2025 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Milwaukee Brewers (3) Pat Murphy 97–65 (.599), GA: 5 Chicago Cubs (2) Craig Counsell 92–70 (.568), GB: 5
Dates	October 4–11
Television	TBS TruTV (Games 2–5) UniMás (Spanish)
TV announcers	Alex Faust,Ron Darling, and Lauren Jbara
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Sciambi andDoug Glanville
Umpires	Lance Barksdale (crew chief),Ryan Blakney,Chris Conroy,Mike Estabrook,Will Little,Edwin Moscoso
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Dodgers (3) Dave Roberts 93–69 (.574), GA: 3 Philadelphia Phillies (1) Rob Thomson 96–66 (.593), GA: 13
Dates	October 4–9
Television	TBS TruTV (Games 2–4) UniMás (Spanish)
TV announcers	Brian Anderson,Jeff Francoeur, andLauren Shehadi
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dave O'Brien andJessica Mendoza
Umpires	Nestor Ceja,Adrian Johnson,Nic Lentz,Dan Merzel,Mark Wegner (crew chief),Jim Wolf
NLWC	Los Angeles Dodgers overCincinnati Reds (2–0) Chicago Cubs overSan Diego Padres (2–1)
← 2024 NLDS

The2025 National League Division Series (NLDS) were the twobest-of-five playoff series inMajor League Baseball's (MLB)2025 postseason to determine the participating teams of the2025 National League Championship Series (NLCS). These matchups are:

• (1)Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central champions) vs. (4)Chicago Cubs (Wild Card Series winner): Brewers won the series, 3–2.
• (2)Philadelphia Phillies (NL East champions) vs. (3)Los Angeles Dodgers (Wild Card Series winner): Dodgers won the series, 3–1.

The team with the better regular season record (higher seed) of each series hosted Games 1, 2, and (if necessary) 5, while the lower seeded team hosted Game 3 and (if necessary) 4.^[1][2]

The top two division winners (first two seeds) are determined by regular seasonwinning percentages. The final two teams are the winners of theNational League Wild Card Series, played between the league's third to sixth-seeded teams.

TheMilwaukee Brewers (97–65) clinched their seventh postseason berth in the last eight seasons (third consecutive) on September 13,^[3] won theNational League Central and earned a first-round bye on September 21,^[4] and earned home-field advantage throughout the MLB postseason after the Philadelphia Phillies were defeated by theMinnesota Twins on September 27.^[5] This is just the second time Milwaukee has been a top seed in the NL, following their2018 team. They will play their divisional rivals, the fourth-seededChicago Cubs (92–70), who defeated theSan Diego Padres in three games in theWild Card Series.^[6] The Cubs won the regular season series, 7–6.^[7] This is the first postseason meeting in theI-94 Rivalry, although they did play aGame 163 in2018 to determine the NL Central division, which the Brewers won 3–1 atWrigley Field. In 2023,Craig Counsell left the Brewers to become the Cubs manager. In his introductory press conference, he admitted he underestimated the rivalry part of Brewers fans feeling like he just went to “the other side.”^[8]

ThePhiladelphia Phillies (96–66) clinched their fourth straight postseason berth on September 14,^[9], won theNational League East for the second consecutive season on September 15,^[10] and earned a first-round bye via a September 24 victory against theMiami Marlins.^[11] They played theNational League West championLos Angeles Dodgers (93–69), who swept theCincinnati Reds in theWild Card Series to get to their thirteenth consecutive NLDS.^[12] The Phillies won the regular season series, 4–2, which included winning a series a few weeks prior atDodger Stadium.^[13][14][15] This was the sixth playoff meeting between the Phillies and the Dodgers, with their most recent match-up coming in the2009 NLCS, in which Philadelphia won in five games. This was their first playoff meeting prior to anNLCS.

Milwaukee won the series, 3–2.

Los Angeles won the series, 3–1.

