2020 National League Wild Card Series
September 30–October 2, 2020
Los Angeles Dodgers 2–0Milwaukee Brewers
Atlanta Braves 2–0Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs 0–2Miami Marlins
San Diego Padres 2–1St. Louis Cardinals
←2019 NLWC 2021 →

The2020 National League Wild Card Series were four best-of-three-games series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2020 postseason to determine participating teams in the2020 National League Division Series. Because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, MLB expanded the postseason from 10 to 16 teams (8 for each league) with all teams starting in the wild card round instead of holding the regularWild Card Game for each league. All games for each series were played at the higher seeded team's home ballpark and were a best of 3 series.

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, theNational 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.^[1]

On September 15, 2020, MLB announced the playoff bracket for the2020 season, which was shortened to 60 regular season games due to theCOVID-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 theplay-in game format of theWild Card Game from previous seasons, while theDivision Series,League Championship Series, andWorld Series will be their normal lengths. The Wild Card Series games will be played at the home field of the higher seeded team.^[2]

Los Angeles won the series, 2–0.

Atlanta won the series, 2–0.

Miami won the series, 2–0.

San Diego won the series, 2–1.

This is the second postseason meeting between the Dodgers and Brewers. The previous meeting took place in the2018 National League Championship Series, in which the Dodgers won in seven games.

Walker Buehler was matched for the Dodgers againstBrent Suter of the Brewers. The Dodgers offense started quickly, withMookie Betts hitting a leadoff double, followed by a walk toCorey Seager. AfterJustin Turner popped out, consecutive walks toMax Muncy andWill Smith forced in a run. After another out,A.J. Pollock walked to score the second run. In the second inning, Betts followed aChris Taylor double with one of his own to make it 3-0.Orlando Arcia narrowed the lead to 3-2 with a home run in the fourth inning, but Seager closed the scoring with a home run in the seventh inning. Buehler was taken out after the fourth inning forJulio Urias, who hurled three shutout innings as the first of three relievers and received the win while the Brewers toiled with five total pitchers.

The Dodgers'Clayton Kershaw faced the Brewers'Brandon Woodruff. Kershaw struck out 13 batters in eight scoreless innings, allowing three fifth-inning Los Angeles runs to stand as the winning margin. WithA. J. Pollock andChris Taylor on base and two outs,Austin Barnes singled to center to drive in a run. Mookie Betts followed with a double to left to score two more and chase Woodruff from the game. The Brewers held the Dodgers scoreless the rest of the way, butBrusdar Graterol collected his first career save as a Dodger to close out the series. Kershaw's strikeout total was the most for a Dodger in the postseason sinceSandy Koufax struck out 15 batters in the1963 World Series.

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

This is the second postseason meeting between the Braves and Reds. The previous meeting took place in the1995 National League Championship Series, in which the Braves won in a four-game sweep.

Game 1 matchedTrevor Bauer andMax Fried. Bauer struck out 12 while allowing two Braves hits in7+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 nine, with the Reds leaving the bases loaded twice. In the 11th, the Reds got on with a double and two walks after two strikeouts, butTyler Matzek struck outMike Moustakas to end the threat. In the 13th, the Reds garnered two singles and a walk, butA.J. Minter quelled threats to score. In the bottom half, the Braves reached on singles byNick Markakis andAustin Riley offArchie Bradley to set up forFreddie Freeman versusAmir Garrett. Freeman lined a one-out single to score the winning run.^[12] It was the first time the Braves had won Game 1 of a postseason series since the2001 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.^[13]

Ian Anderson facedLuis Castillo for Game 2. Anderson would allow two hits with no runs while striking out nine for six innings while Castillo went5+1⁄3 innings and struck out seven with one run allowed on six hits. The go-ahead run scored on aRonald Acuña Jr. two-out double in the fifth inning. Home runs byMarcell Ozuna andAdam Duvall in the eight inning offRaisel Iglesias proved the final blow needed for the Braves to win their first postseason clincher in 19 years.^[14][15]

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 and2015), 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.^[16]This would also be only the second time a postseason series consisted entirely of shutouts after the1905 World Series 115 years before.

2020 NLWC(2–0):Atlanta Braves beatCincinnati Reds

This is the second postseason meeting between the Cubs and Marlins. The previous meeting took place in the2003 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.^[17] The game was moved to October 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) to October 3.

