2016 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Chicago Cubs (3) Joe Maddon 103–58, .640, GA:17+1⁄2 San Francisco Giants (1) Bruce Bochy 87–75, .537, GB: 4
Dates	October 7–11
Television	FS1 (Games 1, 3–4) MLB Network (Game 2)
TV announcers	Matt Vasgersian,John Smoltz, andKen Rosenthal (FS1) Bob Costas, John Smoltz, and Ken Rosenthal (MLBN)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andAaron Boone
Umpires	John Hirschbeck (crew chief),Marvin Hudson,Mike Muchlinski,Alan Porter,Todd Tichenor andLarry Vanover Replay:Chris Conroy,Kerwin Danley,Gerry Davis,Adrian Johnson.[1]
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Dodgers (3) Dave Roberts 91–71, .562, GA: 4 Washington Nationals (2) Dusty Baker 95–67, .586, GA: 8
Dates	October 7–13
Television	FS1 (Games 1–2, 4–5) MLB Network (Game 3)
TV announcers	Kenny Albert,Harold Reynolds,Tom Verducci, andJ. P. Morosi (FS1) Bob Costas,Jim Kaat, and J. P. Morosi (MLBN)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dave O'Brien andJim Bowden
Umpires	Dan Bellino,Manny González,Chris Guccione,Tom Hallion,Jeff Kellogg (crew chief) andRon Kulpa Replay:Chris Conroy,Kerwin Danley,Gerry Davis,Adrian Johnson.[1]
NLWC	San Francisco Giants defeatedNew York Mets, 3–0
← 2015 NLDS 2017 →

The2016 National League Division Series were two best-of-five-game series on theNational League side in Major League Baseball’s2016 postseason to determine the participating teams in the2016 National League Championship Series. The three divisional winners (seeded 1–3) and a fourth team—the winner ofa one-game Wild Card playoff— played in two series.FS1 andMLB Network carried all the games in the United States.^[2][3]

These matchups were:

• (1)Chicago Cubs (Central Division champions) vs (5)San Francisco Giants (Wild Card Winner): Cubs win series 3–1.
• (2)Washington Nationals (East Division champions) vs (3)Los Angeles Dodgers (West Division champions): Dodgers win series 3–2.

The Dodgers defeated the Nationals in five games and reached theNational League Championship Series for the first time since 2013.^[4]

The Cubs won the Division Series three games to one and advanced to the NLCS for the second consecutive year.^[5] This was the first and only playoff series loss of theBruce Bochy-led Giants.

The Cubs went on to defeat the Dodgers in the NLCS, then win the2016 World Series over the American League championCleveland Indians, their first World title since 1908.

Chicago won the series, 3–1.

Los Angeles won the series, 3–2.

This was the second postseason meeting between the Cubs and Giants. Their last meeting was in the1989 National League Championship Series, which theGiants won in five games. However, they did meet in a Wild Card tiebreaker in 1998 where theCubs advanced, beating theGiants 5–3.^[15]

The Cubs began postseason play with starterJon Lester on the mound facingJohnny Cueto for the Wild Card Game-winning Giants. In the pitching duel, Lester scattered five hits in eight innings of work, shutting out the Giants.^[16] Cueto also blanked the Cubs allowing only two hits until the eighth inning, whenJavier Baez's home run into the left-field basket put the Cubs up 1–0.Aroldis Chapman in the ninth gave up a double toBuster Posey, but earned the save as the Cubs took a 1–0 series lead.

In Game 2, the host Cubs scored in the first inning on aBen Zobrist single off former CubJeff Samardzija.^[17] Starting pitcherKyle Hendricks had the key hit in the second inning, driving in two runs with a single up the middle.Kris Bryant drove in the Cubs' fourth run two batters later, ending Samardzija's day. In the top of the third, the Giants answered, scoring two runs on back-to-back doubles byJoe Panik and pinch-hitterGregor Blanco and a sacrifice fly byBrandon Belt. Hendricks was hit in the arm by anÁngel Pagán line drive, forcing him to leave the game. RelieverTravis Wood ended the Giants' rally and, in the bottom half of the fourth, hit a home run to put the Cubs up 5–2. The homer was the first by a relief pitcher in a postseason game since 1924.^[17] The Cub bullpen ofCarl Edwards Jr.,Mike Montgomery, andHéctor Rondón shut down the Giants withAroldis Chapman getting another save.

