The 2026 National League Division Series (NLDS) is the two best-of-five playoff series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the 2026 National League Championship Series (NLCS). These matchups are:
(1) Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central champions) vs. (4) San Diego Padres (Wild Card Series winner) (2) Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West champions) vs. (3) Atlanta Braves (Wild Card Series winner)
The team with the better regular season record (higher seed) of each series hosted Games 1, 2, and (if necessary) 5, while the lower-seeded team hosted Game 3 and (if necessary) 4.
Background
The top two division winners (first two seeds) are determined by regular season winning percentages. The final two teams are the winner of the National League Wild Card Series, played between the league's third to sixth-seeded teams.
The Milwaukee Brewers () clinched their eighth postseason berth in the last nine seasons (2018–2021; 2023–2026) on September 11 with a 20–0 shutout against the Cincinnati Reds, just two runs short of their franchise record they tied earlier in the season against the Seattle Mariners on August 18th in a 22–0 win. They won their fourth consecutive National League Central on September 15, a first-round bye on September 22 after an Atlanta Braves' loss, and best overall record in both NL and MLB after they beat the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers lost to Padres on September 24, giving them home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs. The San Diego Padres () qualified for the postseason as the fourth seed wild card entrant on September 24; they swept the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series. This division series will mark the first postseason meeting between the Brewers and the Padres. San Diego won the regular season series, 4–2, against Milwaukee. Both the Brewers and Padres came into the league together in 1969 and both share the distinction of not yet winning a World Series. As such, this is the first postseason series since the 2016 World Series where both teams have a 50 year or more title drought.
The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers () clinched their 14th consecutive postseason berth on September 14, a feat that tied the Atlanta Braves (1991–2005, excluding 1994 when the postseason was canceled due to a strike) for most consecutive postseason appearances. They won their fifth straight National League West and 13th in last 14 on September 17 by beating the Cincinnati Reds 8–2 and clinched a first-round bye when the same Reds team defeated the Braves a week later on September 24. The Atlanta Braves () qualified for the postseason as the National League East division winner and the league's third seed on September 20; they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series in three games. This division series will mark the sixth postseason meeting, and fourth in the last nine years, between the Dodgers and the Braves, who were NL West divisional rivals from 1969–1993. Atlanta won the regular-season series, 5–1, against Los Angeles.
Matchups Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Diego Padres
If necessary
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves
Milwaukee vs. San Diego This is the first postseason matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres.
Game 1
In the top of the second inning, Luis Campusano hit an RBI single off Jacob Misiorowski to drive in Xander Bogaerts, putting the Padres on the board 1–0. Then, Jake Cronenworth drove in Ethan Salas on a fielder's choice to extend the Padres' lead to 2–0. In the bottom of the third inning, Jackson Chourio hit a two-run home run off Robbie Ray to tie the game at 2–2. Afterward, Bradgley Rodriguez escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam to maintain the 2–2 tie. In the top of the seventh inning, DL Hall got Jackson Merrill to fly out to escape another two-out, bases-loaded jam, keeping it deadlocked at 2–2. In the bottom of the seventh, William Contreras hit a solo home run off Adrian Morejon to put the Brewers ahead 3–2. In the ninth inning, a fly ball from Ty France that looked like a potential go-ahead home run struck the roof and was caught by Chourio on its way back down for an out. Brewers closer Trevor Megill then retired Merrill on a lineout to secure the Game 1 victory for Milwaukee.
Statcast data showed that France’s ninth-inning batted ball had a exit velocity and a 49-degree launch angle. Historically, batted balls with those metrics had never resulted in a home run, meaning the steep angle likely would have resulted in an out regardless of the roof. Observers on social media joked that the roof acted as an angel for the Brewers, with Brewers manager Pat Murphy sarcasticly thanking late longtime announcer Bob Uecker after the game.
Game 2
In the top of the first inning, Ty France opened the scoring with an RBI single, driving in Manny Machado for a 1–0 Padres lead. San Diego added to their lead following an error by Brewers shortstop Brice Turang, which allowed Luis Campusano to reach third base and later score on an RBI fielder's choice by Dustin Harris, extending the advantage to 2–0.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to 2–1 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Christian Yelich scored on an RBI single by Sal Frelick. Brewers starter Logan Henderson pitched five innings, giving up two hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, and four strikeouts.
