1996 National League Division Series

Infobox LDS


year = 1996
champion1 = St. Louis Cardinals (3)
champion1_manager = Tony La Russa
champion1_games = 88-74, .543, GA: 6
runnerup1 = San Diego Padres (0)
runnerup1_manager = Bruce Bochy
runnerup1_games = 91-71, .562, GA: 1
date1 = October 1–October 5
television1 = ESPN (Game 1-2)
NBC (Game 3)
announcers1 = Chris Berman and Buck Martinez (Game 1-2)
Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker (Game 3)
champion2 = Atlanta Braves (3)
champion2_manager = Bobby Cox
champion2_games = 96-66, .593, GA: 8
runnerup2 = Los Angeles Dodgers (0)
runnerup2_manager = Bill Russell
runnerup2_games = 90-72, .556, GB: 1
date2 = October 2–October 5
television2 = ESPN (Game 1)
FOX (Game 2-3)
announcers2 = Chris Berman and Buck Martinez (Game 1)
Joe Buck (Game 2-3), Tim McCarver (Game 2-3), and Bob Brenly (Game 3)
umpires2 = Jim Quick, Gerry Davis, Dana DeMuth, Frank Pulli, Harry Wendelstedt, Greg Bonin (Padres-Cardinals, Games 1-2; Braves-Dodgers, Game 3)
Steve Rippley, Eric Gregg, Tom Hallion, Terry Tata, Bruce Froemming, Bill Hohn (Braves-Dodgers, Games 1-2; Padres-Cardinals, Game 3)The 1996 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1996 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL divisions – along with a "wild card" team – participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

*(1) San Diego Padres (Western Division champion, 91-71) vs. (3) St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champion, 88-74): Cardinals win series, 3-0.
*(2) Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champion, 96-66) vs. (4) Los Angeles Dodgers (Wild Card, 90-72): Braves win series, 3-0.

"The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined – a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. The Padres played the Cardinals, rather than the wild card Dodgers, because the Padres and Dodgers are in the same division."

The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves both swept their Division Series, and went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Braves would rally to win that Series 4 games to 3 and become the National League champion, but would lose to the American League champion New York Yankees in the 1996 World Series.

Matchups

an Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis wins the series, 3-0

Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Atlanta wins the series, 3-0

an Diego vs. St. Louis

Game 1, October 1

Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, MissouriLinescore
Road=San Diego|RoadAbr=SD
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=1|RH=8|RE=1
Home=St. Louis|HomeAbr=STL
H1=3|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=X|HR=3|HH=6|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Todd Stottlemyre (1-0)|LP=Joey Hamilton (0-1)|SV=Dennis Eckersley (1)
RoadHR=Rickey Henderson (1)|HomeHR=Gary Gaetti (1)|

The Cardinals and Padres began their rivalry in this series. The Cardinals' first of three postseason victories against the Padres took place here. Their dominance is overwhelming to the tune of only one loss against the Padres lifetime in the postseason. A 3-run homer by Gary Gaetti off Joey Hamilton put the Cardinals up for good. Todd Stottlemyre pitched masterfully, allowing only one earned run on a solo home run by Rickey Henderson. Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley shut the Padres down for the win.

Game 2, October 3

Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, MissouriLinescore
Road=San Diego|RoadAbr=SD
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=1|R6=2|R7=0|R8=1|R9=0|RR=4|RH=6|RE=0
Home=St. Louis|HomeAbr=STL
H1=0|H2=0|H3=1|H4=0|H5=3|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=X|HR=5|HH=5|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Rick Honeycutt (1-0)|LP=Doug Bochtler (0-1)|SV=Dennis Eckersley (2)
RoadHR=Ken Caminiti (1)|HomeHR=|

A well fought Game 2 saw the Cardinals squander two leads. Scott Sanders faced Andy Benes. Willie McGee put the Cardinals on top on the 3rd with an RBI single. Ken Caminiti tied the game with a leadoff homer in the 5th. Ron Gant cleared the bases with a double in the Cardinals 5th to make it 4-1. A 2 run single by Tony Gwynn made it a one run game in the Padres 6th. An RBI ground out by Steve Finley tied the game in the Padres 8th. But the Cardinals would score a run in the 8th on an RBI ground out that scored Brian Jordan. Dennis Eckersley got his 2nd save of the postseason.

Game 3, October 5

Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CaliforniaLinescore
Road=St. Louis|RoadAbr=STL
R1=1|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=3|R7=1|R8=0|R9=2|RR=7|RH=13|RE=0
Home=San Diego|HomeAbr=SD
H1=0|H2=2|H3=1|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|HR=5|HH=11|HE=2
RSP=|HSP=
WP=T.J. Mathews (1-0)|LP=Trevor Hoffman (0-1)|SV=Dennis Eckersley (3)
RoadHR=Ron Gant (1), Brian Jordan (1)|HomeHR=Ken Caminiti 2 (3)|

