1995 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Atlanta Braves (3) Bobby Cox 90–54, .625, GA: 21 Colorado Rockies (1) Don Baylor 77–67, .535, GB: 1
Dates	October 3 – 7
Television	NBC (in Denver) ABC (in Atlanta)
TV announcers	Pete Van Wieren andLarry Dierker (Games 1–3) Al Michaels,Jim Palmer andTim McCarver (Game 4)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Gene Elston andGary Cohen
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Cincinnati Reds (3) Davey Johnson 85–59, .590, GA: 9 Los Angeles Dodgers (0) Tommy Lasorda 78–66, .542, GA: 1
Dates	October 3 – 6
Television	NBC (in Los Angeles) ABC (in Cincinnati)
TV announcers	Greg Gumbel andJoe Morgan (in Los Angeles) Al Michaels,Jim Palmer andTim McCarver (in Cincinnati)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Jerry Coleman andJim Hunter
Umpires	John McSherry,Jerry Layne,Joe West,Terry Tata,Harry Wendelstedt,Charlie Reliford (Atlanta–Colorado, Games 1–2; Cincinnati–Los Angeles, Game 3) Ed Montague,Bob Davidson,Eric Gregg,Frank Pulli,Bruce Froemming,Gary Darling (Cincinnati–Los Angeles, Games 1–2; Atlanta–Colorado, Games 3–4)
← 1994 NLDS 1996 →

The1995National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of theNational League side of the1995 MLB postseason, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Saturday, October 7, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. This was the first NLDS held in the postseason since1981. As a result of both leagues realigning into three divisions in 1994, it marked the first time in major league history that a team could qualify for postseason play without finishing in first place in its league or division. The teams were:

• Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champion, 90–54) vs.Colorado Rockies (Wild Card, 77–67): Braves win series, 3–1.
• Cincinnati Reds (Central Division champion, 85–59) vs.Los Angeles Dodgers (Western Division champion, 78–66): Reds win series, 3–0.^[1]

Every participant in this year’s NLDS was a member of the old NL West in 1993 (Colorado’s inaugural season). The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds went on to meet in theNL Championship Series (NLCS). The Braves became the National League champion and defeated theAmerican League championCleveland Indians in the1995 World Series.

Atlanta won the series, 3–1.

Cincinnati won the series, 3–0.

Coors Field inDenver, Colorado

Game 1 was a match-up between aces:Greg Maddux for the Atlanta Braves andKevin Ritz for the Colorado Rockies. Ritz and Maddux worked their way out of minor trouble early on, but, in the top of the third,Marquis Grissom broke the scoreless tie with a shot to make it 1–0. However, the Rockies soon answered in the bottom of the fourth. After Maddux gotDante Bichette to ground out, he walkedLarry Walker. Then a single byAndrés Galarraga moved Walker to third.Ellis Burks's sac fly brought Walker home. The next batter,Vinny Castilla, would hit a two-run homer to give Colorado its first lead of the night, but In the top of the sixth,Chipper Jones led off with a home run to make it a one-run game.David Justice then walked just before a single byRyan Klesko. An error during the play by Burks moved Justice to third.Steve Reed relieved Ritz andLuis Polonia reached on a fielder's choice, bringing Justice home to tie the game. The Braves would load the bases, but Maddux struck out to end the inning. In the top of the eighth,Mike Munoz took the mound for Colorado. He got two quick outs, but surrendered a single to Klesko.Darren Holmes came in and gave up a single toJavy López.Dwight Smith followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to center to give the Braves a 4–3 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Bichette walked offGreg McMichael, then moved to third on a single by Walker and an error by Justice on the play. Galarraga would then reach on a fielder's choice (on a diving stop by Chipper Jones robbing the Big Cat of extra bases), with Walker out at second.Alejandro Peña came on to face Burks with one out. Burks doubled to tie the game at four apiece, but Pena got the next two outs.Curt Leskanic came on in the top of the ninth and got two outs, but gave up a home run to Chipper Jones. The Braves now had a 5–4 lead, but the Rockies tried to mount a rally in the bottom half offMark Wohlers. With one out,Mike Kingery singled and was followed by another single by Bichette. Walker was then walked, loading the bases with only one out. That put the winning run in scoring position. Wohlers, however, was able to get Galarraga and pitcherLance Painter (Rockies skipperDon Baylor had run out of position players in his first postseason game as manager) to strike out to end the game and give the Braves a well-earned victory.

