2001 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Atlanta Braves (3) Bobby Cox 88–74, .543, GA: 2 Houston Astros (0) Larry Dierker 93–69, .574, GA: 0
Dates	October 9–12
Television	Fox Family (Games 1–2) Fox (Game 3)
TV announcers	Kenny Albert andRod Allen (in Houston) Mel Proctor andRod Allen (in Atlanta)
Radio	ESPN (National) WSB (ATL) KTRH (HOU)
Radio announcers	Wayne Hagin andBuck Showalter
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Arizona Diamondbacks (3) Bob Brenly 92–70, .568, GA: 2 St. Louis Cardinals (2) Tony La Russa 93–69, .574, GB: 0
Dates	October 9–14
Television	Fox Family (Games 1–4) Fox (Game 5)
TV announcers	Thom Brennaman andSteve Lyons (Games 1–2) Joe Buck andTim McCarver (Game 3–5)
Radio	ESPN (National) KTAR (AZ) KMOX (STL)
Radio announcers	Charley Steiner andDave Campbell
Umpires	Bruce Froemming,Chuck Meriwether,Mike Winters,Brian Gorman,Jim Joyce,Mike Everitt (Astros–Braves, in Houston; Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Games 3–5) Randy Marsh,John Hirschbeck,Larry Young,Tim Tschida,Dale Scott,Alfonso Márquez (Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Games 1–2; Astros–Braves, in Atlanta)
← 2000 NLDS 2002 →

The2001 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of theNational League side in Major League Baseball’s2001 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 9, and ended on Sunday, October 14, 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)Houston Astros (Central Division champion, 93–69) vs. (3)Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champion, 88–74): Braves win series, 3–0.
• (2)Arizona Diamondbacks (Western Division champion, 92–70) vs. (4)St. Louis Cardinals (Wild Card, 93–69): Diamondbacks win series, 3–2.^[1]

The Diamondbacks and Braves went on to meet in theNL Championship Series (NLCS). The Diamondbacks became the National League champion, and defeated theAmerican League championNew York Yankees in the2001 World Series.

Atlanta won the series, 3–0.

Arizona won the series, 3–2.

TheAtlanta Braves won their tenth straight division title, despite having the worst record (88–74) among playoff teams. With that record, 2001 was also the Braves' worst season since1990, when they had the worst record in baseball. TheHouston Astros were in the playoffs for the seventh time, hoping to avenge two postseason losses in the 1990s to the Braves. At 93–69, and having home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Astros were heavily favored to win this series.

In Game 1,Greg Maddux of Atlanta facedWade Miller of Houston.Brian Jordan drove in the first two runs of the game, hitting a sacrifice fly in the first with runners on first and third and a homer in the fourth.Brad Ausmus's two-run homer after a walk tied the game in the fifth for the Astros. ThenMoisés Alou's groundout with runners on second and third in the sixth gave the Astros the lead, but the Braves refused to concede. In the eighth,Keith Lockhart hit a leadoff double off ofMike Jackson and scored onMarcus Giles's single to tie the game.Julio Franco reached on an error beforeBilly Wagner relieved Jackson and allowed a tie-breaking three-run home run toChipper Jones.Andruw Jones's leadoff home run in the ninth off ofMike Williams made it 7–3.Vinny Castilla's leadoff home run in the bottom half gave the Astros that run back, butJohn Smoltz got the save as the Braves won 7–4.

In Game 2,Tom Glavine andDave Mlicki started a classic pitching duel. In the top of the second,B. J. Surhoff doubled to lead off the inning. ThenAndruw Jones singled to the shortstop and an error byJulio Lugo put Surhoff on third.Rey Sánchez would then ground into a double play, but Surhoff would score to make it 1–0 Braves. In all but two innings the Astros had a hit and stranded five in the game. Glavine pitched eight innings and Smoltz recorded his second consecutive postseason save.

In Game 3,Shane Reynolds of Houston facedJohn Burkett of the Braves. In the bottom of the second,Rey Sanchez doubled with two outs beforePaul Bako's two-run homer put the Braves up 2–0. In the third,Julio Franco homered to make it 3–0. Then a squeeze play sacrifice bunt by Bako in the fourth with runners on first and third made it 4–0. Reynolds only lasted four innings and Burkett cruised until giving up a two-run homer toDaryle Ward in the seventh.Chipper Jones's two-run homer provided insurance in the bottom of the eighth of offOctavio Dotel and Smoltz once again dominated the ninth. Ausmus flied to center to end the series. Once again, the Astros had been denied by the Braves for their first ever postseason series win. This was the last postseason series win by the Braves until 2020, when they swept the Cincinnati Reds in the newly-addedWild Card Series.

2001 NLDS(3–0):Atlanta Braves overHouston Astros

TheSt. Louis Cardinals were making their second straight postseason appearance and they hoped to avenge their NLCS loss against theNew York Mets in2000. TheArizona Diamondbacks were making their second playoff appearance and they too were stunned by theMets in1999, having won 100 games that year. This was the first NLDS to go to 5 games.

Game 1 was a game of excellent starting pitching.Matt Morris facedCurt Schilling, who made the most of his first playoff start in eight years. Both pitchers were on even terms until Arizona scored the game's only run in the bottom of the fifth whenSteve Finley singled homeDamian Miller, who was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Schilling pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout as Arizona won 1–0 to take a 1–0 series lead.

