2002 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season San Francisco Giants (3) Dusty Baker 95–66, .590, GB:2+1⁄2 Atlanta Braves (2) Bobby Cox 101–59, .631, GA: 19
Dates	October 2–7
Television	ABC Family (Game 1) Fox (Games 2, 4–5) FX (Game 3)
TV announcers	Dave O'Brien,Tony Gwynn (Game 1) Thom Brennaman,Steve Lyons (Games 2, 4) Josh Lewin,Steve Lyons (Game 3) Joe Buck,Tim McCarver (Game 5)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Gary Cohen,Rob Dibble
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season St. Louis Cardinals (3) Tony La Russa 97–65, .599, GA: 13 Arizona Diamondbacks (0) Bob Brenly 98–64, .605, GA:2+1⁄2
Dates	October 1–5
Television	ABC Family
TV announcers	Chris Berman,Rick Sutcliffe (Games 1–2) Jon Miller,Joe Morgan (Game 3)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jim Durham,Buck Showalter
Umpires	Mike Reilly,Paul Emmel,Angel Hernandez,Jerry Layne,Tim Tschida,Ted Barrett (Braves–Giants, Games 1–2, 5; Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Game 3) Bruce Froemming,Bill Miller,Ron Kulpa,Gary Darling,Steve Rippley,Mark Hirschbeck (Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Games 1–2; Braves–Giants, Games 3–4)
← 2001 NLDS 2003 →

The2002National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round on theNational League side ofMajor League Baseball’s2002 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Monday, October 7, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

• (1)Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champion, 101–59) vs. (4)San Francisco Giants (Wild Card, 95–66); Giants win series, 3–2.
• (2)Arizona Diamondbacks (Western Division champion, 98–64) vs. (3)St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champion, 97–65); Cardinals win series, 3–0.^[1]

The Cardinals and Giants went on to meet in theNL Championship Series (NLCS). The Giants became the National League champion, and lost to theAmerican League championAnaheim Angels in the2002 World Series.

San Francisco won the series, 3–2.

St. Louis won the series, 3–0.

TheAtlanta Braves had continued to move forward in a golden era of consistency that had resulted in their eleventh consecutive division title since 1991 (with only the cancelled 1994 season being the exception), marked byconsistent pitching fromTom Glavine,Greg Maddux, andKevin Millwood (who combined for 52 wins to 25 losses) to go withJohn Smoltz and his league-leading 55 saves. They won over 100 games for the first since 1999, having experienced an improvement of thirteen games from the previous year. The Braves led the National League in runs allowed, ERA (3.13), and hits allowed (San Francisco led in home runs allowed). For theSan Francisco Giants, this was their third postseason appearance in the past six seasons. While a five-game improvement from last year was not enough to catch the NL West title, it was enough to loom over the lone Wild Card spot, marked by ending the year with an eight-game winning streak. As for the Giants,Barry Bonds (who experienced back-to-back NLCS losses to the Braves in1991 and1992 as the left fielder for thePittsburgh Pirates) continued his unprecedented run to start the 21st century. While he had less games played and home runs from the previous year, he managed to hit 46 while drawing a record of 198 walks while batting a career high .370 to coast to theMajor League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, which was his fifth as a player and second of ultimately four in a row. Right beside Bonds in offense wasJeff Kent, who hit .313 with 37 home runs with 195 hits in 152 games. WhileKirk Rueter andRuss Ortiz led the Giants in wins as a pitcher (14), it wasRobb Nen who served as the key star in pitching once again. In his fifth season with the Giants, he went to the All-Star Game for the third time while garnering 43 saves.

For Bonds, this was a chance to end the narrative as a playoff under-performer. Bonds, who broke thesingle-season home run record in2001, entered the 2002 playoffs with just one home run in 97 career postseason at-bats.

Additionally, this was a chance for the Giants to avenge their1993 pennant race defeat to the Braves, who blew a ten games lead in theNational League West to Braves in the last two and a half months of the season, while also becoming the only team to win 100 or more games and not make the playoffs in the divisional play era.

