The2022 National League Wild Card Series were twobest-of-three playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2022 postseason to determine the participating teams of the2022 National League Division Series. Both Wild Card Series began on October 7, with Game 2s scheduled for October 8 and Game 3s, if necessary, scheduled for October 9.ESPN broadcast both Wild Card Series together withESPN Radio.^[1] These matchups were:

• (3)St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central champions) vs. (6)Philadelphia Phillies (third wild card): Phillies win series 2–0.
• (4)New York Mets (first wild card) vs. (5)San Diego Padres (second wild card): Padres win series 2–1.

On March 10,Major League Baseball changed the postseason structure for the first time since2012, adding a sixth team to the postseason in each league, awarding the top two division winners in each league (seeded by record) to receive a bye into theDivision Series, and added a best-of-threeWild Card round hosted by the higher seed. The lowest-seeded division winner, and three wild card teams (each seeded according to regular season record), will play in this round. The third seed will play the sixth seed, and the fourth seed will play the fifth seed. The postseason structure is similar to the temporary format MLB used in2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic without first-round byes for the top two seeds.

TheSt. Louis Cardinals (93–69) clinched theNational League Central, their fourth straight postseason appearance, and their first as the NL Central winner since2019 on September 27.^[2][3][4] However, they were locked into the third seed as the National League division winner with the worst record. They hosted thePhiladelphia Phillies (87–75), who was the last team to clinch a postseason berth among the twelve playoff teams and making their first postseason appearance since2011 on October 3.^[5][6][7] The Phillies won four of the seven match-ups against the Cardinals during the regular season.^[8]

TheNew York Mets (101–61) clinched a postseason berth, for their first postseason appearance since2016 on September 19. They led theNational League East for virtually the entire season, but they lost it on the season's last weekend by a three-game sweep from Atlanta, losing the season series 9–10.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} Consequently, they became the fourth 100-win wild card team following the106-win 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers,2001 Athletics and2018 Yankees.^[14] They hosted theSan Diego Padres (89–73), who clinched their first postseason appearance since2020, and just the second since2006, on October 2.^[15][16] San Diego won both series against New York, defeating them 2–1 in early June and late July, for a total of 4–2.^[17]

As the top two division winners (seeds by record), theLos Angeles Dodgers (111–51) andAtlanta Braves (101–61) earned a bye and home-field advantage in theNLDS.^[18][19]

Philadelphia won the series, 2–0.

San Diego won the series, 2–1.

This is just the second postseason match-up between St. Louis and Philadelphia, but there has been a long history between the two teams. In their lone postseason match-up, the two teams previously met in the2011 National League Division Series, which was won by the Cardinals in five games. The two teams were also involved in one of the more memorable pennant races in MLB history in1964. It was notable for thePhillies losing a6+1⁄2-game lead with 12 games left in the season to theSt. Louis Cardinals.^[20] Additionally, the Cardinals and Phillies played in theNational League East together for 25 seasons (1969–1993).

Game 1 featured a pitching match-up between Phillies aceZack Wheeler, who had not allowed a run to the Cardinals in12+2⁄3 regular-season innings, andJose Quintana, a Cardinals trade deadline acquisition. The game was scoreless until the seventh inning, whenJuan Yepez hit a pinch-hit two-run home run off ofJose Alvarado, who had just relieved Wheeler. Yepez's home run was the first go-ahead pinch-hit home run in St. Louis Cardinals postseason history.

