2011 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season St. Louis Cardinals (3) Tony La Russa 90–72, .556, GB: 6 Philadelphia Phillies (2) Charlie Manuel 102–60, .630, GA: 13
Dates	October 1–7
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Dick Stockton,Bob Brenly (Games 1–4),Ron Darling (Game 5) andJohn Smoltz (Game 5)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Sciambi andChris Singleton
Umpires	Jerry Layne (crew chief),Chris Guccione,Jerry Meals,Ángel Hernández,Gary Cederstrom,Chad Fairchild
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Milwaukee Brewers (3) Ron Roenicke 96–66, .593, GA: 6 Arizona Diamondbacks (2) Kirk Gibson 94–68, .580, GA: 8
Dates	October 1–7
Television	TBS TNT (Game 3)
TV announcers	Victor Rojas andJoe Simpson
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dave O'Brien (Games 1–2) Chris Berman (Games 3–5) Rick Sutcliffe (Games 1–4) andBuck Martinez (Game 5)
Umpires	Joe West (crew chief),Ron Kulpa,Alfonso Marquez,Bruce Dreckman,Jeff Kellogg,James Hoye
← 2010 NLDS 2012 →

The2011National League Division Series (abbreviatedNLDS) were twobest-of-five playoffs comprising the first round of theNational League side in Major League Baseball’s2011 postseason, played to determine the participating teams in the2011 National League Championship Series. Three divisional winners and a fourth team—awild card—played in two series.TBS televised all games in the United States (except Game 3 of the Brewers–Diamondbacks series, which aired onTNT due to scheduling conflicts with theALDS). The regular season finished on September 28, with the National League playoffs beginning October 1.^[1][2]

Under MLB's playoff format, no two teams from the same division were matched up in the Division Series, regardless of whether their records would normally indicate such a matchup.Home field advantage went to the team with the better regular-season record with the exception of the wild card team, which defers home field advantage regardless of record. The matchups are:

• (1)Philadelphia Phillies (East Division champions, 102–60) vs. (4)St. Louis Cardinals (Wild Card qualifier, 90–72): Cardinals win series, 3–2.
• (2)Milwaukee Brewers (Central Division champions, 96–66) vs. (3)Arizona Diamondbacks (West Division champions, 94–68): Brewers win series, 3–2.

The Phillies and Cardinals played against each other in the postseason for the first time. The Brewers and Diamondbacks also met for the first time, having both joined the National League in 1998—Arizona as anexpansion team and Milwaukee in a move from the American League after the AL expanded by adding theTampa Bay Rays. The Brewers-Diamondbacks series was also notable as the first postseason series played between two teams in ballparks withretractable roofs.^[3]

This is the first time since the strike-shortened 1981 season that both National League Division Series matchups went to a deciding Game 5 (it happened to the American League in 2001).

The Cardinals defeated the Brewers in the NLCS and went on to win the2011 World Series, defeating the American League championTexas Rangers.

• On September 14, thePhiladelphia Phillies became the first team to qualify for the NLDS (additionally they had the best record in MLB with 102 wins and 60 losses, 13 games over Atlanta in the National League East (NL East) at the end of the 2011 season, as well as the first team in either league to qualify for the postseason).^[4] On September 17, the Phillies clinched theNL East title for the fifth consecutive season.^[5]
• On September 23, after a win over the Marlins and the Cardinals' loss to the Cubs, theMilwaukee Brewers clinched theNL Central title. It was the Brewers' first NL Central title since joining the division in 1998, their first of any kind since winning the1982 American League pennant, when they won theAL East title, and their first playoff berth since2008.^[6]
• Also on September 23, theArizona Diamondbacks clinched theNL West, their first time since2007.^[7]
• On September 28, after making up over a 10-game deficit in the final month of the season and going into the season's last day tied with the Braves for the last playoff berth, theSt. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Wild Card by beating the Astros while the Braves lost in extra innings to the Phillies.^[8]

St. Louis won the series, 3–2.

Milwaukee won the series, 3–2.

