings; former White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton homered in the top of the eighth.

Remember, I mentioned that Corbin relief appearance. He will NOT get the start in Game 3 as previously expected. Instead, Anibal Sanchez will work for Washington against Houston's Zack Greinke on Friday night.

This is interesting, because you wonder if we'll see Corbin in relief again. If the Nationals have the lead in Game 3, I think they should make Corbin their first man out of the bullpen again. Go for the knockout punch in Game 3, and if you get it, you've got a 3-0 lead in the series, and what does it matter who starts Game 4?

If the Nationals have a 3-0 lead, they can start whomever in Game 4 and know that even if they lose, they still have Scherzer for Game 5 and Strasburg for Game 6, and they'd only have to win one of those games to be world champion. That would be an enviable scenario for the Nationals.

In case you were wondering, 26 previous teams in baseball history have gone on the road and won the first two games of a best-of-seven postseason series. Those 26 clubs have won the series 23 times.

The three teams that rallied from an 0-2 hole? All of them came in the World Series -- the 1985 Kansas City Royals, the 1986 New York Mets and the 1996 New York Yankees.

The Astros are a 107-win team, so you can't count them out. But they are facing some long odds.

Washington Nationals rally to beat Milwaukee Brewers in NL wild card game

Juan Soto

During the 2018 playoffs, teams that took a lead of two or more runs into the eighth inning went 24-0.

One night into the 2019 playoffs, teams that look a lead of two or more runs into the eighth inning already are 0-1.

That's because the Washington Nationals scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Milwaukee Brewers relief ace Josh Hader to rally for a 4-3 victory in the NL wild card game Tuesday night.

Juan Soto delivered the big hit, and now the Nationals advance to the NL Division Series, where they will meet the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers.

For Hader, who had 37 saves and a 0.806 WHIP this season, the meltdown was stunning. But, he had some bad luck in the inning, and he was his own worst enemy with shoddy command.

Summoned to protect a 3-1 lead, Hader could not throw his slider for a strike to save his life, which allowed Washington batters to completely disregard that pitch and key in on his fastball. And Hader did not command his fastball well either, routinely missing up and out of the zone.

Washington's Victor Robles actually did Hader a favor by striking out on a 3-2 fastball up and out of the zone to lead off the eighth inning. The Milwaukee left-hander was not so fortunate as the inning progressed.

The next batter, pinch-hitter Michael Taylor, also worked a full count. Hader's 3-2 fastball rode up and in and hit either Taylor's hand or the knob of Taylor's bat, depending on your perspective. It was a tough call -- it could have been ruled a foul ball -- but umpires determined it was a hit batsman, and the call held up under replay review.

Trea Turner also did Hader a favor by striking out swinging on a fastball up and out of the zone. That was the second out, and despite his shaky control, it appeared Hader might escape trouble.

However, Ryan Zimmerman muscled a broken-bat single to center field that advanced Taylor to third base. Hader made a good pitch there, but he was unlucky, as the weakly struck ball landed where nobody could catch it.

That brought up the leading RBI man in the NL, Anthony Rendon, who worked a walk on five pitches. Once again, Hader routinely missed high with his fastball, and he could not throw his slider for a strike.

That loaded the bases for Soto, who obviously noticed that Hader didn't throw a single low fastball the whole inning. Everything with velocity was top of the zone and up, and Soto lined a fastball at the top of the zone into right field for a single.

The ball appeared to take a funny kick on right fielder Trent Grisham. It got past him, and all three runners scored, turning a 3-1 Washington deficit into a 4-3 Nationals lead.

Milwaukee managed to tag Soto out in a rundown between second and third base on the play for the third out, but the damage had been done. The Brewers, who won 18 of their last 23 games in the regular season to earn the second wild card spot, went from being in command with their best reliever on the mound to being in big trouble.

Former White Sox prospect Daniel Hudson, now a veteran reliever, got three outs for the Nationals to earn a save, pitching around a Lorenzo Cain single in the top of the ninth.

For Washington and its fans, this had to be a bit of a catharsis. In each of the Nationals' last three playoff appearances, they had lost a winner-take-all game at home -- one loss each to the St. Louis Cardinals, Dodgers and Cubs.

The last time a Washington team won a winner-take-all game at home? Well, Walter Johnson was on the mound for the Senators in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series.

Quite a start to the playoffs, no?