The Cubs looked to sweep the series withJake Arrieta facing the Giants'Madison Bumgarner. The host Giants were trying to extend a streak to 10–0 in their last 10 elimination games.^[18] Arrieta hit a three-run homer in the top of the second, putting the Cubs up 3–0. They threatened to chase Bumgarner in the third inning with singles byBen Zobrist andAddison Russell, but failed to score. San Francisco scored in the third following aDenard Span double and again in the fifth after Span's triple.^[19] In the eighth,Travis Wood gave up a single andHéctor Rondón walked a batter. CloserAroldis Chapman came in early to seek a six-out save, but gave up a two-run triple toConor Gillaspie to give the Giants' their first lead of the series. Chapman was lifted after getting only one out. The Giants added a run on a single byBrandon Crawford. In the ninth, trailing 5–3,Dexter Fowler led off with a walk andKris Bryant hit a two-run home run off Giants' closerSergio Romo.^[20]Mike Montgomery took over in the ninth for the Cubs and held the Giants scoreless for four innings. In the 13th, the Giants' Crawford leadoff double was followed by aJoe Panik walk-off double to continue the series.Ty Blach earned the win for the Giants with two inning of scoreless relief.

With the Giants looking to continue their streak of wins in elimination games to 11, the Cubs sentJohn Lackey to the mound againstMatt Moore. Lackey allowed a leadoff double toDenard Span and a sacrifice fly byBuster Posey to give San Francisco an early 1–0 lead.David Ross answered for Chicago in the third with a home run, becoming the oldest catcher ever to homer in a postseason game.^[21] A run-scoring to single by Moore with the bases loaded and a force-out grounder by Span in the fourth put the Giants up 3–1.^[22] The Cubs bounced back with a run in the top of the fifth on a three-base throwing error byBrandon Crawford and a sacrifice fly by Ross.^[21]Justin Grimm relieved Lackey in the bottom of the fifth and surrendered a single to Posey and double by Crawford that just missed being a home run.Travis Wood entered and gave up a single toConor Gillaspie and sacrifice fly toJoe Panik as the Giants went up 5–2. Moore cruised through the next three innings before being lifted to start the ninth, a Game 5 appearing inevitable. However, the Giants ended up using five pitchers in the inning.Kris Bryant singled,Anthony Rizzo walked, andBen Zobrist doubled to make it 5–3. With runners on second and third, Cubs managerJoe Maddon decided to pinch-hit forAddison Russell (and his 95 RBIs) withChris Coghlan. Giants managerBruce Bochy countered with lefty relieverWill Smith and Maddon switched to rookie catcherWillson Contreras instead. Contreras promptly singled up the middle to tie the game at 5.^[23]Jason Heyward's attempted sacrifice bunt was too hard and Contreras was forced out at second, but Gold Glove winner Crawford's throw to first ended up in the dugout, allowing Heyward to reach second.Javier Baez singled up the middle to complete the Cub comeback for 6–5 lead.Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to end the game and series. His three saves and four save opportunities tied and set Division Series records, respectively. It marked the biggest comeback in postseason-clinching history and the first time a team had come back from a three-run deficit in the 9th inning to win a postseason series clincher since theNew York Mets did so in Game 6 of the1986 National League Championship Series.^[23] This was the Giants' first postseason series defeat at home since AT&T Park opened in 2000. This was Chicago's first ever playoff winon the West Coast. The Cubs had lost 10 straight games as the visiting team on the West Coast until beating the Giants in Game 4 (they had lost three games in1984 NLCS, three games in the1989 NLCS, two games in the2007 NLDS, one game in the2008 NLDS, and Game 3 of the 2016 NLDS).