The Cardinals struck first onLance Berkman's three-run home run off Phillies' starterRoy Halladay in the first inning. The Phillies fought back onShane Victorino's RBI single in the fourth, andRyan Howard put Philadelphia ahead with a second-deck three-run shot in the sixth. Two batters later,Raúl Ibañez hit a two-run homer to give the Phillies a three-run lead. Ibañez's homer was the decisive blow to Cardinals' starterKyle Lohse, who was out of the game after5+1⁄3 innings. Next inning, the Phillies loaded the bases on three singles with no outs off ofMarc Rzepczynski, who was then relieved byMitchell Boggs. AfterHunter Pence hit into a force out at home, Howard's sacrifice fly followed by RBI singles by Victorino and Ibañez made it 9–3 Phillies. Next inning,Jimmy Rollins walked with two outs, thenChase Utley doubled before both men scored on Pence's single. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals scored three runs onAdron Chambers' RBI single andSkip Schumaker's two-run double off relieverMichael Stutes, but closerRyan Madson struck outJon Jay andMatt Holliday to seal the win for the Phillies.

The Phillies scored early on RBI singles byRyan Howard andRaúl Ibañez in the first inning.Hunter Pence's single in the second scoredJimmy Rollins and gave the Phillies a 4–0 lead. WithCliff Lee on the mound, who was 7–2 in the postseason and 3–0 in the League Division Series, andChris Carpenter, who pitched on three days' rest, was out after three innings, things did not look good for the Cardinals. However, the offense started to do their work in the fourth, whenRyan Theriot,Jon Jay, andRafael Furcal each knocked in one run for the Cardinals. Jay singled again in the sixth to tie the game andAlbert Pujols' RBI single in the seventh gave the Cardinals the lead. The Cardinals' bullpen picked up where Carpenter left off, combined to throw six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. Cardinals closerJason Motte pitched a four-out save to seal the win.

This was the third consecutive postseason loss for Lee going back to the2010 World Series.

After six scoreless innings from both starting pitchers, the Phillies sentBen Francisco to pinch-hit forCole Hamels, following an intentional walk toCarlos Ruiz, and a single byShane Victorino. Francisco homered off the second pitch fromJaime García 405 feet (123 m) over the left center wall to give the Phillies a 3–0 lead.

In the sixth inning, a squirrel—soon to become more famous the next day under the name "Rally Squirrel"—appeared in the outfield, causing a brief interruption in play.^[19] The incident was even immortalized in a promo for the "Legends are Born in October" ad campaign, complete with the background music set to the ads from that campaign,Tinie Tempah's "Written in the Stars."^[20]

In the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals added a run withAllen Craig scoring off an RBI single byDavid Freese. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals were able to load the bases with one out, thanks to singles byRyan Theriot, pinch hitterMatt Holliday, andRafael Furcal. However, the Cardinals were not able to capitalize, with Craig grounding out into an inning ending double play. In the bottom of the ninth, Pujols led off with his third double of the game. Following a flyout byLance Berkman and a ground out by Freese (which sent Pujols to third),Yadier Molina singled to center, bringing Pujols home, and making it a one-run game. Theriot then grounded out to second to end the game, giving the Phillies a 2–1 series lead.

Before the second-largest crowd (47,071) inBusch Stadium history, the Cardinals staved off elimination with a 5–3 home victory over the Phillies. The Phils struck first with two runs in the first inning offEdwin Jackson.Jimmy Rollins doubled and scored on a triple byChase Utley, who came home onHunter Pence's single to make it 2–0. The Cards cut the lead to 2–1 in the bottom half whenLance Berkman doubled inSkip Schumaker. Berkman advanced to third whenShane Victorino misplayed the ball, but was unable to score. Meanwhile, Jackson settled down after the shaky first, allowing only two hits in the next five innings. The Cards took the lead onDavid Freese's two-run double in the fourth, scoring Berkman andMatt Holliday to make it 3–2, Cardinals.

