2013 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season St. Louis Cardinals (3) Mike Matheny 97–65, .599, GA: 3 Pittsburgh Pirates (2) Clint Hurdle 94–68, .580, GB: 3
Dates	October 3–9
Television	TBS (Games 1, 3–5) MLB Network (Game 2)
TV announcers	Dick Stockton,Bob Brenly andMatt Winer (TBS) Bob Costas,Jim Kaat andSam Ryan (MLBN)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dave Flemming andRick Sutcliffe
Umpires	Jerry Layne (crew chief),Jim Joyce,Sam Holbrook,Paul Nauert,Wally Bell,Tony Randazzo
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Dodgers (3) Don Mattingly 92–70, .568, GA: 11 Atlanta Braves (1) Fredi González 96–66, .593, GA: 10
Dates	October 3–7
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Ernie Johnson,Ron Darling,Cal Ripken Jr. andCraig Sager
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andOrel Hershiser
Umpires	John Hirschbeck (crew chief),Laz Diaz,Marvin Hudson,Bill Miller,Tim Welke,Hunter Wendelstedt
NLWC	Pittsburgh Pirates defeatedCincinnati Reds, 6–2
← 2012 NLDS 2014 →

The2013National League Division Series were two best-of-five-game series on theNational League side in Major League Baseball’s2013 postseason to determine the teams to participate in the2013 National League Championship Series. The three divisional winners (seeded 1-3 based on record) and a fourth team — the winner ofa one-game Wild Card playoff — played in two series.TBS carried most of the games, with some onMLB Network.

These matchups were:

• (1)St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champions) vs. (4)Pittsburgh Pirates (Wild Card Game winner):^[1] Cardinals win series 3–2.
• (2)Atlanta Braves (East Division champions) vs. (3)Los Angeles Dodgers (West Division champions):^[2] Dodgers win series 3–1.

^[3]

The Pirates made their first postseason appearance since 1992, and their first appearance in the Division Series in franchise history (and only one as of 2025).

The Cardinals would go on to defeat the Dodgers in the NLCS, then lose the2013 World Series to the American League championBoston Red Sox.

St. Louis won the series, 3–2.

Los Angeles won the series, 3–1.

This was the first postseason meeting between the currentNational League Central division rivals St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals set a new NLDS record with seven runs in the third inning.^[14]Adam Wainwright drew a leadoff walk, thenMatt Carpenter singled beforeCarlos Beltrán's towering three-run home run (443 feet (135 m)), his 15th in post-season play tyingBabe Ruth for eighth place on the list, put the Cardinals up 3–0. OnlyDerek Jeter (20) andAlbert Pujols (18) among active players have more.^[15] A double, hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases beforeJon Jay walked to force in another run, thenDavid Freese cleared the bases with a single aided by an error to knock starterA. J. Burnett out of the game.Pedro Alvarez's leadoff home run in the fifth off Wainwright provided the only run for the Pirates. The Cardinals added a run in the bottom of the inning offJeanmar Gomez onDaniel Descalso's forceout with runners on first and second aided by an error. Next inningMatt Adams walked with two outs before scoring the Cardinals' last run onYadier Molina's double. Wainwright pitches seven innings allowing just one run, three hits while striking out nine.Carlos Martinez andTrevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth respectively as the Cardinals took a 1–0 series lead.

The Pirates scored first with two outs in the second inning offLance Lynn asGerrit Cole drove inPedro Álvarez with a single afterJordy Mercer was intentionally walked. Alvarez hit his second home run of the series in the third, a two-run line drive. The Pirates added to their lead in the fifth whenJustin Morneau doubled with one out and scored onMarlon Byrd's double. After Alvarez walked,Seth Maness relieved Lynn andRussell Martin plated Byrd with a single. The Cardinals got on the board with a home run fromYadier Molina in the bottom of the fifth offGerrit Cole. It was his third post-season home run. The Pirates added to their lead in the seventh inning as Martin plated Byrd again, this time via a sacrifice fly offKevin Siegrist, thenStarling Marte's lead off home run next inning offShelby Miller capped the game's scoring at 7–1. Cole pitched six innings and three relievers held the Cardinals scoreless in the last three innings as the Pirates tied the series heading to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates opened up their first non-Wild Card postseason home game in 21 years by scoring two runs in the first inning onMarlon Byrd's single with runners on second and third offJoe Kelly. The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth with a two-out two-run single byCarlos Beltrán offFrancisco Liriano. The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the sixth on a double and two walks off Kelly, who was relieved bySeth Maness, and took the lead onRussell Martin's sacrifice fly. Beltran's home run in the eighth offMark Melancon tied the game again. The home run was Beltran's 16th playoff home run, which moved him pastBabe Ruth for eighth place in postseason history. In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates got two on with one out off Carlos Martinez, who was relieved byKevin Siegrist. Back-to-back RBI singles byPedro Alvarez and Martin put the Pirates up 5–3. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth for the save as the Pirates took a 2–1 series lead. In the four playoff games since this one, the Pirates have failed to score 5 runs yet.