Joe Maddon stated in the off-season, after the Cubs won theWorld Series and broke theCurse of the Billy Goat, that Game 4 rally in the ninth of the NLDS was the most significant moment of the Cubs championship run. Maddon theorized all the pressure would have been on the Cubs having to face an experienced Giants team andJohnny Cueto in a potential winner-take-all Game 5 atWrigley Field.^[24]

The Giants were denied the chance to win a fourth World Series title in seven years, officially ending their dynasty.

2016 NLDS (3–1):Chicago Cubs beatSan Francisco Giants

This was the second postseason meeting between the Dodgers and the Nationals franchise. Their most recent meeting was in the1981 National League Championship Series, in which the Dodgers won the National League pennant over the then-Montreal Expos in five games.^[25]

Plans called for retired pitcherLiván Hernández to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, but afterHurricane Matthew′s effects onFlorida made it impossible for Hernández to fly to Washington, the host team surprised the fans at Nationals Park by having Nationals starting catcherWilson Ramos, whose season had ended with a knee injury on September 26, throw it instead.^[26] The game provided an historic first: WhenDusty Baker andLos Angeles Dodgers managerDave Roberts exchanged lineup cards before the game, it became the first postseason game in the Major League Baseball history in which twoAfrican-American managers faced one another in the postseason.^[27]

The game was billed as a marquee matchup between two of the best starting pitchers in Major League Baseball,Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers andMax Scherzer for the Nationals, but neither was particularly sharp. With rookie catcherPedro Severino behind the plate, Scherzer gave up a home run to the second batter, Dodgers rookieshortstopCorey Seager, on his sixth pitch of the game. In the third inning, after Dodgers second basemanChase Utley drove inAndrew Toles with an RBI single, Scherzer gave up a two-run home run toJustin Turner, giving Los Angeles a 4–0 lead. The Dodgers did not score again; Scherzer allowed no more runs before leaving the game after six innings, and the Washington bullpen also held the visitors scoreless.^[28]

Kershaw pitched five innings and held onto the lead, but the Nationals repeatedly pushed him to the brink, while his frequent discussions on the mound with Dodgers catcherYasmani Grandal incited boos from the crowd.^[29] In the second inning, afterDaniel Murphy andRyan Zimmerman singled andAnthony Rendon reached first on afielder's choice, a Dodger error allowed Severino to reach safely and load the bases, but Scherzer popped out to end the inning. In the third, Rendon singled to drive in two runs as part of what promised to be a big inning, cutting the Dodgers′ lead to 4–2, but Danny Espinosa struck out to end the inning with two men on base. Severino doubled in the fourth and scored on asacrifice fly byTrea Turner to bring Washington within 4–3, but in the fifth, withJayson Werth and Rendon on base, Espinosa again struck out to end the inning. Although he provided his typically reliable defense, Espinosa's strikeouts left six men on base and brought three rallies to an end.^[28]

Kershaw left the game after five innings and 101 pitches,^[29] having given up three runs, all earned, on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Los Angeles's bullpen followed with four innings of shutout ball, but the Nationals had ample opportunities to tie the game. In the seventh inning, Murphy walked with one out, but then got a poor jump in an attempt to steal second and was thrown out. In the eighth,Clint Robinson doubled in the first postseason plate appearance of his career and speedyMichael A. Taylor pinch-ran, but Dodgers closerKenley Jansen struck out pinch-hitterChris Heisey on a called third strike to end the inning. It was the Nationals' last scoring threat; they had the tying run on base in four of the game's last five innings without being able to score a single run, and left nine men on base during the game. The Dodgers won 4–3 to take a 1–0 lead in the series.^[28]

