2025 National League Wild Card Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Dodgers (2) Dave Roberts 93–69 (.574), GA: 3 Cincinnati Reds (0) Terry Francona 83–79 (.512), GB: 14
Dates	September 30 – October 1
Television	ESPN
TV announcers	Jon Sciambi,Doug Glanville, and Alden Gonzalez
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Tom Hart andTim Kurkjian
Umpires	Ryan Additon,Lance Barrett,Tripp Gibson,Nick Mahrley,Alfonso Márquez (crew chief),Quinn Wolcott
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Chicago Cubs (2) Craig Counsell 92–70 (.568), GB: 5 San Diego Padres (1) Mike Shildt 90–72 (.556), GB: 3
Dates	September 30 – October 2
Television	ABC (Games 1 & 2) ESPN (Game 3)
TV announcers	Kevin Brown,Jessica Mendoza,Ben McDonald, and Jesse Rogers
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Mike Couzens andChris Burke
Umpires	Erich Bacchus,Cory Blaser,Ben May,Mike Muchlinski,D. J. Reyburn,Todd Tichenor (crew chief)
← 2024 NLWCS

The2025 National League Wild Card Series were the twobest-of-three playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2025 postseason to determine the participating teams of the2025 National League Division Series (NLDS). Both Wild Card Series began on September 30, with Game 2s scheduled for October 1.ESPN andABC each broadcast one series in the United States (Except for ESPN airing game 3 of the Cubs vs Padres series instead of ABC), withESPN Radio also airing both series.^[1][2]

These matchups were:

• (3)Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West champions) vs. (6)Cincinnati Reds (third wild card): Dodgers won the series, 2–0.
• (4)Chicago Cubs (first wild card) vs. (5)San Diego Padres (second wild card): Cubs won the series, 2–1.

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. This was the first National League postseason to not feature theAtlanta Braves since2017, ending the current third longest consecutive postseason streak in MLB.^[3][4]

TheCincinnati Reds andNew York Mets entered the last day of the season tied for the sixth seed at 83–78. Due to the 4–2 record versus the Mets this season, the Reds would qualify for the postseason if both teams finished tied.^[5] This was the second straight season the Mets are playing to get into the postseason on the last day of the season. Coincidentally, the last time the Reds were in this situation was in1999 when they were tied with theMets and had to play atie-breaker game to reach the postseason.^[6] Ultimately, the Mets and Reds both lost on the last day of the season, giving the Reds the sixth seed. The Mets went 38–55 after a 45–24 start to the season.^[7]

TheLos Angeles Dodgers (93–69) clinched their league-leading thirteenth consecutive postseason appearance on September 19^[8] and won theNational League West on September 25 via a road victory against theArizona Diamondbacks.^[9] Due to them having the worst record among the three NL division winners, they were locked into the third seed. This was the first time the Dodgers were in theWild Card Series/Game since2021 but the first as the division winner. They played host to theCincinnati Reds (83–79), who clinched a postseason appearance on the last day of the season with a New York Mets loss to theMiami Marlins.^[10] This was the first playoff appearance for Cincinnati since2020 and first in a full season since2013. The Dodgers won the season series against the Reds, 5–1.^[11] Cincinnati and Los Angeles had a fiercerivalry from their days in the NL West together from 1969-1993, including eleven 1–2 finishes in the standings, with seven of them being within5+1⁄2 games or fewer. Cincinnati won the only postseason match-up between the two teams, sweeping Los Angeles in the1995 NLDS (this was also their last postseason series victory, as they have the currentlongest postseason series win drought in MLB).

TheChicago Cubs (92–70) clinched their first postseason berth since2020 on September 17^[12] and were locked into the Wild Card four days after a loss to the Cincinnati Reds, which ended theirNational League Central title aspirations.^[13] They played theSan Diego Padres (90–72), who clinched a postseason berth for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in the last six years (2020,2022,2024–2025) with a 5–4 walk-off victory against theMilwaukee Brewers on September 22 and then clinch home-field advantage against them.^[14][15][16] The Cubs and Padres split their regular season series, 3–3.^[17][18] This was the first postseason meeting between the two teams since the1984 NLCS, which the Padres dramatically won in five games after beingdown 2–0.^[19]

As top two seeds, theMilwaukee Brewers (97–65) andPhiladelphia Phillies (96–66) earned a first-round bye and will have home-field advantage in theNLDS.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Los Angeles won the series, 2–0.

Chicago won the series, 2–1.

From 1969–1993, the Dodgers and Reds shared theNational League West and dominated it together, combining to win 14 division titles, 10 NL pennants, and five World Series from 1970–1990. Therivalry died when the Reds moved to theNational League Central in1994.

This was the second postseason meeting between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their only other postseason meeting occurred in the1995 National League Division Series, in which the Reds swept the Dodgers in three games. That 1995 series is also Cincinnati’s most recent playoff series win, their 30-year drought the longest in the majors.