The Marlins were making their first postseason appearance since the2003 World Series, and they sent outSandy Alcántara to pitch againstKyle Hendricks.Ian Happ gave the Cubs the lead with a solo shot in the fifth inning, but it was one of only four hits allowed by the Marlins, Hendricks was going strong until the seventh inning, as he had held Miami to 0-for-9 with batters in scoring position. However, with one out, he allowed consecutive singles to set upCorey Dickerson at the plate. Hendricks, over 100 pitches at the moment, was allowed to pitch to Dickerson. He proceeded to hit a shot to left-center field that cleared the wall and turn the lead in favor of Miami. Hendricks was pulled afterwards, but two batters later, Miami ended the scoring with a two-run shot byJesús Aguilar.

Sixto Sanchez was matched for the Marlins againstYu Darvish of the Cubs, with the latter making his first postseason start since the2017 World Series. Already the first team to make the postseason after losing 100 games the previous season, the Marlins rode the arm of starterSixto Sanchez for five innings before leaving it to the bullpen, which combined for a shutout.Brad Boxberger, who came in the sixth inning and pitched for one out in the seventh, received the win when the Marlins took the lead in the inning.Garrett Cooper hit a home run offYu Darvish to break the tie.Miguel Rojas added in an insurance run not long after with a single afterMatt Joyce reached with a double.Jason Heyward hit a leadoff double in the 9th inning to give the Cubs hope, butBrandon Kintzler struck out the next three batters, which includedJason Kipnis (the last at bat of his career), to end the game.

This was the last game for several members of theCubs 2016 championship core, includingTheo Epstein, who mutually parted ways with the team in November. In total from 2015 to 2020, they had made the postseason in all but one year and won aWorld Series; however since the close of the 2016 World Series, they lost nine of their next thirteen postseason games. For the Marlins, who had not made the postseason since the2003 World Series, it was their first postseason series win in 17 years.

2020 NLWC(2–0):Miami Marlins beatChicago Cubs

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 in1996 and2005, while they won in four games in2006.

Kwang Hyun Kim was matched for the Cardinals againstChris Paddack. Paddack got the first batter in the game out and proceeded to allow the next five batters to reach (which included a home run byPaul Goldschmidt) to make it 4-0. The Padres got one run back in the first, but they were playing catch-up the rest of the day, as Paddack allowed a total of six runs before being taken out with one out in the third inning. The Cardinals saw their starter last into the fourth inning after giving up three runs, but a combination of five bullpen arms held the Padres to one run in six innings of work.

Wil Myers andFernando Tatis Jr. were the first teammates each to hit two home runs in a postseason game sinceBabe Ruth andLou Gehrig did it in the1932 World Series.^[18] This is the first postseason victory for the Padres atPetco Park and the first home postseason victory overall since Game 3 of the1998 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.

The Cardinals elected to useJack Flaherty as their Game 3 starter while the Padres went with a "bullpen game" strategy, which would see them change pitchers at the end of nearly every inning, withCraig Stammen having been taken out with two out in the second inning. In the 5th inning,Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a double. With two out,Eric Hosmer hit a line-drive double to score Tatis. In the 7th, now with Flaherty out forAlex Reyes, the Padres took advantage on two errors. The first three batters all got on base, with a groundball byTrent Grisham leading to an error by second basemanKolten Wong when he elected to try and throw out the runner at second base that went wide of the shortstop. After an intentional walk of Tatis,Manny Machado was up with the bases loaded. He hit a bouncing liner toTommy Edman that he quickly fielded and tried to throw home to get the runner out, but the ball went out of the glove just asJake Cronenworth made it in. Hosmer, with the bases loaded, was walked on five pitches to make it 3-0. Cronenworth then hit a home run in the 8th to close the scoring.

The Padres were the first team to win an elimination game using nine pitchers. It was also their first postseason series victory since 1998.^[19]

2020 NLWC(2–0):San Diego Padres beatSt. Louis Cardinals

The games were televised on theESPN family of networks in the United States, withABC showing the entire Cubs-Marlins series, withESPN2 showing Game 1 of the Padres vs. Cardinals series andESPN showing every other game.^[20]

• 2020 American League Wild Card Series

• 2020 Major League Baseball season
• Major League Baseball Wild Card Series
• Los Angeles Dodgers postseason
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• Chicago Cubs postseason
• San Diego Padres postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Miami Marlins postseason
• Cincinnati Reds postseason
• Milwaukee Brewers postseason
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on baseball
• September 2020 sports events in the United States
• October 2020 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Chicago
• Events at Wrigley Field

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