2020 National League Wild Card Series

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2020 National League Wild Card Series
2020 National League Wild Card Series logo.png
September 30–October 2, 2020
Los Angeles Dodgers 2–0 Milwaukee Brewers
Atlanta Braves 2–0 Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs 0–2 Miami Marlins
San Diego Padres 2–1 St. Louis Cardinals
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NLWC
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The 2020 National League Wild Card Series were four best-of-three-games series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine participating teams in the 2020 National League Division Series. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB expanded the postseason instead of holding the regular Wild Card Game for each league. All games for each series were played at the higher seeded team's home ballpark.

The matchups were:

  • (1) Los Angeles Dodgers (West Division champions) vs. (8) Milwaukee Brewers (second wild card): Dodgers won series, 2–0
  • (2) Atlanta Braves (East Division champions) vs. (7) Cincinnati Reds (first wild card): Braves won series, 2–0
  • (3) Chicago Cubs (Central Division champions) vs. (6) Miami Marlins (East Division 2nd place): Marlins won series, 2–0
  • (4) San Diego Padres (West Division 2nd place) vs. (5) St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division 2nd place): Padres won series, 2–1

Because of the expanded postseason format, the National League Central became the first division in MLB history with four teams in the postseason in the same year. However, none of the four teams played each other, and all four lost their Wild Card Series, with each team losing its elimination game via a shutout.

Background[]

On September 15, 2020, MLB announced the playoff bracket for the 2020 season, which was shortened to 60 regular season games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The postseason will consist of eight teams from each league: The top two teams from each division, plus the teams from each league with the next two best records. The Wild Card Series will be a best-of-three series, as opposed to the play-in game format of the Wild Card Game from previous seasons, while the Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series will be their normal lengths. The Wild Card Series games will be played at the home field of the higher seeded team.[1]

Matchups[]

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers[]

Los Angeles won the series, 2–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 September 30 Milwaukee Brewers – 2, Los Angeles Dodgers – 4 Dodger Stadium 3:17 N/A[2] 
2 October 1 Milwaukee Brewers – 0, Los Angeles Dodgers – 3 Dodger Stadium 2:55 N/A[3]

Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds[]

Atlanta won the series, 2–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 September 30 Cincinnati Reds – 0, Atlanta Braves – 1 (13) Truist Park 4:39 N/A[4] 
2 October 1 Cincinnati Reds – 0, Atlanta Braves – 5 Truist Park 3:03 N/A[5]

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins[]

Miami won the series, 2–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 September 30 Miami Marlins – 5, Chicago Cubs – 1 Wrigley Field 3:22 N/A[6] 
2 October 2 Miami Marlins – 2, Chicago Cubs – 0 Wrigley Field 3:22 N/A[7]

San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals[]

San Diego won the series, 2–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 September 30 St. Louis Cardinals – 7, San Diego Padres – 4 Petco Park 3:53 N/A[8] 
2 October 1 St. Louis Cardinals – 9, San Diego Padres – 11 Petco Park 4:19 N/A[9] 
3 October 2 St. Louis Cardinals – 0, San Diego Padres – 4 Petco Park 3:21 N/A[10]

Los Angeles vs. Milwaukee[]

This is the second postseason meeting between the Dodgers and Brewers. The previous meeting took place in the 2018 National League Championship Series, in which the Dodgers won in seven games.

Game 1[]

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 7:08 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0
Los Angeles 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 4 6 1
WP: Julio Urías (1–0)   LP: Brent Suter (0–1)   Sv: Kenley Jansen (1)
Home runs:
MIL: Orlando Arcia (1)
LAD: Corey Seager (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Game 2[]

Thursday, October 1, 2020 7:08 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 X 3 6 0
WP: Clayton Kershaw (1–0)   LP: Brandon Woodruff (0–1)   Sv: Brusdar Graterol (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Atlanta vs. Cincinnati[]

This is the second postseason meeting between the Braves and Reds. The previous meeting took place in the 1995 National League Championship Series, in which the Braves won in a four-game sweep.

Game 1[]

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 12:08 pm (EDT) at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 R H E
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 0
WP: A.J. Minter (1–0)   LP: Archie Bradley (0–1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Game 1 matched Trevor Bauer and Max Fried. Bauer struck out 12 while allowing two Braves hits in 7+2⁄3 innings, but Fried matched him with seven innings of six-hit ball as both teams relied on the bullpens to try and carry the way, with the Braves using seven reliever and the Reds using five. Both teams would hit once with runners on scoring position, but the Reds left 13 on the bases while the Braves left 9, with the Reds leaving the bases loaded twice. In the 11th, the Reds got on with a double and two walks after two strikeouts, but Tyler Matzek struck out Mike Moustakas to end the threat. In the 13th, the Reds garnered two singles and a walk, but A.J. Minter quelled threats to score. In the bottom half, the Braves reached on singles by Nick Markakis and Austin Riley off Archie Bradley to set up for Freddie Freeman versus Amir Garrett. Freeman lined a one-out single to score the winning run. [11] It was the first time the Braves had won Game 1 of a postseason series since the 2001 NLDS, snapping an 0-for-10 streak.