In Game 2,Woody Williams of St. Louis facedRandy Johnson of Arizona. Johnson seemingly had the Cardinals in the first when he gotPlácido Polanco to ground into a double play. ButÉdgar Rentería walked and the soon-to-be-named NL Rookie of the YearAlbert Pujols hit his first playoff home run to make it 2–0. Williams hit a leadoff doubled in the third, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Polanco's sac fly that made it 3–0 Cardinals. The D'Backs scored a run in the eighth onDanny Bautista's groundout off ofSteve Kline with runners on second and third (the run charged to Williams), but an errant throw to first by pitcherMiguel Batista in the ninth onKerry Robinson's ground ball with runners on second and third gave the Cardinals that run back. Williams pitched seven excellent innings, andSteve Kline got the save in the bottom of the ninth to even the series.

In Game 3, Batista returned to the mound to start for Arizona. Opposing him would beDarryl Kile. Both pitchers kept the game scoreless untilJim Edmonds's two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth gave the Cardinals a 2–0 lead.Luis Gonzalez responded with a homer off the right field pole to make it a one-run game in the sixth. Then the Diamondbacks came back in dramatic fashion. After Kile allowed a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh,Mike Matthews came on in relief and allowed a one-out single beforeGreg Colbrunn tied the game with an RBI single. A fielder's choice put two men on for eventual NLCS MVPCraig Counsell. He then hit a three-run home run to right that put the D'Backs up 5–2. Rentería's home run in the bottom of the inning off ofBrian Anderson made it 5–3, butByung-hyun Kim closed the door in the ninth despite allowing a leadoff single and subsequent walk to earn the save.Tragically, this wound up being Kile's final playoff game.

Originally slated for a 12:12pm first pitch, the game was delayed 3 hours & 36 minutes due to inclement weather.

Albie Lopez looked to close the door on the Cards. Opposing him would be rookieBud Smith. Smith got into trouble in the top of the first when he allowed two walks andSteve Finley singled home a run to make it 1–0 Diamondbacks. However,Fernando Viña hit a leadoff single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored onJ. D. Drew's single to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. ThenJim Edmonds's home run in the bottom of the second put the Cardinals up for good.Fernando Viña's two-run homer after a walk in the third gave the Cardinals insurance. Smith pitched five innings, allowing just one run, for the win. Both bullpens held the other team to nothing for the rest of the game as the series was once again tied.

In the clinching Game 5,Matt Morris once again facedCurt Schilling. Both pitchers were on their game, allowing only one run throughout the entire game. Morris was the first to falter in the bottom of the fourth when he gave up a solo home run toReggie Sanders, but that was the only run he allowed in eight innings. Schilling was masterful and was four outs away from winning the series. He was working on a four-hit shutout whenJ. D. Drew tied the game with a home run in the eighth. Schilling pitched a complete game and in the ninth, a leadoff double byMatt Williams off ofDave Veres put the winning run on base. A sacrifice bunt byDamian Miller put pinch runnerMidre Cummings on third.Steve Kline relieved Veres and afterGreg Colbrunn was walked intentionally, Cummings tried to steal home on the squeeze play attempt and got caught. Colbrunn went to second andDanny Bautista came on to pinch run. ThenTony Womack delivered the series winning single to left field. The Diamondbacks won their first postseason series ever and were now going to their first ever NLCS.

2001 NLDS(3–2):Arizona Diamondbacks overSt. Louis Cardinals

For the first and only time,Fox Family andFox carried the National League Division Series, withKenny Albert andRod Allen calling the action of Game 1 and Game 2 of theAtlanta–Houston series forFox Family, whileMel Proctor andRod Allen called the action of Game 3 of theAtlanta–Houston series forFox.Fox Family andFox carried the National League Division Series, withThom Brennaman (himself aDiamondbacks broadcaster) andSteve Lyons calling the action of Game 1 and Game 2 of theArizona–St. Louis series forFox Family, whileJoe Buck andTim McCarver called the action of Game 3, Game 4 and Game 5 of theArizona–St. Louis series forFox Family (Games 3–4), andFox (Game 5).ESPN Radio provided national radio coverage for the fourth consecutive year, withWayne Hagin andBuck Showalter calling the action of theAtlanta–Houston series, whileCharley Steiner andDave Campbell called the action of theArizona–St. Louis series.

Locally, theArizona–St. Louis portion of the 2001 NLDS was called onKTAR-AM inPhoenix byGreg Schulte,Jeff Munn,Rod Allen (Games 4–5) andJim Traber, and onKMOX-AM inSt. Louis byJack Buck (Games 3–4),Mike Shannon andDan McLaughlin (Games 1–2, 5), while theAtlanta–Houston portion of the 2001 NLDS was called onWSB-AM inAtlanta byPete Van Wieren,Skip Caray,Don Sutton andJoe Simpson, and onKTRH-AM inHouston byMilo Hamilton andAlan Ashby.

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

• National League Division Series
• 2001 Major League Baseball season
• Arizona Diamondbacks postseason
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Houston Astros postseason
• 2001 in sports in Arizona
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• 2001 in sports in Missouri
• 2001 in sports in Texas
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• 2000s in Phoenix, Arizona
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• October 2001 sports events in the United States

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