Coors Field inDenver, Colorado

Game 2 matched Atlanta pitcherTom Glavine against the man who made the final out in Game 1,Lance Painter.Marquis Grissom gave the Braves the lead with a lead off home run in the top of the first. Glavine then held the Rockies to one hit in the first two innings. In the top of the third, the Braves struck again whenMark Lemke singled andChipper Jones had a bunt single. AfterFred McGriff struck out,David Justice walked to load the bases with only one out.Javy López's sac fly made it 2–0, but the Braves could muster no more runs asRyan Klesko struck out to end the inning. In the top of the fourth, Grissom again went deep with two outs to make it 3–0 Braves. All was silent until the bottom of the sixth. With one man out,Ellis Burks reached on an error byJeff Blauser.Dante Bichette then singled to center to put runners on the corners. Then,Larry Walker hit a mammoth three-run home run to tie the game at three. In the bottom of the eighth, the Rockies took the lead whenAndrés Galarraga drove home Bichette with a double offAlejandro Pena after Bichette had reached with a double of his own offSteve Avery. The Rockies were now three outs away from tying the series at one game apiece, but the Braves would not give in. Jones doubled to left to lead off the top of the ninth offCurt Leskanic, then came home on a single by McGriff offMike Munoz to tie the game. With two outs now,Mike Devereaux singled offDarren Holmes, thenMike Mordecai followed with another single that drove home McGriff to give the Braves the lead. An errant throw to first byEric Young, his second error of the game, allowed two more runs to score to give the Braves a 7–4 lead.Mark Wohlers saved the game in the bottom half to give the Braves a two-games-to-none lead going home.

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium inAtlanta, Georgia

The potential clincher pittedBill Swift againstJohn Smoltz. A wild pitch by Smoltz allowedEric Young, who walked and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, to score to make it 1–0 Rockies. Then Young made it 3–0 when he homered with one man on in the third. But the Braves put together three runs in the fourth thanks to an RBI double byRyan Klesko after a single and walk followed by a two-run single byJavy López. During the final play of the inning,Jeff Blauser struck out and sprained his ankle in doing so, putting him on the bench for the rest of the postseason. The Rockies quickly responded with a two-run homer byVinny Castilla in the sixth. But the Braves would chip away at the score in the seventh whenMike Mordecai doubled home Klesko, who singled to lead offBill Swift, offMike Munoz. Then in the ninth, the Braves would tie the game thanks to a two-out, pinch hit RBI single byLuis Polonia offDarren Holmes, the run charged toBruce Ruffin. WithMark Wohlers on the mound in the tenth, after a two-out double and intentional walk, the Rockies would put together back-to-back RBI singles byAndres Galarraga and Castilla to make it 7–5.Mark Thompson retired the Braves in order in the bottom half to give the Rockies their first ever postseason win.

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium inAtlanta, Georgia

Greg Maddux was matched againstBret Saberhagen, who was hoping to keep Colorado's momentum intact. The game was scoreless into the third whenDante Bichette launched a three-run homer with one out after back-to-back singles in the top of the third. But the Braves responded in the bottom of the inning. After back-to-back two-out singles,Chipper Jones's two-run double cut the Rockies' lead to one beforeFred McGriff's home run put the Braves up 4–3. Next inning, after a single and walk,Eric Young's errant throw to first, his third error in the series, onRafael Belliard's fielder's choice allowedRyan Klesko to score from, thenMarquis Grissom's RBI double made it 6–3. McGriff's second home run of the game in the fifth offKevin Ritz made it 7–3. The Rockies got that run back in the sixth onVinny Castilla's home run, but in the bottom of the inning,Mark Lemke followed back-to-back two-out singles with an RBI double. After an intentional walk loaded the bases,Mike Munoz relieved Ritz and allowed a two-run single to McGriff.Alejandro Pena pitched two scoreless innings of relief as the Braves would advance to the1995 National League Championship Series with a 10–4 win.