This was the first postseason match-up between theMilwaukee Brewers andChicago Cubs.

In the top of the first inning,Michael Busch hit a leadoff solo home run offFreddy Peralta to give the Cubs a 1–0 lead. In the bottom of the first,Jackson Chourio andBrice Turang scored off RBI doubles from Turang andWilliam Contreras to take the lead for the Brewers at 2–1. The Brewers then extended the lead to 3-1 when Contreras scored after a fielding error byNico Hoerner. Cubs starterMatthew Boyd only pitched2⁄3 innings, allowing four hits and four runs (two earned). Later in the inning,Andrew Vaughn scored off an RBI single byBlake Perkins to extend the Brewers' lead to 4–1. Chourio then scoredSal Frelick and Perkins to further extend the lead to 6–1. Those six runs in the first inning tie a Milwaukee franchise postseason record.^[25] In the bottom of the second inning,Caleb Durbin hit a two-run single to allow Contreras andChristian Yelich to score to extend the Brewers' lead to 8–1. Chourio scored Vaughn on an infield single to extend the lead to 9–1. In the top of the sixth inning,Ian Happ hit a solo home run to cut the Brewers' lead to 9–2. Brewers starter Peralta pitched5+2⁄3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out nine batters. ANico Hoerner home run in the top of the eighth inning further cut the Brewers' lead to 9–3. The Brewers get the final out of the game whenMoisés Ballesteros grounds out to first basemanJake Bauers, as they took Game 1 of the series.

This game tied for the second-largest postseason win differential in Brewers franchise history, tying with their 6–0 win against theColorado Rockies in Game 3 of the2018 NLDS.^[26]

In the top of the first inning,Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run home run off Brewers starterAaron Ashby to take the lead for the Cubs. In the bottom of the first,Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run home run to left field to tie the game at 3–3. Ashby pitched1+2⁄3 innings, allowing three hits and three runs while striking out only one batter. Cubs starterShota Imanaga pitched2+2⁄3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs while striking out three batters. In the bottom of the third inning,William Contreras hit a solo home run to put the Brewers ahead, 4–3. In the bottom of the fourth inning,Jackson Chourio hit a three-run home run to give the Brewers a 7–3 lead. Brewers rookie pitcherJacob Misiorowski pitched three innings of shutout relief to earn the win.Abner Uribe struck the Cubs out in order in the ninth for the Brewers to take a 2–0 lead over their divisional rivals.^[27]

In the top of the first inning,Christian Yelich scored on an RBI sacrifice fly bySal Frelick, giving the Brewers a 1−0 lead.Michael Busch hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning for the Cubs, tying the game at 1−1.Nico Hoerner andKyle Tucker also scored in the bottom of the first inning off an RBI single byPete Crow-Armstrong, giving the Cubs a 3−1 lead. Brewers starting pitcherQuinn Priester only pitched2⁄3 of an inning, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks while striking out only one batter.Ian Happ would go on to score on a wild pitch byNick Mears, extending the Cubs' first-inning lead to 4−1. In the top of the fourth inning, Frelick would score on an RBI single byJake Bauers, which cut the Cubs' lead to 4−2. Cubs' starting pitcherJameson Taillon pitched four innings, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three batters. Bauers hit a lead-off solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Cubs' lead to one run, 4−3.Brad Keller pitched1+1⁄3 innings to earn the save as the Cubs avoided elimination and forced a Game 4.^[28]

In the bottom of the first inning,Ian Happ hit a three-run home run off Brewers starterFreddy Peralta to give the Cubs a 3–0 lead. Cubs starterMatthew Boyd pitched4+2⁄3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and striking out six batters. Peralta pitched four innings, allowing three hits and three runs (all earned) while walking two and striking out six. In the bottom of the sixth inning,Matt Shaw scoredCarson Kelly with an RBI single to extend the Cubs' lead to 4–0. In the bottom of the seventh inning,Kyle Tucker pushed the lead to 5–0 with a solo home run to center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning,Michael Busch hit a solo home run, his third of the series, to extend the lead to 6–0. Four Cub relievers shut out the Brewers whileCaleb Thielbar got the final out afterCaleb Durbin grounded out to even the series and force a winner-take-all Game 5.^[29] The loss marked Milwaukee's ninth straight postseason road defeat.^[30]

