2024 National League Wild Card Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Mets (2) Carlos Mendoza 89–73 (.549), GB: 6 Milwaukee Brewers (1) Pat Murphy 93–69 (.574), GA: 10
Dates	October 1–3
Television	ESPN
TV announcers	Jon Sciambi,Doug Glanville, and Jesse Rogers
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Mike Couzens andChris Burke
Umpires	Vic Carapazza,Mike Estabrook,Brennan Miller,Alan Porter (crew chief),Chris Segal,Alex Tosi
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season San Diego Padres (2) Mike Shildt 93–69 (.574), GB: 5 Atlanta Braves (0) Brian Snitker 89–73 (.549), GB: 6
Dates	October 1–2
Television	ESPN (Game 1) ESPN2 (Game 2)
TV announcers	Karl Ravech,David Cone,Eduardo Pérez, andBuster Olney
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Roxy Bernstein andGregg Olson
Umpires	Erich Bacchus,Nestor Ceja,Phil Cuzzi,Dan Iassogna (crew chief),Jansen Visconti,Mark Wegner
← 2023 NLWCS 2025 →

The2024 National League Wild Card Series (branded as theWild Card Series presented byT-Mobile 5G Home Internet for sponsorship reasons) were twobest-of-three playoff series inMajor League Baseball's (MLB)2024 postseason that determined the participating teams of the2024 National League Division Series (NLDS). Both Wild Card Series began on October 1, with Game 2s for October 2, and Game 3 for one of the series on October 3.ESPN broadcast both Wild Card Series in the United States together withESPN Radio.^[1][2]

These matchups were:

• (3)Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central champions) vs. (6)New York Mets (third wild card): Mets won series, 2–1.
• (4)San Diego Padres (first wild card) vs. (5)Atlanta Braves (second wild card): Padres win series, 2–0.

The lowest-seeded division winner and three wild card teams in each league play in a best-of-three series after the end of the regular season. The winners of each league's wild card rounds advance to face the two best division winners in that league'sDivision Series.

Entering September 30, the day before the Wild Card Series, theArizona Diamondbacks had finished their season with 89 wins, while theNew York Mets andAtlanta Braves were tied with 88 wins. Due toHurricane Helene that impactedGeorgia, two games between the Mets and Braves from the week prior were postponed, and the two teams were forced to make up the remaining games in adoubleheader atTruist Park on the day before the postseason began. Both Atlanta and New York had a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks, meaning both teams would only have to win one game in the doubleheader to clinch a playoff berth. However, if either Atlanta or New York lost both games in the doubleheader, they would be eliminated and the Diamondbacks would clinch a playoff berth.^[3][4] In the first game of the doubleheader, the Mets defeated the Braves, 8–7 to clinch a playoff spot. In the second game, the Braves defeated the Mets, 3–0, clinching the #5 seed, the #6 seed for the Mets, and eliminating the Diamondbacks.^[5][6]

TheMilwaukee Brewers (93–69) qualified for the postseason as theNational League Central division winner, clinching the division via aChicago Cubs loss on September 18.^[7] As the team with the lowest record among other division winners in the National League for this season, they are locked into the third seed following thePhiladelphia Phillies victory over the Chicago Cubs on September 25, thus giving Philadelphia a first-round bye.^[8] Milwaukee is making their sixth postseason appearance in seven seasons and are looking for their first postseason series victory since2018. They hosted theNew York Mets (89–73), who clinched a spot in the postseason via a thrilling 8–7 victory against the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of a doubleheader on September 30, a game which saw 12 runs being scored in the last two innings. New York, who was 11 games under .500 at one point in the season, is returning to the postseason after failing to qualify the year previous. Milwaukee won the season series, 5–1, which included them taking two games of three just a few days ago.^[9] Current Mets president of baseball operations,David Stearns, held the same role with Milwaukee from 2019-2022 (he was the team's general manager from 2015-2018, as well). This is the first postseason match-up between the Brewers and Mets.

TheSan Diego Padres (93–69) clinched a playoff spot on September 24 and were locked in to the Wild Card three days later after losing to theLos Angeles Dodgers, ending their division title aspirations.^[10][11] It is their third playoff appearance in the past five seasons and first 90–win season since2010. They hosted theAtlanta Braves (89–73), who clinched a spot in the postseason via a 3–0 win over the New York Mets in Game 2 of a doubleheader on September 30. The Braves are making their seventh straight postseason appearance and first as a wild card since2012. The Padres won the season series, 4-3. This is the first postseason match-up between the Braves and Padres since the1998 NLCS, which was won by San Diego in six games.

As the top two seeds, theLos Angeles Dodgers (98–64) andPhiladelphia Phillies (95–67) earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]} This was the first year since2014 that no team in Major League Baseball won 100 games or more in the regular season.^[18]

New York won the series, 2–1.

San Diego won the series, 2–0.

This is the first postseason meeting between the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers.