In the fifth inning, theRally Squirrel again appeared, crossing home plate as Oswalt was delivering a pitch toSkip Schumaker. The pitch was called a ball, but Oswalt and managerCharlie Manuel argued for "no pitch", which appeal was denied by home-plate umpireÁngel Hernández. Schumaker then flied out, but the Rally Squirrel went on to become acause célèbre in St. Louis.^{[21][22][23][24]}

St. Louis extended their lead to 5–2 in the sixth when Freese hit a two-run homer to the grassy area in center field. After that, the Cards' bullpen took it the rest of the way.Arthur Rhodes pitched a 1–2–3 seventh, butFernando Salas ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing a run on a wild pitch to cut the Cardinals' lead to 5–3. The Phillies would bring the tying run to the plate in the form of St. Louis nativeRyan Howard later in the inning, butMarc Rzepczynski struck out Howard to escape the jam. In the bottom half,Albert Pujols batted againstBrad Lidge, a pitcher whom Pujols victimized with a three-run home run in the2005 playoffs, when Lidge was withHouston. Lidge, however, got Pujols to fly out to right.Jason Motte got the save by retiring the Phillies in order in the ninth. Center fielderJon Jay made a sliding catch of a line drive by former CardinalPlácido Polanco for the final out.

The Cardinals struck first in the first inning when leadoff batterRafael Furcal hit a triple andSkip Schumaker followed with a double, but no other runs were scored withRoy Halladay laboring through over 30 pitches in that inning. In the bottom of the fourth, the Phillies had runners at the corners with two outs. On a 3–2 count, batterRaúl Ibañez got a cutter down the middle and hit it deep to right field. The TV camera focused on the right field stands, but would move down to showLance Berkman making the catch at the warning track.^[25][26] Halladay was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth after giving up six hits and one run, throwing 126 pitches, 87 for strikes. He walked one (intentional toAlbert Pujols), striking out seven.Ryan Madson replaced Halladay in the ninth.Chris Carpenter gotRyan Howard to ground out to second, capping off a three-hit shutout.^[27] Howard tore his Achilles' tendon on that final play.^[28][29] This was considered the unofficial end of the Phillies mini-dynasty, which started in 2007.^[30]

This was only the third "winner-take-all" game in postseason history to end in a 1–0 score (following Game 7 of the1962 World Series and Game 7 of the1991 World Series)^[31]

This was the Phillies’ most recent postseason game until2022.

2011 NLDS(3–2):St. Louis Cardinals overPhiladelphia Phillies

Game 1 featured both teams' top winning pitchers, with the Diamondbacks' 21-game winnerIan Kennedy going against the Brewers' 17-game winnerYovani Gallardo. The Diamondbacks threatened in the 1st inning, whereWillie Bloomquist was thrown out at home byRyan Braun on a potential RBI single byJustin Upton. After that, Gallardo settled down, pitching 8 stellar innings, tying a franchise postseason record with 9 strikeouts. The Brewers scored first in the 4th when Braun scored on aJerry Hariston sacrifice fly, and then scored again in the 6th whenYuniesky Betancourt tripled and was then driven in by a single byJonathan Lucroy. In the 7th inning, with two outs, Braun doubled for the Brewers, withPrince Fielder coming up. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson went to talk to Kennedy and allowed Kennedy to pitch to Fielder with first base open. This was considered by some observers an eerie case of déjà vu for Gibson, who had been in the same situation at the plate in the1984 World Series whenGoose Gossage chose to pitch to Gibson with 1st base open, and gave up a home run to Gibson. The same thing happened for Fielder, who hit the second pitch he saw from Kennedy out for a 2-run homer, giving the Brewers a comfortable 4–0 lead.Ryan Roberts broke up Gallardo's shutout with a home run in the 8th, but Brewers closerJohn Axford finished off the Diamondbacks in the 9th, giving the Brewers the 4–1 win and the first win of the series.