Turner Field inAtlanta

In Game 1,Russ Ortiz facedTom Glavine. In the top of the second, afterBenito Santiago andReggie Sanders hit back-to-back one-out singles,J. T. Snow hit a two-run double, thenDavid Bell singled Snow home to make it 3–0 Giants. Glavine would help his own cause by hitting a bases-loaded two-run single to left field that almost tied the game thanks to an error by Bonds in the bottom half of the second. In the fourth,David Bell andRuss Ortiz back-to-back one-out singles, thenKenny Lofton's RBI single andRich Aurilia's two-run double made it 6–2 Giants.Chris Hammond relieved Glavine in the sixth and after a two-out double and intentional walk, Santiago's double scored both runners. In the bottom of the eighthGary Sheffield's homer offTim Worrell made it 8–3. With one on and one out, Santiago dropped a foul fly ball hit byJavy López, who then homered to make it 8–5. In the ninth, the Braves put the tying run at the plate offRobb Nen for Sheffield, but he hit into a game-ending double play.

Turner Field inAtlanta

In Game 2,Kirk Rueter facedKevin Millwood, who was looking to keep the Braves' hopes alive in the series. The Braves struck first whenJulio Franco walked with one out, moved to second on a ground out and scored onChipper Jones's RBI single in the first, butJ. T. Snow homered to tie the game in the top of the second. Back-to-back homers byJavy Lopez andVinny Castilla made it 3–1 Braves in the bottom half. ThenMark DeRosa doubled and scored onRafael Furcal's RBI single one out later to make it 4–1 Braves. In the fourth, DeRosa followed a leadoff single and walk with a two-run triple to knock Rueter out of the game. DeRosa then scored on a passed ball byManny Aybar to make it 7–1 Braves. The Giants got home runs fromRich Aurilia off Millwood in the sixth andBarry Bonds in the ninth offJohn Smoltz, but the Braves won the game 7–3 to tie the series.

Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco

In Game 3,Greg Maddux of the Braves facedJason Schmidt of the Giants. In the bottom of the first,Kenny Lofton hit a leadoff single and scored onJeff Kent's doubled to make it 1–0 Giants. In the top of the third,Rafael Furcal hit a leadoff triple and scored on a groundout byJulio Franco. The game remained tied until the sixth. With one out, three consecutive walks ended Schmidt's night.Vinny Castilla singled in two runs offManny Aybar, thenKeith Lockhart followed with a towering three-run homer to make it 6–1 Braves.Barry Bonds's homer in the bottom half made it 6–2, but the ninth saw the Braves add insurance. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out offTim Worrell.Chipper Jones hit an RBI single offAaron Fultz, who was relieved byRobb Nen.Andruw Jones's single scored two, then one out later, Lockhart's single scored another.Kevin Gryboski retired the Giants in order in the bottom of the inning as the Braves' 10–2 win gave them a 2–1 series lead. This would be the last series lead the Braves would hold in a postseason series until winning Game 3 of the2019 NLDS.

Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco

In Game 4, Glavine would be sent to the mound once again, this time facingLiván Hernández. Glavine's struggles would continue, as he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs in the first,Barry Bonds's sacrifice fly andBenito Santiago's groundout scored a run each. Next inning,David Bell hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored onRich Aurilia's single. Another single and intentional walk loaded the bases before Santiago walked to force in another run. Aurilia's two-out three-run homer made it 7–0 in the third, knocking Glavine out of the game. The Braves got on the board in the fifth onRafael Furcal's RBI double with a runner on third, but the Giants got that run back in the bottom half offDamian Moss on Santiago's RBI double with two on. The Braves scored two runs in the sixth onJavy Lopez's double andVinny Castilla's single, but nothing else as the Giants' 8–3 win forced a Game 5 in Atlanta.

Turner Field inAtlanta,Georgia.

In the clinching Game 5,Russ Ortiz returned to the mound to faceKevin Millwood. The Giants struck first in the second inning;Barry Bonds hit a single to leadoff the inning, andReggie Sanders would drive him home from second base on a two-out RBI single. In the fourth inning, on a 3-2 count, Bonds would line a ball into left-center to make it 2–0. The Braves had a golden opportunity in the fifth inning, having loaded the bases on an error and two walks, butChipper Jones grounded out to the shortstop. The Braves would be rewarded for their patience in the next inning, which started with singles byAndruw Jones andVinny Castilla to drive Ortiz out of the game. With one out, facingAaron Fultz,Mark DeRosa lined a single to center to score Jones and cut the lead to one while Fultz was replaced byFelix Rodriguez. He would induce two subsequent outs to end the inning. The Giants returned the favor in the 7th, starting with a double byJ.T. Snow and two walks byMike Remlinger to load the bases. With one out,Kenny Lofton hit a flyball offDarren Holmes to center to score Snow. In the ninth, with the Braves trailing 3–1,Gary Sheffield and Chipper Jones each came to the plate with two men on to face againstRobb Nen, representing the Division Series-winning run. However, Sheffield struck out and Jones would hit into a double play to end the series. For the first time since the1989 National League Championship Series, the Giants had won a postseason series. As for the Braves, this continued a chain of postseason series losses that would not subside untileighteen years later.