Originally scheduled to begin at 4:08 p.m.EDT on October 8, Game 2 was postponed due to rain fromHurricane Matthew and rescheduled for 1:08 p.m. EDT on October 9.^[30][31] Retired first baseman and former NationalAdam LaRoche threw out the ceremonial first pitch, tossing it to his son Drake, who spent a great deal of time with the Nationals during his father's years on the team.^[32][33]

Game 2 began much as Game 1 had: Washington's starting pitcherTanner Roark, starting Game 2 becauseStephen Strasburg remained sidelined with an injury, struggled; for the second game in a row, Los Angeles shortstopCorey Seager hit a first-inning home run in the Dodgers′ second at-bat of the game; and the Dodgers′ starter,Rich Hill, struck out the side in the bottom of the first, asClayton Kershaw had in Game 1.^[34] The Nationals, meanwhile, again missed a chance at a big inning when reserve catcherJosé Lobatón, starting in the postseason due to the unavailability of the injuredWilson Ramos, hit into a double play with the bases loaded to end the second inning.^[35]

The Dodgers added another run in the third inning on an RBI single by right fielderJosh Reddick;Bryce Harper made a good throw to the plate from right field, but Lobatón was unable to tag Dodgers third basemanJustin Turner out at home.^[34] Dodgers starterRich Hill used hiscurveball very effectively for3+2⁄3 innings, and Los Angeles held a 2–0 lead in the bottom of the third when Lobatón came to bat again with two outs andDaniel Murphy andDanny Espinosa on base. Lobatón hit only the second postseason home run of his career,^[35][a] and only the second postseason homer by a catcher in the history of the Montreal-Washington franchise,^[b] driving in Murphy and Espinosa to give the Nationals a 3–2 lead, the first time they had taken the lead in the series.^[35]

Although Roark had an uncharacteristically unsteady outing, the Dodgers were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position during the first five innings even though they had the bases loaded with one out three times,^[33] at least in part thanks to good Nationals defensive plays, notably by left fielderJayson Werth.^[35] A tiring Roark left the game in the fifth inning, after4+1⁄3 innings pitched and 85 pitches, with two Dodgers on base and Washington still holding a 3–2 lead. After that, Washington's bullpen, a postseason weakness for the2012 and2014 teams, held the Dodgers scoreless;Marc Rzepczynski,Sammy Solis,Blake Treinen,Óliver Pérez, andMark Melancon combined to give up only three walks (all by Rzepczynski) and one hit (a single yielded by Melancon) in the game's remaining4+2⁄3 innings, striking out five Dodgers.^[33][35] The Dodgers were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position during the game,^[33] and by the end of the game, the Nationals′ bullpen had pitched7+2⁄3 innings in the series without giving up a run.^[38] Meanwhile, Murphy, who went 3-for-3 and scored a run, pushing his offensive output for the series′ first two games to 4-for-6 with two walks,^[39] drove in runs with singles in the fifth and seventh innings as Nationals fans in the crowd chanted ""MVP! MVP!"^[39] The Nationals went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a turnaround from their previous postseason performance: From Game 5 of the2012 National League Division Series until Lobatón's homer in the third inning, they had gone only 3-for-35 in the postseason with runners in scoring position.^[35]

Washington won 5–2 to even the series at one.^[35] It was the Nationals′ first postseason victory at home since a 2–1 win over theSt. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the2012 National League Division Series on October 11, 2012.

As the series crossed the country to Los Angeles, the visiting Nationals put pressure on Dodgers starterKenta Maeda from the outset, loading the bases in the first inning on a single and two walks; although they did not score, they forced him to throw 28 pitches. In the Dodgers′ half of the first, Nationals starterGio González walkedJustin Turner, followed byCorey Seager staking L.A. to a 1–0 lead in the first inning, as he had in both previous games of the series, this time with a double.^[40]

The Nationals' offense erupted in the third inning.Trea Turner singled and scored asJayson Werth doubled.Bryce Harper then singled, scoring Werth to give the Nats a 2–1 lead, andAnthony Rendon followed with a 432-foot (132-meter), two-run home run into the left-field seats, putting Washington ahead 4–1. Maeda left the game after the inning, having thrown 68 pitches.^[40]