Game 4 featured a pitching gem from St. Louis Cardinals rookieMichael Wacha. Wacha held the Pirates to just three base runners (one hit, two walks) through7+1⁄3 innings pitched. It was the longest no-hitter length by a rookie pitcher sinceJeff Tesreau went5+1⁄3 innings with no hits allowed for the1912 New York Giants. Wacha was acquired in the 2012 draft with the 19th overall pick, from theLos Angeles Angels as compensation for losingAlbert Pujols.^[19] Pedro Alvarez broke up Wacha's no-hitter in the eighth with his third home run of the series. That was the only hit the Pirates got in the whole game.Matt Holliday provided all the runs the Cardinals needed with his two-run homer in the sixth.Charlie Morton, the opposing starting pitcher, went5+2⁄3 innings pitched, allowing just those two runs. With the Game 4 win, the Cardinals guaranteed a Game 5, making it the third straight NLDS Game 5 in as many years.Trevor Rosenthal picked up his first career post-season save.

Game 5 pivoted Game 1 winnerAdam Wainwright against the Pirates' rookie and Game 2 winnerGerrit Cole. The Cardinals got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning asJon Jay walked with two-outs andDavid Freese broke the tie with a two-run home run. The Cardinals added to their lead in the sixth as Jay singled homeMatt Holliday to make it 3–0 offJustin Wilson. The Pirates made some two-out noise in the top of the seventh asJustin Morneau,Marlon Byrd andPedro Alvarez all singled (the last driving home Morneau), but Wainwright was able to getRussell Martin to ground out to end the threat. As of 2024, this is the last run the Pirates have scored in the postseason. Entering the bottom of the eighth and with the Cardinals leading 3–1, they put the game out of reach asMatt Adams hit a two-run home run offMark Melancon to make it 5–1. After allowing a walk and single, Melancon was relieved byJason Grilli, who allowed an RBI single toPete Kozma. Wainwright finished the complete game by striking out Alvarez with two runners on base to send the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series against theLos Angeles Dodgers. Wainwright joinsJohn Smoltz as the only pitchers in postseason history with three or more wins as a starter and at least three saves.^[21] Adam Wainwright also became the 5th Cardinal to pitch a CG with one ER in a winner-take-all postseason game. This was umpire Wally Bell's final MLB game as he died five days later of a heart attack.^[22]

2013 NLDS(3–2):St. Louis Cardinals overPittsburgh Pirates

This was the second postseason meeting between the Dodgers and Braves. The Braves previously defeated the Dodgers 3–0 in the1996 NLDS.

Game 1 of the series featured a pitching match-up ofKris Medlen againstClayton Kershaw. Kershaw would go on to strike out 12 Atlanta Braves batters in seven innings, whileKris Medlen was forced out after just four innings pitched. Kershaw's 12 strikeouts was the third most strikeouts by a Dodger pitcher in the playoffs, behind onlySandy Koufax (15 in the1963 World Series) andCarl Erskine (14 in the1953 World Series).^[23]His six straight strikeouts in the game tied an MLB post-season record set byTim Belcher in game 2 of the1988 NLCS.Yasiel Puig andJuan Uribe hit one-out singles in the second, thenSkip Schumaker's sacrifice fly andA.J. Ellis's double scored a run each. Next inning,Adrián González's two-run home run made it 4–0 Dodgers.Mark Ellis's RBI double next inning made it 5–0 Dodgers. The Braves scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth onChris Johnson's RBI single with two on. The Dodgers scored their last run in the sixth when Ellis singled with one out offJordan Walden and scored onHanley Ramirez's double.Brian Wilson (baseball) andKenley Jansen pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively for the Dodgers, who took a 1–0 series lead.^[24]