The score was still 2–0 in the top of the ninth when Cardinals closerRyan Helsley, who had jammed fingers on his throwing hand in his previous appearance, allowed a single and two walks, then hitAlec Bohm with a 101-mph fastball, giving the Phillies their first run. With the bases still loaded, the next batterJean Segura hit an opposite-field single to give the Phillies a 3–2 lead. The Phillies got three more runs in the inning, making the score 6–2. The Cardinals scored a run in their half of the ninth, butZach Eflin struck out the game-tying run inYadier Molina to give the Phillies their first postseason victory in11 years. Before the game, the St. Louis Cardinals had been 93–0 when leading a postseason game by two or more runs in the ninth inning.^[21]

Longtime Phillies aceAaron Nola started his first postseason game againstMiles Mikolas, who produced a 2.38 ERA at home in 14 starts. The Phillies scored two runs via aBryce Harper solo home run in the second inning and aKyle Schwarber sacrifice fly in the fifth and it was all the runs they needed. With the win, the Phillies won their first postseason series since the2010 National League Division Series and advanced to play theBraves in theNational League Division Series. For the Cardinals, this was the third straight year they lost in the opening round of the postseason.

Albert Pujols andYadier Molina, both playing in their last game of their respective careers', each got hits in their last at-bats and were removed for pinch-runners and both received standing ovations.^[22]

2022NLWC (2–0):Philadelphia Phillies beatSt. Louis Cardinals

This is the first postseason match-up between New York and San Diego.

In the top of the first inning,Max Scherzer was greeted with a two-run home run by Padres first basemanJosh Bell. That would be the theme of the night for Scherzer, who gave up four home runs on the night. Scherzer was the second pitcher to allow at least seven runs and four home runs in a postseason game, joiningGene Thompson who did it in the1939 World Series against theYankees.^[23]Trent Grisham added a solo shot in the second inning.Jurickson Profar's three-run homer off the right field foul pole in the fifth inning broke the game open for the Padres. Two batters later,Manny Machado, capped the Padres' scoring with a solo home run to knock Scherzer out of the game.

Padres starterYu Darvish worked out of jams in the first and second innings but proceeded to settle in as the game went along. He finished with seven innings pitched and one run allowed, which came via aEduardo Escobar solo home run in the bottom of the fifth.

The early innings of Game 2 were a back-and-forth affair. The Mets took 1–0 and 2–1 leads against Padres starterBlake Snell, but the Padres would answer against Mets starterJacob deGrom to tie the game each time. The Mets, however, would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth inning afterPete Alonso's first career postseason home run gave them a 3–2 lead. DeGrom would limit the Padres to just two runs in his six innings of work.

In an unconventional move by Mets managerBuck Showalter, Mets closerEdwin Díaz was called on to enter the game in the top of the seventh inning. Díaz would pitch a scoreless seventh inning before the Mets added four insurance runs against the Padres bullpen in the bottom half of the inning to extend the Mets' lead to 7–2. Díaz would record two outs in the top of the eighth inning before giving way toAdam Ottavino. Ottavino completed the eighth inning but began to falter after recording two outs in the ninth inning, eventually walking in a run after the Padres had loaded the bases. Showalter called onSeth Lugo to record the final out of the game againstJosh Bell, who represented the tying run at the plate with the Mets holding a 7–3 lead. Lugo would induce a groundout to record his first career postseason save and even the series at one game apiece.

Joe Musgrove pitched seven scoreless innings of one–hit ball and Padres hitters scored six runs off ofChris Bassitt and the Mets bullpen as they advanced to theNational League Division Series to face theDodgers. With the loss, the Mets were the first 100+ win team to fail to reach theDivision Series since the Division Series was implemented in 1995.^{[24][25][26][27]}

2022NLWC (2–1):San Diego Padres beatNew York Mets

• 2022 American League Wild Card Series

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2022 National League Wild Card Series (New York Mets vs. San Diego Padres).

• Major League Baseball postseason schedule

• 2022 Major League Baseball season
• Baseball competitions in New York City
• Major League Baseball Wild Card Series
• New York Mets postseason
• Philadelphia Phillies postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• San Diego Padres postseason
• October 2022 sports events in the United States
• 2022 in sports in California
• 2022 in sports in Missouri
• 2022 in sports in New York City
• 2022 in Philadelphia
• 2022 in sports in Pennsylvania

• Use mdy dates from October 2022
• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• Commons category link from Wikidata