In the bottom of the first inning,Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff, solo home run to give the Dodgers a 1–0 lead. Back-to-back home runs fromTeoscar Hernández andTommy Edman in the bottom of the third extended the Dodgers' lead to 5–0. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Hernández hit his second homer of the game, extending the Dodgers' lead to 6–0. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ohtani hit his second home run of the game, extending the Dodgers' lead to 8–0. In the top of the seventh inning,Elly De La Cruz andTyler Stephenson hit RBI singles to get the Reds on the board. In the bottom of the seventh inning,Alex Call andBen Rortvedt hit RBI singles to extend the Dodgers' lead to 10–2. The Reds scored three more runs in the top of the eighth inning asSal Stewart with an RBI walk,Spencer Steer with an RBI single, and De La Cruz drew a walk to drive in a forced run forMiguel Andujar, cutting the Reds' deficit to 10–5.Blake Treinen gets the final out of the game as Andujar grounds out.^[30]

The Dodgers became the fifth team in postseason history with two players with a multi-HR game in the same postseason game.^[31]

In the top of the first inning,Sal Stewart drove inAustin Hays andGavin Lux to give the Reds a 2–0 lead afterTeoscar Hernández dropped a fly ball that would have ended the inning. In the bottom of the third inning,Ben Rortvedt scored off aMookie Betts RBI single, putting the Dodgers on the board and cutting their deficit to 2–1. In the bottom of the fourth inning, back-to-back hits fromKiké Hernández andMiguel Rojas gave the Dodgers a 3–2 lead. In the top of the sixth inning,Yoshinobu Yamamoto escaped a no-out bases-loaded jam to preserve a 3–2 lead for the Dodgers. RBI hits fromShohei Ohtani, Betts, and Teoscar Hernández in the bottom of the sixth inning extended the Dodgers' lead to 7–2. Yamamoto pitched6+2⁄3 innings, giving up four hits and two runs (zero earned runs) while striking out nine batters. In the seventh inning, Betts hit an RBI double to extend the Dodgers' lead to 8–2. The Reds scored two more runs in the top of the eighth inning as Stewart hit an RBI single andTyler Stephenson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run for Hayes, cutting the Reds' deficit to 8–4. Then,Alex Vesia escaped a two-out bases-loaded jam to preserve a four-run lead for the Dodgers. Rookie pitcherRoki Sasaki pitched a perfect ninth inning, with Betts catching the final out of the game on lineout from Hayes. The Dodgers advanced to their thirteenth consecutiveNLDS and will take on thePhiladelphia Phillies.

This was the Reds' eighth consecutive postseason loss, dating back to2012. As a division, theNL Central moved to 0–10 in playoff series since the2019 NLCS.

2025NLWC (2–0):Los Angeles Dodgers beatCincinnati Reds

This is the second postseason meeting between the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres. Their only other postseason meeting occurred in the1984 National League Championship Series, in which the Padres won in five games after being down 2–0.

In the top of the second inning,Xander Bogaerts hit a RBI double to give the Padres a 1–0 lead. This snapped a 25-inning postseason scoreless streak for San Diego, dating back to the previous season'sDivision Series against the Dodgers. Chicago'sSeiya Suzuki andCarson Kelly hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning offNick Pivetta to give the Cubs a 2–1 lead.Nick Pivetta pitched five innings and struck out nine whileMatthew Boyd pitched4+1⁄3 innings and struck out two batters as the starting pitchers for both teams in Game 1. In the bottom of the eighth inning,Dansby Swanson scored on aNico Hoerner sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 3–1 lead.Brad Keller earned the save after pitching a perfect ninth inning, giving the Cubs a 1–0 series lead. Four Cub relievers combined to retire the final 15 Padres to seal the win.^[32]

In the top of the first inning,Fernando Tatis Jr. scored on a sacrifice fly fromJackson Merrill.Andrew Kittredge only pitched one inning as he allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out one.Shota Imanaga came in for relief of Kittredge in the second inning and pitched four innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out three.Dylan Cease pitched3+2⁄3 innings as he allowed three hits and zero earned runs while striking out five.Manny Machado hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to extend the Padres' lead to 3–0.Mason Miller came in to pitch1+2⁄3 innings of relief; he gave up zero runs and zero hits while striking out five.Robert Suárez pitched1+1⁄3 innings, only giving up one hit to earn the save, giving the Padres a 3–0 victory, and even the series 1–1 to force a winner-take-all Game 3.

Miller had the fastest postseason strikeout pitch since 2008 when he struck outCarson Kelly with a 104.5 mph four-steam fastball, and his eight straight strikeouts in the series tiedJosh Hader in 2022 for the most consecutive batters struck out in the postseason at any point. It’s also the longest streak to start a postseason career by two, perSarah Langs.^[33][34]

The Cubs scored first in the bottom of the second inning whenKyle Tucker scored on an RBI single byPete Crow-Armstrong, giving the Cubs a 1−0 lead. Later in the inning,Seiya Suzuki scored on an RBI walk byDansby Swanson, extending the Cubs' lead to 2−0.Yu Darvish only pitched one inning, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out one batter; it was his second time lasting less than two innings in an elimination postseason start, following Game 7 of the2017 World Series.^[35]Jameson Taillon pitched four innings, only giving up two hits and zero runs while striking out four batters. In the bottom of the seventh inning,Michael Busch hit a solo home run offRobert Suarez to extend the Cubs' lead to 3−0.Jackson Merrill hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to give the Padres their first run and cut the Cubs' lead to 3−1.Andrew Kittredge earned his first save of the series to secure the series win and send the Cubs to theNLDS against their NL Central division rivalMilwaukee Brewers. This was the Cubs' first postseason series victory since2017, and the first for an NL Central team since2019.^[36]

2025NLWC (2–1):Chicago Cubs beatSan Diego Padres

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