In Game 3, the Cardinals looked to Donovan Osborne to put the Padres away. Opposing the potential sweep would be Andy Ashby. Brian Jordan put the Cardinals ahead when he singled to center field to score Royce Clayton. A would-be double play ball in the bottom of the 2nd helped the Padres take the lead 2-1. Then Ken Caminiti homered to make it 3-1 in the 3rd. An RBI single in the bottom of the 4th made it 4-1 Padres and Osborne was done. But the Cardinals were not about to let the series go another game. A leadoff homer by Ron Gant made it 4-2 in the 6th. But a one out triple by John Mabry scored Jordan and a single would bring him home to tie the game at 4. The Cardinals would take the lead in the 7th when Ray Lankford scored on a double play. The Padres were now 6 outs from being eliminated. But when Caminiti hit his second homer of the game to tie it at 5, the Padres were still alive. However, the Cardinals put the game away in the top of the 9th when Jordan hit a two run homer that proved to be the series winner. A one out single by Rickey Henderson in the 9th put the tying run at the plate but nothing would be made of it as Eckersley got his 3rd save in as many tries to win the series.

Composite Box

1996 NLDS (3-0): St. Louis Cardinals over San Diego PadresLinescore
Road=St. Louis Cardinals
R1=4|R2=0|R3=1|R4=0|R5=3|R6=3|R7=1|R8=1|R9=2|RR=15|RH=24|RE=1
Home=San Diego Padres
H1=0|H2=2|H3=1|H4=1|H5=1|H6=3|H7=0|H8=2|H9=0|HR=10|HH=25|HE=3Total Attendance: 164,844 Average Attendance: 54,948|

Atlanta vs. Los Angeles

Game 1, October 2

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLinescore
Road=Atlanta|RoadAbr=ATL
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=1|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|R10=1|RR=2|RH=4|RE=1
Home=Los Angeles|HomeAbr=LAD
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=1|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|H10=0|HR=1|HH=5|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=John Smoltz (1-0)|LP=Antonio Osuna (0-1)|SV=Mark Wohlers (1)
RoadHR=Javy López (1)|HomeHR=|

The Braves were heavy favorites against the Dodgers, who sneaked into the playoffs on a Wild Card berth. This would be manager Bill Russell's only postseason series as Dodgers manager.The Braves sent 24-game winner John Smoltz to the mound for Game 1. Opposing Smoltz would be Ramón Martínez. The Braves struck first when Fred McGriff's sac fly brought Marquis Grissom home in the 4th. Todd Hollandsworth tied the game with an RBI-double in the 5th. Smoltz and Martinez dueled for 8 innings, when Martinez left the game. When the game moved to extra innings, eventual playoff MVP Javy López hit the go-ahead homer in the 10th. Mark Wohlers recorded the save and the Braves led the series 1-0.

Game 2, October 3

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLinescore
Road=Atlanta|RoadAbr=ATL
R1=0|R2=1|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=2|R8=0|R9=0|RR=3|RH=5|RE=2
Home=Los Angeles|HomeAbr=LAD
H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR=2|HH=3|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Greg Maddux (1-0)|LP=Ismael Valdez (0-1)|SV=Mark Wohlers (2)
RoadHR=Fred McGriff (1), Ryan Klesko (1), Jermaine Dye (1)|HomeHR=|

Greg Maddux faced Ismael Valdez in Game 2. Another pitcher's duel took place. Thanks to an error by Ryan Klesko, the Dodgers got on the board in the bottom of the 1st to lead 1-0. But Klesko would homer with one out to correct his error to tie the game at 1. An error by Marquis Grissom allowed another run to score to make it 2-1 Dodgers in the 4th. It remained 2-1 Dodgers until the 7th. Fred McGriff led the inning off with a solo homer to tie the game at 2. After Klesko was called out on strikes, Jermaine Dye hit a solo homer to give the Braves the lead. Maddux would get the win and Valdez the loss as Wohlers got another save in the 9th. The Braves now led the series 2-0 going home.

Game 3, October 5

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaLinescore
Road=Los Angeles|RoadAbr=LAD
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=1|R8=1|R9=0|RR=2|RH=6|RE=1
Home=Atlanta|HomeAbr=ATL
H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=4|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=X|HR=5|HH=7|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Tom Glavine (1-0)|LP=Hideo Nomo (0-1)|SV=Mark Wohlers (3)
RoadHR=|HomeHR=Chipper Jones (1)|

Another great matchup pitted Hideo Nomo against Tom Glavine for Game 3. But the night would sour for Nomo as he gave up a first inning run, thanks to a McGriff double that scored Chipper Jones, and would squander the series in the 4th. Glavine doubled with 2 outs, then Grissom walked. A double by Mark Lemke scored both Glavine and Grissom. Then Jones homered to put the Braves up 5-0. Nomo was finished and so were the Dodgers. They would scratch out a run in the 7th and 8th, but no more. Wohlers got his third save in as many tries to end the series.

Composite Box

1996 NLDS (3-0): Atlanta Braves over Los Angeles DodgersLinescore
Road=Atlanta Braves
R1=1|R2=1|R3=0|R4=5|R5=0|R6=0|R7=2|R8=0|R9=0|R10=1|RR=10|RH=16|RE=3
Home=Los Angeles Dodgers
H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=1|H6=0|H7=1|H8=1|H9=0|H10=0|HR=5|HH=14|HE=1Total Attendance: 151,873 Average Attendance: 50,624|

Notable Quotes

Notes