In the bottom of the first inning,William Contreras hit a solo home run off Cubs starterDrew Pomeranz for the Brewers to take the lead at 1–0. In the top of the second inning,Seiya Suzuki hit a solo home run off Brewers relieverJacob Misiorowski to tie the game at 1–1. Pomeranz pitched one inning, allowing one hit and one run while striking out only one batter. In the bottom of the fourth inning,Andrew Vaughn hit a solo home run to left field to put the Brewers ahead, 2–1. Misiorowski pitched four innings, allowing three hits and only one run while striking out only three batters. In the bottom of the seventh inning,Brice Turang hit a solo home run to extend the Brewers' lead to 3–1.Abner Uribe got the save for the Brewers by pitching the last two innings of winner-take-all Game 5, and the Brewers headed to the NLCS for the third time, and fourth overall LCS, in franchise history.^[31]

2025NLDS (3–2):Milwaukee Brewers overChicago Cubs

This was the sixth playoff match-up between thePhiladelphia Phillies andLos Angeles Dodgers, tying Cincinnati–Pittsburgh and Los Angeles–St. Louis for most frequent playoff meetings in the National League.^[32] Los Angeles won the first two match-ups in1977 and1978, while Philadelphia have won the last three, in1983,2008, and2009.

Cristopher Sánchez started the game for Philadelphia, while Dodgers' two-way starShohei Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to start at pitcher and another position in the same postseason game, and just the fourth player overall to ever start a postseason game at pitcher and another position, with the prior three (Smoky Joe Wood,Babe Ruth andRick Ankiel) having began their careers as pitchers before becoming full-time position players later on.^[33] In the bottom of the second inning, Ohtani walkedAlec Bohm and allowed a single toBrandon Marsh to begin the inning beforeJ. T. Realmuto drove both in with a two-run triple to give the Phillies a 2–0 lead.Harrison Bader scored Realmuto on a sacrifice fly two batters later to make the score 3–0. Ohtani pitched six innings, allowing three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out nine in his first-ever postseason start. Meanwhile, Sánchez allowed just three baserunners in his first5+2⁄3 innings, while striking out eight, but was chased from the game with two outs in the sixth inning after allowing a walk toFreddie Freeman, a single toTommy Edman, and a two-run double toKiké Hernández in succession to bring the Dodgers within a run at 3–2. Sanchez finished having allowed four total hits and two earned runs in his5+2⁄3 innings of work. In the top of the seventh inning,David Robertson, who had come on to record the final out of the sixth, allowed a single toAndy Pages and hitWill Smith to lead off the inning. He was replaced by Matt Strahm, who retired the next two hitters but surrendered a three-run home run toTeoscar Hernández to give the Dodgers a 5–3 lead. Los Angeles' prospective Game 4 starting pitcherTyler Glasnow relieved Ohtani, getting through the seventh before loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth on a single and two walks.Alex Vesia entered with two outs in the inning and induced a flyout fromEdmundo Sosa to escape the bases-loaded jam with the Dodgers' two-run lead still intact.Roki Sasaki earned his first ever save, regular or postseason, by pitching a perfect ninth inning to secure Game 1 for the defending champion Dodgers.^[34]

