2005 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season St. Louis Cardinals (3) Tony La Russa 100–62, .617, GA: 11 San Diego Padres (0) Bruce Bochy 82–80, .506, GA: 5
Dates	October 4 – 8
Television	ESPN (Games 1, 3) ESPN2 (Game 2)
TV announcers	Jon Miller,Joe Morgan, andGary Miller (Games 1, 3) Dave O'Brien,Steve Phillips,Eric Karros, andDuke Castiglione (Game 2)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Gary Cohen,Luis Gonzalez
Umpires	Ed Montague Bill Hohn Bruce Dreckman Jerry Layne Angel Hernandez Tim Timmons
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Houston Astros (3) Phil Garner 89–73, .549, GB: 11 Atlanta Braves (1) Bobby Cox 90–72, .556, GA: 2
Dates	October 5 – 9
Television	ESPN (Games 1, 4) Fox (Games 2–3)
TV announcers	Dave O'Brien,Steve Phillips,Eric Karros (Game 1) Thom Brennaman,Steve Lyons (Game 2) Josh Lewin,Steve Lyons (Game 3) Dave O'Brien,Rick Sutcliffe andErin Andrews (Game 4)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jim Durham,John Franco
Umpires	Joe Brinkman Marvin Hudson Jeff Nelson Gary Cederstrom Eric Cooper Sam Holbrook
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The2005 National League Division Series (NLDS), the first round of theNational League side in Major League Baseball’s2005 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 4, and ended on Sunday, October 9, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:

• (1)St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champions, 100–62) vs. (3)San Diego Padres (Western Division champions, 82–80): Cardinals win series, 3–0.
• (2)Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champions, 90–72) vs. (4)Houston Astros (Wild Card, 89–73): Astros win series, 3–1.^[1]

The Cardinals and Astros went on to meet in theNL Championship Series (NLCS). The Astros became the National League champion, and lost to theAmerican League championChicago White Sox in the2005 World Series.

St. Louis won the series, 3–0.

Houston won the series, 3–1.

Busch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

It was a matchup betweenJake Peavy and eventual 2005 Cy Young Award winnerChris Carpenter. In the bottom of the first,Jim Edmonds's one-out solo home run put the Cardinals up 1–0. Then in the bottom of the third, Peavy's control slipped away as a bases-loaded wild pitch and a two-run single byReggie Sanders gave the Cards a 4–0 lead. However, Sanders would provide more offense with a grand slam in the fifth. That would make the score 8–0 and give Sanders six RBIs in the game. The Padres would not go quietly, though. They would scratch out a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly byKhalil Greene offBrad Thompson after a leadoff double and single, then one more on a home run byEric Young in the eighth offRandy Flores. After the Padres put runners on the corners in the ninth offCal Eldred,Jason Isringhausen came on to close the deal. Yet, after Young's groundout scored a run, four consecutive hits with two outs, two of which byMark Loretta andBrian Giles, made the score 8–5 and loaded the bases with the go-ahead run at the plate.Ramón Hernández did not deliver as he struck out to end the game. It was later known that Peavy was pitching with a broken rib, which may have affected his effectiveness.

Busch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

Pedro Astacio facedMark Mulder in Game 2. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when a walk toAbraham Nunez and an error byKhalil Greene onYadier Molina's ground ball put two on with no out. After a sacrifice bunt,David Eckstein's fielder's choice scored a run, then a walk loaded the bases beforeAlbert Pujols walked to score another. After a leadoff single and double, a fielder's choice by Molina and squeeze play by Eckstein made it 4–0 Cardinals in the fourth. In the top of the seventh, after being shutout for six innings, a double and two singles, the second of which byXavier Nady scoring a run, made it 4–1 and put the tying run at the plate. However, a double play killed the rally and the Padres would only get one.Reggie Sanders got two more RBIs with a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning offRudy Seanez. A bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Nady byJulián Tavárez made it 6–2 in the eighth, butRandy Flores struck outMark Sweeney to end the threat whileJason Isringhausen retired the Padres in order in the ninth to give the Cardinals a 2–0 series lead.