After the Dodgers scored their first-inning run, Gio González retired 11 of the next 12 batters. However, in the fifth inning, he gave up a two-run homer to Dodgers pinch-hitterCarlos Ruiz that narrowed the lead to 4–3. Nationals managerDusty Baker immediately took out González and, for the second consecutive game, Nationals relievers had to pitch the final4+2⁄3 innings.Sammy Solis pitched1+2⁄3 innings, followed byÓliver Pérez for a third-of-an-inning andShawn Kelley for1+2⁄3 innings, all scoreless; Kelley retired all five Dodgers, striking out three of them. The Dodgers′ bullpen also blanked the Nationals through the eighth inning, Washington clinging to a 4–3 lead going into the ninth.^[40]

Los Angeles closerKenley Jansen came in to pitch, hoping to give the Dodgers a chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the inning. But Jayson Werth led off with a 450-foot (137-meter) home run into the left-field stands that gave the Nationals an important insurance run. Jansen then walked second basemanDaniel Murphy, hit Harper with a pitch and, after Rendon popped out, first basemanRyan Zimmerman doubled off the right field wall, scoring both Murphy and Harper and knocking Jansen out of the game. By the time Washington pinch-hitterChris Heisey came to bat with a 7–3 lead, many Dodger fans were leaving the stadium; Heisey capped the inning by scoring Zimmerman with asacrifice fly to make the score 8–3. Nationals closer Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth to seal the victory, completing4+2⁄3 scoreless innings by the bullpen; in the series thus far, Nationals relievers had pitched12+1⁄3 innings without yielding a single run, striking out 14 Dodgers.^[40][41]

By the end of the game, Zimmerman was hitting .455 in the series, Werth .417 and Murphy .400.^[41] The win gave the Nationals a 2–1 edge, their first lead in a postseason series since the first game of the2012 National League Division Series.^[40]

Facing elimination, the Dodgers opted to have their ace starterClayton Kershaw pitch again on only three days rest. In the top of the first inning, the Nationals pressed him, withTrea Turner leading off with a walk andBryce Harper following with a single, after whichDaniel Murphy drove in Turner with an RBI single to give the Nationals a run in the first inning for the first time in the series. Nationals starterJoe Ross, however, had a rough first inning himself, hittingJustin Turner with a pitch and giving up a two-run homer toAdrián González.^[42]

With a 2–1 lead, Kershaw then settled down, allowing Washington to tie the game at two in the top of the third with singles by Trea Turner andJayson Werth and asacrifice fly by Murphy that drove in Turner, but otherwise keeping the Nationals scoreless until the seventh inning. Ross, meanwhile, struggled. In the bottom of the third inning, he gave up a lead-off double to Kershaw; after keeping Kershaw at second and recording two outs, he allowed a single by Justin Turner that scored Kershaw, walked Adrián González andJosh Reddick to load the bases, and then hitJoc Pederson with a pitch, forcing Justin Turner home from third. Ross left the game with the Dodgers leading 4–2, having thrown 55 pitches in2+2⁄3 innings, giving up four runs, all earned, on three hits and two walks, and striking out three.^[42]

The Nationals bullpen faced another long outing. They stretched their streak of scoreless innings in the series to14+1⁄3, but with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning,Reynaldo López became the first Washington reliever to give up a run in the series when Reddick singled and Pederson drove him in with an RBI double, giving Los Angeles a 5–2 lead.^[42] The Nationals′ offense, meanwhile, finally got to Kershaw, staging a comeback in the top of the seventh inning.Danny Espinosa, who had gone 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts in the series, singled for his first hit of the 2016 postseason. He was still on first with two outs when Trea Turner singled and Harper walked to load the bases, driving Kershaw out of the game after throwing 110 pitches. Dodgers relieverPedro Baez then hit Werth with a pitch to force Espinosa home, and relieverLuis Avilán gave up a single to Murphy that scored Turner and Harper, tying the game at five, with all five Nationals runs charged to Kershaw.^[42]

