2024 National League Wild Card Series

2024 National League Wild Card Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Mets (1) 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 and Chris 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, Eduardo Pérez, David Cone, and Buster Olney
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Roxy Bernstein and Gregg Olson
Umpires	Erich Bacchus, Nestor Ceja, Phil Cuzzi, Dan Iassogna (crew chief), Jansen Visconti, Mark Wegner

The 2024 National League Wild Card Series (branded as the Wild Card Series presented by T-Mobile 5G Home Internet for sponsorship reasons) are two best-of-three playoff series in Major League Baseball (MLB) that determine the participating teams of the 2024 National League Division Series (NLDS). Both Wild Card Series began on October 1, with Game 2s scheduled for October 2. ESPN will broadcast both Wild Card Series in the United States together with ESPN Radio.

These matchups are:

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

Background

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's Division Series.

Entering September 30, the day before the Wild Card Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks had finished their season with 89 wins, while the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves were tied with 88 wins. Due to Hurricane Helene that impacted Georgia, 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 a doubleheader at Truist 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. If either Atlanta or New York lost both games in the doubleheader, they would be eliminated and the Diamondbacks would clinch a playoff berth. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Mets defeated the Braves, 8–7, clinching the #6 seed. In the second game, the Braves defeated the Mets, 3–0, clinching the #5 seed and eliminating the Diamondbacks.

The Milwaukee Brewers (93–69) qualified for the postseason as the National League Central division winner, clinching the division via a Chicago Cubs loss on September 18. 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 the Philadelphia Phillies victory over the Chicago Cubs on September 25, thus giving Philadelphia a first-round bye. Milwaukee is making their sixth postseason appearance in seven seasons and are looking for their first postseason series victory since 2018. They will host the New 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. This is the first postseason match-up between the Brewers and Mets.

The San 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 the Los Angeles Dodgers, ending their division title aspirations. It is their third playoff appearance in the past five seasons, all as a wild card entrant. They will host the Atlanta 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 since 2012. The Padres won the season series, 4-3. This is the first postseason match-up between the Braves and Padres since the 1998 NLCS, which was won by San Diego in six games.

As the top two seeds, the Los Angeles Dodgers (98–64) and Philadelphia Phillies (95–67) earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS. This was the first year since 2014 that no team in Major League Baseball won 100 games or more in the regular season.

Matchups

Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets

Series tied, 1–1.

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 1	New York Mets – 8, Milwaukee Brewers – 4	American Family Field	2:43	40,022
2	October 2	New York Mets – 3, Milwaukee Brewers – 5	American Family Field	2:43	40,350
3	October 3	New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers	American Family Field	7:08 pm EDT/6:08 pm CDT	-

San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves

San Diego won the series, 2–0.

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 1	Atlanta Braves – 0, San Diego Padres – 4	Petco Park	2:09	47,647
2	October 2	Atlanta Braves – 4, San Diego Padres – 5	Petco Park	2:45	47,705

Milwaukee vs. New York

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

Game 1

October 1, 2024 4:32 pm (CDT) at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 74 °F (23 °C), Roof Closed

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	3	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	8	7	1
Milwaukee	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	0
WP: Luis Severino (1–0)   LP: Joel Payamps (0–1) Attendance: 40,022 Boxscore

In the bottom of the first, William Contreras singled off Luis Severino to score Brice Turang and the Brewers made it 2–0 when Rhys Hoskins got hit by a pitch from Severino, allowing Jackson Chourio to score. In the top of the second, Jesse Winker hit a two-run triple to right field off Freddy 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 Chourio 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 scoring Tyrone Taylor. Later in the same inning, Mark Vientos and J. 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.

Game 2

October 2, 2024 6:38 pm (CDT) at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 73 °F (23 °C), Roof Closed

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Milwaukee	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	X	5	11	1
WP: Joe Ross (1-0)   LP: Phil Maton (0-1)   Sv: Devin Williams (1) Home runs: NYM: None MIL: Jackson Chourio 2 (2), Garrett Mitchell (1) Attendance: 40,350 Boxscore

In the top of the first, Brandon Nimmo delivered an RBI single off Frankie Montas to score Jose Iglesias, giving the Mets a 1–0 lead. The Brewers answered back by tying the game 1–1 when Jackson Chourio hit a solo home run off Sean Manaea. The Mets retook the lead in the top of the second when Francisco Álvarez hit an RBI single off Montas to score Starling Marte. Francisco Lindor then extended the lead for the Mets when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Tyrone Taylor to make it 3–1. In the bottom of the fifth, Blake Perkins’s sacrifice fly to score Brice Turang cut the Mets' lead to 3–2. In the bottom of the eighth, Chourio hit his second home run of the game off Phil Maton, tying the game at 3–3; and Garrett Mitchell gave the Brewers a 5–3 lead with a two-run home run, scoring Willy Adames. Devin Williams closes out the Mets with a 1-2-3 inning as the Brewers tie the series at 1–1, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3.

Game 3

October 3, 2024 6:08 pm (CDT) at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
Milwaukee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0
Starting pitchers: NYM: José Quintana (0-0) MIL: Tobias Myers (0-0) Boxscore

San Diego vs. Atlanta

This is the second postseason meeting between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves. Their last postseason meeting was in the 1998 National League Championship Series, which was won by San Diego in six games.

Game 1

October 1, 2024 5:38 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California 71 °F (23 °C), Mostly Sunny

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
San Diego	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	4	5	0
WP: Michael King (1–0)   LP: AJ Smith-Shawver (0–1) Home runs: ATL: None SD: Fernando Tatís Jr. (1), Kyle Higashioka (1) Attendance: 47,647 Boxscore

In the bottom of the first, Fernando Tatís Jr.'s two-run home run off AJ Smith-Shawver gave the Padres an early 2–0 lead. The next inning had the Padres extending the lead when Kyle Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly to score Jake Cronenworth. Higashioka extended the lead to 4–0 in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run off Luke Jackson. The Padres held the shutout in the final inning to get the first win of the series. The Padres are looking for the sweep tomorrow and advance to the NLDS against the Dodgers.

Game 2

October 2, 2024 5:38 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California 70 °F (21 °C), Clear

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	4	6	0
San Diego	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	5	10	0
WP: Bryan Hoeing (1-0)   LP: Max Fried (0–1)   Sv: Robert Suárez (1) Home runs: ATL: Jorge Soler (1), Michael Harris II (1) SD: Kyle Higashioka (2) Attendance: 47,705 Boxscore

In the top of the first, Marcell Ozuna hit a sacrifice fly to score Michael Harris II, giving the Braves a 1–0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Kyle Higashioka’s home run off Max Fried tied the game at 1–1. Then, Manny Machado hit a two-run double scoring Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatís Jr., putting the Padres in the lead at 3–1. Then, Jackson Merrill two-run triple scored Jurickson Profar and Machado, extending the Padres' lead to 5–1. In the top of the fifth, Jorge Soler hit a solo home run off Bryan Hoeing to cut the Padres' lead to 5–2. In the top of the eighth, Michael Harris II hit a two-run home run off Jason Adam to cut the Braves' deficit to one. Robert Suárez closed out the Braves with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth as the Padres swept the series to advance to the NLDS to face their NL West Division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

See also

• 2024 American League Wild Card Series

External links

• Major League Baseball postseason schedule