2002 NLDS(3–2):San Francisco Giants overAtlanta Braves

TheArizona Diamondbacks won the West for the second straight year, having a better record than the previous year when they won the2001 World Series. TheSt. Louis Cardinals were making their third straight postseason appearance.

Bank One Ballpark inPhoenix, Arizona

In Game 1,Matt Morris faced eventual 2002 Cy Young Award winnerRandy Johnson, who dominated the 2001 postseason with ease. However, in the top of the first an error byTony Womack put a runner on forJim Edmonds, who then hit a home run to make it 2–0 Cardinals. The Diamondbacks scratched out a run in the bottom half onSteve Finley's sacrifice fly with runners on first and third. In the bottom of the third,Quinton McCracken tied the game with an RBI single. In the fourth, the floodgates began to open asAlbert Pujols led off the inning with a triple andScott Rolen followed with a two-run homer. ThenÉdgar Rentería's singled, stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored onMike Matheny's RBI single to make it is 5–2 Cards.Eli Marrero's sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 6–2 Cardinals before they blew the game open in the seventh.Matt Mantei allowed a single and walk, thenTino Martinez walked offGreg Swindell to load the bases. Swindell's errant throw on Matheny's bunt attempt allowed two runs to score, thenMatt Morris's single scored two more runs.Mike Fetters relieved Swindell and walkedJim Edmonds with two outs to reload the bases beforeAlbert Pujols's two-run single capped the scoring at 12–2 Cardinals, giving them a 1–0 series lead.

Bank One Ballpark inPhoenix, Arizona

In Game 2,Chuck Finley facedCurt Schilling.J. D. Drew got the scoring started with a homer in the third to put the Cardinals up 1–0. Finley and Schilling dueled until Finley left with a cramp in his pitching hand. WhenAlbert Pujols moved from left field in the eighth, he immediately created trouble by misplaying a ball hit byGreg Colbrunn offRick White. ThenQuinton McCracken tied the game with a double. The Cardinals regained the lead in the top of the ninth, however, whenÉdgar Rentería hit a leadoff single offMike Koplove, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on aMiguel Cairo RBI single.Jason Isringhausen shut the D'Backs down 1–2–3 in the bottom of the inning for the save, giving the Cardinals a 2–0 lead in the series.Jeff Fassero got the win in relief by retiring the last batter of the eighth.

Busch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

Trying to avoid a series sweep, the Diamondbacks struck first in the second off starterAndy Benes whenDavid Dellucci homered after a walk to put them up 2–0. However, againstMiguel Batista,Miguel Cairo's RBI single in the bottom half cut the lead to 2–1. Then Pujols would tie the game with an RBI single in the third. In the fourth with runners on first and third, Benes's sacrifice bunt allowed Cairo to score to give the Cardinals the lead.Fernando Viña's RBI single then made it 4–2 Cardinals.Rod Barajas homered to make it a one-run game in the fifth, but the Cardinals padded their lead in the eighth whenAlbert Pujols drew a leadoff walk offByung-Hyun Kim and scored on Cairo's double. After an intentional walk,Kerry Robinson's RBI single made it 6–3 Cardinals.Jason Isringhausen got the series winning save by once again shutting down the Diamondbacks 1–2–3 in the ninth, and avengelast year's NLDS defeat.

2002 NLDS(3–0):St. Louis Cardinals overArizona Diamondbacks

• SFG vs. ATL at Baseball-Reference
• STL vs. ARI at Baseball-Reference

• National League Division Series
• 2002 Major League Baseball season
• San Francisco Giants postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• Arizona Diamondbacks postseason
• 2002 in sports in Arizona
• 2002 in sports in California
• 2002 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 2002 in sports in Missouri
• 2002 in Atlanta
• 2000s in Phoenix, Arizona
• 2002 in San Francisco
• 2002 in St. Louis
• October 2002 sports events in the United States

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