2020 National League Wild Card Series

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. Due to 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.

2020 National League Wild Card Series
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
← 2019
NLWC
2021 →

The matchups were:

Because of the expanded postseason format, the National League Central became the first division in MLB history to have four teams qualify for the postseason in the same year. However, none of the four teams played each other, and all four ended up losing their respective 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.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 30Milwaukee Brewers – 2, Los Angeles Dodgers – 4Dodger Stadium3:17N/A[2] 
2October 1Milwaukee Brewers – 0, Los Angeles Dodgers – 3Dodger Stadium2:55N/A[3]

Atlanta Braves vs Cincinnati Reds

Atlanta won the series, 2–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 30Cincinnati Reds – 0, Atlanta Braves – 1 (13)Truist Park4:39N/A[4] 
2October 1Cincinnati Reds – 0, Atlanta Braves – 5Truist Park3:03N/A[5]

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins

Miami won the series, 2–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 30Miami Marlins – 5, Chicago Cubs – 4Wrigley Field3:22N/A[6] 
2October 2Miami Marlins – 2, Chicago Cubs – 0Wrigley Field3:22N/A[7]

San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals

San Diego won the series, 2–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1September 30St. Louis Cardinals – 7, San Diego Padres – 4Petco Park3:53N/A[8] 
2October 1St. Louis Cardinals – 9, San Diego Padres – 11Petco Park4:19N/A[9] 
3October 2St. Louis Cardinals – 0, San Diego Padres – 4Petco Park3:21N/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
Team123456789RHE
Milwaukee000200000270
Los Angeles21000010X461
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
Team123456789RHE
Milwaukee000000000040
Los Angeles00003000X360
WP: Clayton Kershaw (1–0)   LP: Brandon Woodruff (0–1)   Sv: Brusdar Graterol (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Composite line score

2020 NLWC (2–0): Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Milwaukee Brewers

Team123456789RHE
Milwaukee Brewers0002000002110
Los Angeles Dodgers2100301007121

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
Team12345678910111213RHE
Cincinnati00000000000000111
Atlanta0000000000001160
WP: A.J. Minter (1–0)   LP: Archie Bradley (0–1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Freddie Freeman's walk-off single in the 13th inning allowed the Braves to win their first 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 extra innings game of the 2020 season to not have the runner on second rule, which only applied to the regular season.[11]

Game 2
Thursday, October 1, 2020 12:08 pm (EDT) at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia
Team123456789RHE
Cincinnati000000000021
Atlanta00001004X590
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

Ronald Acuña Jr.'s RBI double in the 5th and two 2-run homers by Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall in the 8th propelled the Braves to their first postseason series win since 2001.[12]

Composite line score

2020 NLWC (2–0): Atlanta Braves defeated Cincinnati Reds

Team12345678910111213RHE
Cincinnati Reds00000000000000132
Atlanta Braves00001004000016150

The Reds became the first team in MLB history to fail to score a run in a postseason series.[13] 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
Team123456789RHE
Miami000000500584
Chicago000010000141
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
Team123456789RHE
Miami000000200250
Chicago000000000050
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.

Composite line score

2020 NLWC (2–0): Miami Marlins defeated Chicago Cubs

Team123456789RHE
Miami Marlins0000007007131
Chicago Cubs000010000191

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
Team123456789RHE
St. Louis4020000017131
San Diego111001000480
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
Team123456789RHE
St. Louis1300020219101
San Diego00020432X11152
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.[14] 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
Team123456789RHE
St. Louis000000000042
San Diego00001021X481
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.[15]

Composite line score

2020 NLWC (2–1): San Diego Padres defeated St. Louis Cardinals

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis Cardinals53200202216274
San Diego Padres11121553019313

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, while ESPN2 showed Game 1 of the Padres vs. Cardinals series.[16]

See also

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. Nightengale, Bobby (September 30, 2020). "Trevor Bauer makes postseason history, but Cincinnati Reds drop Game 1 heartbreaker". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  12. "Reds vs. Braves - Game Recap - October 1, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  13. 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.
  14. Passan, Jeff (October 1, 2020). "2020 MLB playoffs: Fernando Tatis Jr. explodes onto the scene". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  15. "Nine Padres Pitchers Blank Cardinals to Reach NLDS". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  16. "MLB playoff schedule 2020: Full bracket, dates, times, TV channels for every series". sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
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