PETCO Park inSan Diego, California

This was the first postseason game in PETCO Park history, which had opened the previous year.Matt Morris faced former Cardinals pitcherWoody Williams.Albert Pujols drove inDavid Eckstein with an RBI double in the top of the first after Eckstein singled to lead off. Then Eckstein hit a two-run home run in the second to make it 3–0. The Cards did stop there, loaded the bases double, walk and hit-by-pitch beforeReggie Sanders collected two more RBIs on a two-run double to make it 5–0 later. That would bring Sanders' RBI total to ten for the series. ThenYadier Molina's two-run single offClay Hensley in the top of the fifth made it 7–0 Cardinals. In the bottom of the inning,Joe Randa doubled before RBI singles byEric Young andMark Loretta made it 7–2 Cardinals. Then home runs byDave Roberts's in the seventh offBrad Thompson andRamón Hernández in the eighth offJulián Tavárez made it 7–4 Cardinals, butJason Isringhausen came on to slam the door on the Padres in the ninth despite allowing a single and walk withRyan Klesko's groundout ending the series.

The 2005 Padres became the first team to qualify for the postseason in a non-shortened season and end up losing more games (83) than it won (82) in the regular season and playoffs (the 1981 Royals were 50-53 in the strike-shortened regular season, then were swept in three games in the American League West Division Series by the Athletics).

2005 NLDS(3–0):St. Louis Cardinals overSan Diego Padres

Andy Pettitte facedTim Hudson in Game 1. Hudson struggled in his half of the first, giving up one run (onMorgan Ensberg's RBI single) on a walk and two hits, but got out of the inning with a crucial double play. Pettitte allowed a home run toChipper Jones to tie the game, but otherwise cruised. The game remained 1–1 until the third when a bases-loaded (on a double and two walks) two-run single by Ensberg made it 3–1 Astros. A hit-by-pitch loaded the bases again, but Hudson gotAdam Everett to ground out to end the inning. Next inning,Brad Ausmus hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored onCraig Biggio's sacrifice fly to make it 4–1 Astros. In the Braves' fourth,Andruw Jones hit a two-run home run to make it a one-run game. A walk and a bunt single put the tying run in scoring position later in the inning, butBrian Jordan grounded into a double play to end the rally. Pettitte would help his own cause in the seventh with the game still at 4–3, doubling and scoring on an RBI hit by Ensberg. It was now 5–3 and Hudson was finished. In the eighth, withChris Reitsma pitching, the Astros opened the floodgates with a five-run rally, loading the bases on two singles and a walk beforeJeff Bagwell's RBI single made it 6–3 Astros.John Foster in relief struck outLance Berkman, but walked Ensberg to force in a run before a wild pitch scored another. AfterJason Lane was intentionally walked to reload the bases,Orlando Palmeiro capped the inning's scoring with a two-run single that made it 10–3 Astros. The Braves scored two runs on Jones's RBI double in the eighth with two on offDan Wheeler and the ninth onJohnny Estrada's RBI single after a leadoff triple offRuss Springer, butMike Gallo gotRafael Furcal to hit into the game-ending double play as the Astros won Game 1 10–5.

Roger Clemens facedJohn Smoltz in Game 2. Smoltz ran into trouble when he allowed two consecutive singles with one out. After a forceout,Jason Lane singled inLance Berkman to make it 1–0 Astros. He intentionally loaded the bases, but got out of the inning with no more damage done. Then the Braves struck back against Clemens. With two outs and two men on,Brian McCann came up in his first ever postseason at-bat. He then slammed a three-run home run to right field, becoming the first Brave ever to homer in his first postseason at-bat. That sparked the Braves as they would go on to score two more in the third on a two-run double byAdam LaRoche. Smoltz pitched masterfully and the Braves added to their lead in the seventh on RBI singles byAndruw Jones andJeff Francoeur offChad Qualls. The Braves' victory in Game 2 was their last postseason win until 2010.

Jorge Sosa facedRoy Oswalt in Game 3. Sosa fell behind early, allowing a double and hit-by-pitch beforeMorgan Ensberg's double andJason Lane's sacrifice fly gave the Astros two runs in the first. The Braves tied the game in the next inning with back-to-back two out RBI singles byBrian McCann and Sosa. However,Mike Lamb hit the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the third. The two pitchers dueled until the bottom of the seventh whenChris Reitsma once again came into a close game. Reitsma allowed a double and single and the Braves' bullpen could do little to stop the Astros' rally.Lance Berkman hit an RBI single offJohn Foster, thenJoey Devine allowed an RBI double to Ensberg and RBI single to Lane.Adam Everett's sacrifice fly offJim Brower capped the inning's scoring. The Braves got a run in the eighth thanks to an RBI double byAndruw Jones offDan Wheeler afterMarcus Giles singled to lead off againstRoy Oswalt, but no more.Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth as the Astros won Game 3 7–3.