The game was a scoreless pitching duel through six innings betweenBlake Snell andJesús Luzardo. Luzardo allowed three hits while giving up one run and striking out five, but gave up two runs in the seventh.Teoscar Hernández scored the game's first run off aKiké Hernández fielder's choice, giving the Dodgers a 1−0 lead. Later in the inning, catcherWill Smith hit a two-out RBI single to scoreFreddie Freeman and Kiké Hernández, extending the lead to 3–0. AShohei Ohtani RBI single further extended the lead to 4–0. Snell pitched six innings, allowing one hit and four walks while striking out nine. In the bottom of the eighth inning,Max Kepler scored on aTrea Turner RBI single to get the Phillies on the board. In the bottom of the ninth inning,Nick Castellanos hit a two-run RBI double offBlake Treinen to scoreAlec Bohm andJ.T. Realmuto, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 4–3.Roki Sasaki came into the game with a tying run on third and retired Turner to get his second career save as the Dodgers took a 2–0 series lead. On the final out,Tommy Edman threw the ball low, uncommon for a throw from second base to first base, and first baseman Freeman had to stretch unusually far off the bag to make the out.^[35][36]

Phillies starterAaron Nola pitched two innings while striking out only three batters. In the bottom of the third inning,Tommy Edman hit a leadoff solo home run off Phillies relieverRanger Suárez to take a 1–0 lead for the Dodgers. In the top of the fourth inning,Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run to tie the game at 1−1. Later in the inning,Bryce Harper scored on a throwing error fromTeoscar Hernández andBrandon Marsh hit a sacrifice fly, putting the Phillies ahead, 3–1. Dodgers starterYoshinobu Yamamoto pitched four innings, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out only two batters. In the top of the eighth inning,J. T. Realmuto hit a solo home run to left center field to extend the Phillies' lead to 4–1. A two-run RBI single fromTrea Turner and a two-run home run from Schwarber in the top of the eighth inning further extended the lead to 8–1. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Edman scoredKiké Hernández to cut the Phillies' lead to 8–2. The Phillies got the final out whenShohei Ohtani hit a fly out to right field and they avoided a series sweep to force a Game 4.^[37]

Game four started scoreless for the first six innings, with Dodgers starterTyler Glasnow pitching six innings, giving up zero runs on two hits and three walks while striking out eight batters. In the top of the seventh inning, with a runner on first and nobody out, the Dodgers attempted to turn adouble play onMax Kepler's groundball to first, but relief pitcherEmmet Sheehan was unable to secure the second out while covering first base, allowing the ball to go into the dugout and advancing Kepler to second.Nick Castellanos followed with an RBI double, giving the Phillies a 1−0 lead. Phillies starterCristopher Sánchez pitched6+1⁄3 innings, allowing five hits and two walks, while striking out five batters, and was relieved by closerJhoan Durán after allowing a walk and a single with one out in the seventh inning. After a groundout advanced both runners,Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked to load the bases. Duran then walkedMookie Betts on a full count, forcing in pinch runnerJustin Dean to tie the game at 1–1 with the run charged to Sánchez, before striking outTeoscar Hernández to end the threat. Beginning in the eighth inning, Dodgers closerRoki Sasaki pitched three innings of relief without allowing a baserunner, with three Phillies relievers combining to do the same over the same period. In the top of the 11th inning,Bryce Harper walked and reached second on a wild pitch by Dodger relieverAlex Vesia, but was stranded there. In the bottom of the inning,Tommy Edman singled off of Philadelphia's Game 2 starterJesus Lúzardo with one out, andMax Muncy singled with two outs before Luzardo was lifted forOrion Kerkering. Kerkering walkedKiké Hernandez to load the bases. The next batter,Andy Pages, hit acomebacker that Kerkering was unable to field cleanly; Kerkering decided to attempt a force play at home, but the throw was well wide of catcherJ. T. Realmuto. The error allowed pinch runnerHyeseong Kim to score, sealing the series and sending the Dodgers to the NLCS for the second consecutive year.^[38] Kerkering's error was the second time in league history that a postseason series ended on an error, following the walk-off error byRougned Odor in Game 3 of the2016 ALDS.

2025NLDS (3–1):Los Angeles Dodgers beatPhiladelphia Phillies

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