1995 NLDS(3–1):Atlanta Braves overColorado Rockies

Tuesday October 3, 1995 5:05 PM (PT)Dodger Stadium inLos Angeles,California

Pete Schourek of the Reds facedRamón Martínez of the Dodgers in Game 1. Back-to-back singles with one out got the rally started in the top of the first for the Reds. AfterReggie Sanders popped out,Hal Morris struck the game's first blow by doubling home the two runners on base. ThenBenito Santiago hit a two-run home run to make it 4–0 Reds. In the top of the fifth, after a leadoff double and single,Benito Santiago's sacrifice fly made it 5–0 Reds. After a double,John Cummings relieved Martinez and allowed a two-run double toJeff Branson. The Dodgers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth onBrett Butler's RBI single with two on, then added another run next inning onMike Piazza's home run, but could not score again off Schourek,Mike Jackson orJeff Brantley as the Reds took a 1–0 series lead with a 7–2 win.

Wednesday October 4, 1995 5:05 PM (PT)Dodger Stadium inLos Angeles, California

Former 20-game winnerJohn Smiley of the Reds facedIsmael Valdez of the Dodgers in Game 2.Eric Karros, who would drive in all the Dodgers runs, got them on the board with an RBI double in the first to scoreBrett Butler, who singled to leadoff and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.Reggie Sanders put the Reds up 2–1 with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth, but Karros responded with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at two.Raúl Mondesí was ejected from the game in between innings in the eighth on his way to right field, when he badmouthed umpireBob Davidson for a play at home in the seventh that went the Reds' way. In the eighth, the Reds took the lead on aBarry Larkin single that scoredMariano Duncan, who singled with one out and stole second offAntonio Osuna. In the ninth, the Reds loaded the bases on three walks with one out offKevin Tapani, thenMark Lewis's fielder's choice offMark Guthrie and Duncan's RBI single offPedro Astacio made it 5–2 Reds. In the bottom half, a leadoff single offJeff Brantley gave the Dodgers life. With one out, Karros hit his second home run of the game to make it 5–4 Reds. However, Brantley got the next two men out to save Game 2 and give the Reds a two-game lead going to Cincinnati.

Friday October 6, 1995 8:07 PM ETRiverfront Stadium inCincinnati, Ohio

Soon-to-be-named National League Rookie of the YearHideo Nomo of the Dodgers faced playoff-savvyDavid Wells of the Reds. A two-run home run byRon Gant got the scoring started for the Reds in the third. The Dodgers would cut the lead in half whenEric Karros reached second due to right fielderReggie Sanders dropping his fly ball, then scored on an RBI single byRaúl Mondesí in the fourth, butBret Boone's home run in the bottom of the fourth gave the Reds that run back. Then, in the sixth, Nomo began to lose his control, giving up two singles, a walk, and wild pitch. Then pinch hitterMark Lewis came up and socked a grand slam offMark Guthrie to make it 7–1 Reds. Next inning, the Reds loaded the bases on a single and two walks offJohn Cummings whenMike Jackson cleared them to make it 10–1 Reds. The Dodgers changed pitchers five times as the Reds advanced to the1995 National League Championship Series with a series sweep. As of today, this is the Reds' most recent playoff game victory at home, and the 1995 NLDS remains the most recent playoff round won by the Reds.^[9][10]

1995 NLDS(3–0):Cincinnati Reds overLos Angeles Dodgers

• ATL vs. COL at Baseball-Reference
• CIN vs. LAD at Baseball-Reference

• National League Division Series
• 1995 Major League Baseball season
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• Cincinnati Reds postseason
• Colorado Rockies postseason
• Los Angeles Dodgers postseason
• 1995 in sports in Ohio
• 1995 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 1995 in sports in Colorado
• 1995 in sports in California
• 1995 in Atlanta
• 1990s in Cincinnati
• 1990s in Denver
• 1995 in Los Angeles
• October 1995 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Atlanta
• Baseball competitions in Cincinnati
• Baseball competitions in Denver
• Baseball competitions in Los Angeles

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013