The Brewers started Game 2 on a high note withRyan Braun hitting a two-run homer in the first inning off ofDaniel Hudson, but starterZack Greinke, pitching on three days' rest, allowed a leadoff home run toPaul Goldschmidt in the second; In the third, Braun doubled with two outs, then scored onPrince Fielder's single before Fielder scored onRickie Weeks's triple. Greinke gave up a solo home run toChris Young in the fourth, then a two-run home run toJustin Upton in the fifth and left with the game in a 4–4 tie. In the sixth,Jerry Hairston doubled with one out.Brad Ziegler relieved Hudson and committed abalk that let Hairston move to third, then walkedYuniesky Betancourt. Hairston scored onJonathan Lucroy's bunt single and an error put runners on second and third. AfterMark Kotsay was intentionally walked to load the bases,Corey Hart's single scored a run,Nyjer Morgan's single scored two more, and Braun's single scored another to give the Brewers a 9–4 lead. The Brewers bullpen pitched scoreless ball for the last four innings in helping the team gain a 2–0 series lead.

With support from the sellout crowd, the Diamondbacks' offense finally broke out in Game 3. The D-backs scored two runs in the first onMiguel Montero's RBI double andPaul Goldschmidt's RBI single, one in the third on Montero's RBI single, and five in the fifth on Goldschmidt'sgrand slam andRyan Roberts' RBI single. Backed up by the offense, starterJosh Collmenter hurled seven innings, allowing two hits, one earned run, and two walks while striking out six. The only run for the Brewers came fromCorey Hart's solo homer in the top of the third. With the 8–1 lead, relieversDavid Hernandez andJ. J. Putz pitched the eighth and the ninth each to seal the win.

The Diamondbacks knocked in ten runs—eight on four homers—to force a decisive Game 5.

The Brewers scored early in the first inning onRyan Braun's RBI double. But the D-backs fought back in the bottom half onRyan Roberts' grand slam andChris Young's solo homer. The Brewers scored two more runs onGeorge Kottaras' RBI groundout in the second andJerry Hairston Jr.'s RBI double in the third. The D-backs answered withCollin Cowgill's two-run single in the bottom of the third. Both starters were ineffective as each pitched only three innings, but the two homers allowed byRandy Wolf made the most difference, putting the Brewers into an early 7–3 hole.

The Brewers continued scoring onCorey Hart's sacrifice fly in the sixth andCarlos Gómez's two-run homer. But the D-backs also scored three more runs onAaron Hill's solo home run in the sixth and Young's two-run homer, his second of the night, in the seventh.Micah Owings got the win for the D-backs with two scoreless innings of relief, and closerJ. J. Putz pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the win for the D-backs.

The Diamondbacks struck first withJustin Upton's solo home run in the top of the third inning, but the Brewers immediately tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with aJerry Hairston Jr.sacrifice fly scoringNyjer Morgan. The Brewers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth whenYuniesky Betancourt hit an RBI single scoringRyan Braun. In the top of the ninthJohn Axford came in on a save situation, but blew it whenWillie Bloomquist hit an RBI bunt single scoringGerardo Parra. Axford was able to escape with a pair offielder's choice outs to Upton andHenry Blanco. The game went into extra innings afterDavid Hernandez pitched a 1–2–3 ninth. In the top of the 10th Axford pitched a 1–2–3 inning of his own, and then withJ. J. Putz pitching in the bottom of the 10th, Morgan hit the walk-off RBI single scoringCarlos Gómez to give Milwaukee the victory.

It was the Brewers' first playoff series win since beating theCalifornia Angels 3–2 in the1982 ALCS, and also made the NLCS for the first time, having moved to theNational League in 1998.

This was only the second Game 5 of a Division Series to require extra innings, after Game 5 of the1995 American League Division Series, which saw theSeattle Mariners defeat theNew York Yankees, courtesy ofThe Double.

2011 NLDS(3–2):Milwaukee Brewers overArizona Diamondbacks

• PHI vs. STL* at Baseball-Reference
• MIL vs. AZ at Baseball-Reference

• 2011 Major League Baseball season
• National League Division Series
• Philadelphia Phillies postseason
• Milwaukee Brewers postseason
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• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
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• October 2011 sports events in the United States

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