In Game 2, the Dodgers struck first whenMark Ellis walked with one out in the first and scored onHanley Ramírez's double offMike Minor, but the Braves tied the score in the second whenEvan Gattis hit a leadoff single offZack Greinke and scored onAndrelton Simmons's two-out double.Freddie Freeman doubled to lead off the fourth and scored onChris Johnson's two-out single to put the Braves up 2–1. In the bottom of the seventh,Brian McCann drew a leadoff walk, then Johnson singled offChris Withrow. After a sacrifice bunt and strikeout,Paco Rodriguez relieved Withrow and intentionally walkedReed Johnson beforeJason Heyward's two-run single made it 4–1 Braves. Ramirez's home run in the eighth after a walk offDavid Carpenter cut the lead to 4–3.^[25]Craig Kimbrel recorded the four out save and the Braves evened the series at one game each.^[26] Braves shortstopAndrelton Simmons and Braves catcherGerald Laird combined for a huge defensive play in the ninth inning throwing out Dodger's base runnerDee Gordon when he attempted to steal second base.^[27] This would end up being the final postseason game at Turner Field, as the Braves would not reach the postseason again before moving toSunTrust Park in 2017.

Game 3 featured two rookies:Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers andJulio Teherán for the Braves. It was an offensive explosion from both teams in the early innings. In the top of the first,Justin Upton doubled with one out and scored onEvan Gattis's single. After a walk, Gattis scored onChris Johnson's single. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the second inning on two singles and a walk beforeHyun-jin Ryu's sacrifice fly scored a run, thenCarl Crawford's three-run home run put them up 4–2. The Braves loaded the bases in the third on three straight leadoff singles beforeBrian McCann's groundout and Johnson's fielder's choice scored a run each to tie the game. In the bottom of the inning,Hanley Ramírez hit a leadoff double then scored onAdrián González's single. Two outs later,Skip Schumaker's RBI single made it 6–4 Dodgers and knocked Teheran out of the game. The next inning,Carl Crawford reached on an error, then scored on Ramirez's triple offAlex Wood. After González struck out, Ramirez scored onYasiel Puig's single beforeJuan Uribe's home run made it 10–4, all four runs were unearned. In the eighth, Ramirez hit an RBI single with two on and two outs offJordan Walden, who was relieved byLuis Avilan. González and Puig then hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 13–4. In the ninth,Jason Heyward's two-run home run offPaco Rodriguez made it 13–6 Dodgers. After allowing a walk and single, Rodriguez was relieved byKenley Jansen, who struck outBrian McCann to end the game and give the Dodgers a 2–1 series lead. Hanley Ramirez continued his torrid NLDS by hitting two more extra base hits, tying a Dodgers franchise record for extra-base hits in a playoff series set bySteve Garvey andDuke Snider.^[28]Additionally, the 13 runs scored was a Dodgers record for a playoff game.^[29]

At the age of 35 years,Chris Capuano picked up his first career post-season victory with three scoreless innings in relief of Ryu.

The Dodgers broughtClayton Kershaw back on short rest in Game 4 and he pitched six innings.Carl Crawford hit homers in his first two at-bats offFreddy García in the first and third, the first Dodger to do so in the playoffs sinceShawn Green in the2004 National League Division Series.^[30] The Braves put runners on second and third with one out on a single and error byAdrián González, who committed another error in the first, whenChris Johnson's single andAndrelton Simmons's groundout scored a run each, tying the game, both runs unearned.Elliot Johnson tripled with one out, then an RBI single byJosé Constanza offRonald Belisario in the seventh gave the Braves the lead, but the Dodgers went back up on a two-run homer byJuan Uribe in the eighth offDavid Carpenter.^[31]Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth to preserve the 4–3 series clinching victory for the Dodgers.^[32][33]

2013 NLDS(3–1):Los Angeles Dodgers overAtlanta Braves

• 2013 National League Division Series Pittsburgh v St. Louis atBaseball Reference
• 2013 National League Division Series Atlanta v Los Angeles Dodgers atBaseball Reference

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