This was the first time in MLB postseason history that a game was scoreless after 11 innings. There were also 37 strikeouts, a postseason record. This was also the first (and as it would end up, only) extra innings game of the 2020 season to not have the runner on second rule, which only applied to the regular season.[12]

Game 2[]

Thursday, October 1, 2020 12:08 pm (EDT) at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 X 5 9 0
WP: Ian Anderson (1–0)   LP: Luis Castillo (0–1)
Home runs:
CIN: None
ATL: Marcell Ozuna (1), Adam Duvall (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Ian Anderson faced Luis Castillo for Game 2. Anderson would allow two hits with no runs while striking out nine for six innings while Castillo went 5+1⁄3 innings and struck out seven with one run allowed on six hits. The go-ahead run scored on a Ronald Acuña Jr. two-out double in the fifth inning. Home runs by Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall in the eight inning off Raisel Iglesias proved the final blow needed for the Braves to win their first postseason clincher in 19 years. [13] [14]

For the sixth time in MLB history, the Reds became the fifth team to end a postseason without scoring a run, after the Indians (2013), Pirates (2014 and 2015), Yankees (2015), and Mets (2016), and the first team in MLB history to fail to score a run in a postseason series with more than one game.[15] This would also be only the second time a postseason series consisted entirely of shutouts after the 1905 World Series 115 years before.

Chicago vs. Miami[]

This is the second postseason meeting between the Cubs and Marlins. The previous meeting took place in the 2003 National League Championship Series, in which the then-Florida Marlins won in seven games after trailing the series 3–1. Game 2, originally scheduled for October 1, was postponed due to rain. The game was moved to October 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) to October 3.

Game 1[]

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 1:08 pm (CDT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Miami 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 5 8 4
Chicago 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
WP: Sandy Alcántara (1–0)   LP: Kyle Hendricks (0–1)
Home runs:
MIA: Corey Dickerson (1), Jesús Aguilar (1)
CHC: Ian Happ (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Game 2[]

Friday, October 2, 2020 1:08 pm (CDT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Miami 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 0
Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
WP: Brad Boxberger (1–0)   LP: Yu Darvish (0–1)   Sv: Brandon Kintzler (1)
Home runs:
MIA: Garrett Cooper (1)
CHC: None
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Miami's first postseason series win since the 2003 World Series.

San Diego vs. St. Louis[]

This is the fourth postseason meeting between the Padres and Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning all three previous meetings in the Division Series. The Cardinals swept the Padres in 1996 and 2005, while they won in four games in 2006.

Game 1[]

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 2:08 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 13 1
San Diego 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 8 0
WP: Giovanny Gallegos (1–0)   LP: Chris Paddack (0–1)   Sv: Alex Reyes (1)
Home runs:
STL: Paul Goldschmidt (1)
SD: None
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Game 2[]

Thursday, October 1, 2020 4:08 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 9 10 1
San Diego 0 0 0 2 0 4 3 2 X 11 15 2
WP: Emilio Pagán (1–0)   LP: Daniel Ponce de Leon (0–1)   Sv: Trevor Rosenthal (1)
Home runs:
STL: Kolten Wong (1)
SD: Fernando Tatís Jr. 2 (2), Manny Machado (1), Wil Myers 2 (2)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Wil Myers and Fernando Tatis Jr. were the first teammates each to hit two home runs in a postseason game since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did it in the 1932 World Series.[16] This is the first postseason victory for the Padres at Petco Park and the first home postseason victory overall since Game 3 of the 1998 NLCS. It is also the first postseason loss for the Cardinals at Petco Park after winning the first four postseason games in the venue's history.

Game 3[]

Friday, October 2, 2020 4:08 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
San Diego 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 X 4 8 1
WP: Austin Adams (1–0)   LP: Jack Flaherty (0–1)
Home runs:
STL: None
SD: Jake Cronenworth (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

The Padres were the first team to win an elimination game using nine pitchers.[17]

Broadcasting[]

The games were televised on the ESPN family of networks in the United States, with ABC showing the entirety of the Cubs-Marlins series, with ESPN2 showing Game 1 of the Padres vs. Cardinals series and ESPN showing every other game. [18]

See also[]

  • 2020 American League Wild Card Series

References[]

  1. ^ "MLB sets playoff bubbles: Schedule, neutral-site locations and everything else to know for 2020 postseason". cbssports.com. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  2. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – Milwaukee at Los Angeles". MLB.com.
  3. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – Milwaukee at Los Angeles". MLB.com.
  4. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – Cincinnati at Atlanta". MLB.com.
  5. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – Cincinnati at Atlanta". MLB.com.
  6. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – Miami at Chicago". MLB.com.
  7. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – Miami at Chicago". MLB.com.
  8. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – St. Louis at San Diego". MLB.com.
  9. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – St. Louis at San Diego". MLB.com.
  10. ^ "Game 3 boxscore – St. Louis at San Diego". MLB.com.
  11. ^ "2020 National League Wild Card Series (NLWC) Game 1, Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves, September 30, 2020".
  12. ^ Nightengale, Bobby (September 30, 2020). "Trevor Bauer makes postseason history, but Cincinnati Reds drop Game 1 heartbreaker". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  13. ^ "2020 National League Wild Card Series (NLWC) Game 2, Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves, October 1, 2020".
  14. ^ "Reds vs. Braves - Game Recap - October 1, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  15. ^ O'Donell, Ricky (October 1, 2020). "The Reds are the first team ever to be eliminated from a playoff series without scoring". Sbnation.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Passan, Jeff (October 1, 2020). "2020 MLB playoffs: Fernando Tatis Jr. explodes onto the scene". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  17. ^ "Nine Padres Pitchers Blank Cardinals to Reach NLDS". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  18. ^ "MLB playoff schedule 2020: Full bracket, dates, times, TV channels for every series". sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
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