In the bottom of the first,William Contreras singled offLuis Severino to scoreBrice Turang and the Brewers made it 2–0 whenRhys Hoskins got hit by a pitch from Severino, allowingJackson Chourio to score. In the top of the second,Jesse Winker hit a two-run triple to right field offFreddy Peralta to tie the game at two apiece.Starling Marte's sacrifice fly scored Winker to give the Mets a 3–2 lead. Chourio hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at three. Later in the same inning, Contreras delivered an RBI groundout to allow Turang to score to put the Brewers back on top, 4–3. In the top of the fifth,Jose Iglesias tied the game with a RBI single scoringTyrone Taylor. Later in the same inning,Mark Vientos andJ. D. Martinez both had two-run singles to give the Mets the 8–4 lead. The bullpens for both teams then threw up zeros as the Mets took Game 1 of the best-of-three.

In the top of the first,Brandon Nimmo delivered an RBI single offFrankie Montas to scoreJose Iglesias, giving the Mets a 1–0 lead. The Brewers answered back by tying the game 1–1 whenJackson Chourio hit a solo home run offSean Manaea. The Mets retook the lead in the top of the second whenFrancisco Álvarez hit an RBI single off Montas to scoreStarling Marte.Francisco Lindor then extended the lead for the Mets when he hit a sacrifice fly to scoreTyrone Taylor to make it 3–1. In the bottom of the fifth,Blake Perkins’s sacrifice fly to scoreBrice Turang cut the Mets' lead to 3–2. In the bottom of the eighth, Chourio hit his second home run of the game offPhil Maton, tying the game at 3–3; andGarrett Mitchell gave the Brewers a 5–3 lead with a two-run home run, scoringWilly Adames.Devin Williams closed out the Mets with a 1-2-3 inning as the Brewers tied the series at 1–1, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3.

After the game, managerCarlos Mendoza said that, as a power hitter,Pete Alonso was "one swing away from, you know, the 'big one'".^[24]

The winner-take-all Game 3 pit rookie against veteran; with the Brewers startingTobias Myers against the Mets'Jose Quintana. Both pitchers would answer the call, with Myers pitching five scoreless innings, only giving up two hits toFrancisco Lindor, while Quintana would allow four hits in six shutout frames. AfterTrevor Megill andNick Mears sat the Mets down in order in both the sixth and seventh, the breakthrough would finally occur. On a full count, pinch hitterJake Bauers hit a solo home run offJosé Buttó, giving the Brewers a 1–0 lead. And before the crowd could settle down,Sal Frelick blasted the very next pitch into the right field seats to double the advantage.Edwin Díaz was then brought in and despite a shaky rest of the seventh, kept the Mets within reach with two scoreless innings.

In the top of the ninth, with Milwaukee three outs away from theNLDS, the Brewers brought outDevin Williams to clinch the series. However, this seemingly clear choice would instead lead to another spectacular Brewers postseason collapse.Francisco Lindor led off the inning with a check-swing walk on a full count, and after a strikeout toMark Vientos,Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners on the corners for the Mets, bringing upPete Alonso. On a 3-1 count, Alonso launched a crushing three-run home run over the right-field wall to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Things would further unravel for the Brewers when with two outs,Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch, stole second, and was singled home byStarling Marte, extending the Mets' lead to 4–2. In the bottom of the ninth,David Peterson closed out the game and series by inducing a series-ending double play ball off the bat ofBrice Turang to send the Mets to their first NLDS since2015. The Mets faced theirdivision rivalPhiladelphia Phillies for the first time in postseason history.

Alonso's home run in the top of the ninth made him the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead home run while the team was trailing in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all playoff game.^[25]

National League Central teams fell to 0–8 in postseason series since2020.^[A]

This was the final game called by longtime Brewers radio broadcasterBob Uecker, who died three months later at the age of 90.

2024NLWC (2–1):New York Mets beatMilwaukee Brewers

This is the second postseason meeting between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves. Their last postseason meeting was in the1998 National League Championship Series, which was won by San Diego in six games.

In the bottom of the first,Fernando Tatís Jr.'s two-run home run offAJ Smith-Shawver gave the Padres an early 2–0 lead. The next inning had the Padres extending the lead whenKyle Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly to scoreJake Cronenworth. Higashioka extended the lead to 4–0 in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run offLuke Jackson. The Padres held the shutout in the final inning to win Game 1.

In the top of the first,Marcell Ozuna hit a sacrifice fly to scoreMichael Harris II, giving the Braves a 1–0 lead. In the bottom of the second,Kyle Higashioka’s home run offMax Fried tied the game at 1–1. Then,Manny Machado hit a two-run double scoringLuis Arráez andFernando Tatís Jr., putting the Padres in the lead at 3–1. Then,Jackson Merrill two-run triple scoredJurickson Profar and Machado, extending the Padres' lead to 5–1. In the top of the fifth,Jorge Soler hit a solo home run offBryan Hoeing to cut the Padres' lead to 5–2. In the top of the eighth, Michael Harris II hit a two-run home run offJason Adam to cut the Braves' deficit to one. The Padres'Robert Suárez closed out the Braves with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth to sweep the series and send the Padres to theNLDS to face theirdivisionrivalLos Angeles Dodgers. With the loss, the Braves were eliminated in their first round of the postseason for the third straight year, as they lost theNLDS to thePhillies the previoustwoyears.

2024NLWC (2–0):San Diego Padres beatAtlanta Braves

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