The final game of the series lasted 18 innings and set records as the longest game in the history of Major League Baseball's postseason, both in terms of time and number of innings. This was two innings longer than another Astros playoff game that had the previous record for innings,Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS, which went 16 innings, with theNew York Mets prevailing 7–6. It also broke the record for the longest playoff game duration with 5 hours and 50 minutes, beating Game 3 of the2000 National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Mets, which lasted 5 hours and 22 minutes. This record was broken (by2⁄3 of an inning) by Game 2 of the2014 NLDS, when theSan Francisco Giants defeated theWashington Nationals 2–1. Coincidentally enough,Tim Hudson started both the 2005 and 2014 games, in the former as a Brave and the latter as a Giant. Additionally,Adam LaRoche was on the losing team in both games, playing for the Nationals in 2014. Coincidentally also, the score of this game matched the score of Game 6 of the 1986 Series, except that in 1986, the Astros were on the losing end.^[9]

In the third, the Braves loaded the bases on two walks and a hit-by-pitch offBrandon Backe whenAdam LaRoche's grand slam put them up 4–0. In the fifth, Marcus Giles singled, Chipper Jones doubled, andAndruw Jones's sacrifice fly scored Giles to make it 5–0 and knocked Backe out of the game. The Braves then loaded the bases, butMike Gallo in relief got a ground out to escape further damage. In the bottom of the inning, the Astros loaded the bases on three singles but only scored once on pinch-hitterOrlando Palmeiro's sacrifice fly. In the top of the seventh, LaRoche attempted to score from first onJeff Francoeur's double, but was thrown out at the plate in what proved to be a crucial play. Francoeur moved to third on the throw home but was stranded.Brian McCann's home run in the eighth offWandy Rodriguez made it 6–1 Braves, but in the bottom of the inning, Hudson walkedBrad Ausmus and allowed an infield single to pinch-hitterEric Bruntlett to end his night.Kyle Farnsworth relived Hudson and got one out, but threw a wild pitch that advanced Ausmus and Bruntlett to second and third and walked pinch-hitterLuke Scott on a full count to load the bases.Lance Berkman then hit a grand slam to cut the lead to 6-5. In the ninth and down to their final out, Brad Ausmus hit a solo home run that barely cleared the left-center wall and Andruw Jones's glove off Farnsworth to tie the game and force extra innings.

Each team had opportunities to score in extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Atlanta'sRyan Langerhans doubled with one out off Astros relieverChad Qualls, but he was stranded. In the bottom of the tenth, Scott hit what appeared to be a walk-off home run down the left-field line, but the ball hooked at the last second and barely missed the foul pole. Scott grounded out. Houston nearly scored when Berkman doubled with two outs, but Braves relieverChris Reitsma intentionally walkedMorgan Ensberg retired pinch-hitterJeff Bagwell to end the inning. In the eleventh, the Braves put runners on second and third with one out, but Astros closerBrad Lidge escaped the jam. In the top of the 14th, the Braves loaded the bases with one out offDan Wheeler, but Wheeler struck out McCann and got a force play to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the 15th, the Astros put runners on first and second with one out, but Braves relieverJim Brower got Ensberg to ground into an inning-ending double play. The Astros got three innings of relief byRoger Clemens, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the 15th inning (hitting a sacrifice bunt) and pitching in relief for only the second time in his career and his first time since 1984 (and appearing this time only because the Astros were out of pitchers). Clemens atoned for his Game 2 loss with three scoreless innings, striking out four, and allowing only one hit.Chris Burke hit thegame-ending home run with one out in the bottom of the 18th off Atlanta rookieJoey Devine, giving Houston the series victory and sending them to the NLCS to face theSt. Louis Cardinals.

In addition to being at the time the longest postseason game in MLB history, it was also the only postseason game to include two grand slams, Lance Berkman's andAdam LaRoche's. At the time, some commentators pointed to this game as the greatest game in Houston Astros history, and one of the best games in the history of MLB playoffs.^[10][11][12]

Even more remarkable than the game's length, perhaps, is the fact that the fan who caught Chris Burke's walk-off homer in the 18th was the same fan who had caught Lance Berkman's grand slam in the eighth (Section 102, Row 2, Seat 15); the fan later donated both balls to the Baseball Hall of Fame.^[13]

2005 NLDS(3–1):Houston Astros overAtlanta Braves

• STL vs. SD at Baseball-Reference
• HOU vs. ATL at Baseball-Reference

• National League Division Series
• 2005 Major League Baseball season
• Houston Astros postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• San Diego Padres postseason
• 2005 in sports in California
• 2005 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 2005 in sports in Missouri
• 2005 in sports in Texas
• 2005 in Atlanta
• 2005 in Houston
• 2000s in San Diego
• 2000s in St. Louis
• October 2005 sports events in the United States

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013