Pitching the bottom of the eighth for Washington,Blake Treinen got the first two outs, but then hitAndrew Toles with a pitch and gave up a single to pinch-hitterAndre Ethier, followed by a single byChase Utley that drove in Toles to give the Dodgers a 6–5 lead. Dodgers closerKenley Jansen secured the Dodgers′ victory with a perfect ninth in which he struck out two Nats, and Los Angeles tied the series at two.^[42]

Daniel Murphy's 2-for-3 performance in the game pushed his postseason average for 2016 to .462, and his four RBIs set a new Montreal-Washington franchise record for RBIs by a single player in a postseason game.^[42][43] At the end of the game, the Nationals′ bullpen ERA for the series stood at 1.02, with only two runs given up in17+2⁄3 innings of work.^[42] Washington's starters, in contrast, had pitched only16+1⁄3 innings and given up 13 runs, with a 7.16 ERA for the series.^[42]

When Blake Treinen hit Andrew Toles with a pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning, it set two new Major League Baseball records: It was the first time in history that one team's pitchers hit four batters with pitches in a single postseason game,^[44] and it was also the first time that two teams had combined to hit 11 batters with pitches in the course of a single postseason series.^[44]

For the fifth and final game of the series, at Nationals Park, Dodgers starterRich Hill on short rest struggled and didn't make it out of the third inning, yet gave up just one run.Max Scherzer held Los Angeles scoreless for the first six innings.Joc Pederson hit a solo homer to lead off the seventh inning and tie the game. A two-out pinch-hit single byCarlos Ruiz offSammy Solis put the Dodgers ahead andJustin Turner's two-run triple extended it to 4–1. A two-run homer by Washington pinch-hitterChris Heisey offGrant Dayton in the bottom of the inning made it 4–3, with the Dodgers bringing in closerKenley Jansen to get out of the inning. Jansen threw a career high 51 pitches, working into the ninth inning. In a rare relief appearance, Dodger aceClayton Kershaw came into the game with one out in the ninth, two days after throwing 110 pitches in Game 4 on short rest. He induced a pop-up byDaniel Murphy and struck outWilmer Difo swinging to end the game and series. It was Kershaw's first save in the majors; the only save he had in the minors had come in his first professional season for the 2006Gulf Coast Dodgers, a game in which Jansen was his catcher.^[45]

At 4 hours, 32 minutes, this set a record for the longest nine-inning postseason game in Major League history. The seventh inning alone lasted an hour and six minutes, with seven pitching changes, six runs, four pinch-hitters, two pinch-runners, and a double switch.^[46] This record would be passed just two years later in Game 4 of the2018 American League Championship Series between theBoston Red Sox and theHouston Astros, which took 4 hours and 33 minutes to complete.^[47] For the third time in franchise history, the Expos/Nationals blew a 2–1 lead in the postseason, both of the other times coming in 1981. In the1981 National League Division Series, the then Expos took a 2–0 lead against thePhiladelphia Phillies, lost Games 3 and 4 but won Game 5 in Philadelphia. In the ensuingNLCS against the Dodgers, the Expos also blew a 2–1 lead and lost the pennant.

With the win, the Dodgers advanced to theNLCS for the first time since2013, with this being their fourth appearance in nine seasons.

Washington would avenge their lost to the Dodgers in2019, beating them in five games on their way to theirfirst World Series in franchise history. In the series, former Dodgers second basemanHowie Kendrick would hit the grand-slam that put Washington ahead on the road in extra-innings of Game 5.

2016 NLDS (3–2):Los Angeles Dodgers beatWashington Nationals.

• Schedule for 2016 Postseason
• 2016 National League Division Series Chicago Cubs v San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference
• 2016 National League Division Series Washington Nationals v Los Angeles Dodgers at Baseball Reference

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