Padres starter Michael King exited after five innings, allowing three hits and one run while striking out six batters. San Diego pushed their lead to 3–1 in the top of the seventh inning when Fernando Tatís Jr. scored on another RBI single by Ty France. Garrett Mitchell scored for the Brewers in the bottom of the seventh on a throwing error by Jake Cronenworth.
In the bottom of the ninth, following walks to Yelich, Frelick, and Gary Sánchez, Jackson Chourio hit a walk-off, two-run single off Padres closer Mason Miller, giving the Brewers a 4–3 win and a 2–0 series lead heading to San Diego. Miller had thrown 12 pitches in the eight inning, striking out two, and retired the first batter in the ninth on two pitches before loading the bases on three walks, his first career postseason walks. It would have been his third six-out appearance of the season and his first six-out save since 2024. He threw a season-high 40 pitches, his most since 2023.
Game 3
Less than an hour before first pitch, Mason Miller was placed on the paternity list after his wife went into labor earlier in the afternoon. Reliever Wandy Peralta was activated to the Padres roster as a temporary replacement for Miller.
In the bottom of the third inning, Fernando Tatís Jr. drove in the Padres' first run with an RBI groundout, scoring Samad Taylor. Manny Machado followed two batters later with an RBI single to score Jackson Merrill, giving San Diego a 2–0 lead. Milwaukee cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning when William Contreras hit a solo home run off Nick Pivetta. The Brewers then tied the game in the top of the fifth inning when Jackson Chourio hit a sacrifice fly off Jason Adam to score Cooper Pratt.
San Diego regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jake Cronenworth hit a solo home run off JoJo Romero, putting the Padres ahead 3–2. The Padres extended their lead to 4–2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Xander Bogaerts scored on a throwing error by Pratt. The Brewers cut their deficit to 4–3 in the top of the seventh inning when Christian Yelich hit an RBI single, ending his 19-game postseason streak without an RBI, dating back to 2018.
San Diego turned to Michael King to start the eighth inning in relief, two days after he threw 72 pitches in Game 2 of the series. After recording four outs, King issued back-to-back walks to Contreras and Brice Turang in the top of the ninth. King then induced Yelich to ground into a game-ending double play, earning the save.
The 4–3 victory kept San Diego alive in the series, cutting Milwaukee's series lead to 2–1 and forcing a Game 4. The loss also extended the Brewers' postseason road losing streak to 12, matching an Major League Baseball record set by the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins franchise from 1925 to 1987.
The attendance of 47,708 was the third-largest in Petco Park history.
Game 4
Padres closer Mason Miller was activated from the paternity list before today's game.
Los Angeles vs. Atlanta This is the sixth postseason matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, tying Cincinnati–Pittsburgh, Los Angeles–St. Louis and Los Angeles–Philadelphia for most frequent playoff meetings in the National League. Atlanta won the first meeting in the 1996 NLDS. Los Angeles won the next three matchups in the 2013 NLDS, 2018 NLDS, and 2020 NLCS. Atlanta won the most recent postseason series in the 2021 NLCS. The two teams also met in the 1959 National League tie-breaker series, considered regular season games, with the Dodgers winning that series, two games to none, to advance to the 1959 World Series. The Braves and Dodgers also shared the same division (NL West) for 24 years (1969–1993), where they finished in the top two positions in the division in 1982, 1983, and 1991, all of which came down to the final week of the season.
This is also the first postseason series since 2006 with three different play-by-play announcers on U.S. television. Joe Davis, the primary announcer for Major League Baseball on Fox, called the first two games of the series, but his voice got progressively worse during those games and he was diagnosed with laryngitis. Kenny Albert then filled in for Game 3, but could not stay due to a pre-arranged assignment calling an NHL on TNT game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals on the same day as Game 4. Brandon Gaudin, the full-time BravesVision voice and part-time Fox Sports announcer, took over for Game 4. The analyst (John Smoltz) and field reporter (Ken Rosenthal) were the same for each contest.
Game 1
At , this was the second-hottest MLB postseason game on record, following Game 1 of the 2017 World Series between the Astros and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers opened the scoring with a two-run home run by Teoscar Hernández in the bottom of the fourth inning off Victor Mederos to give Los Angeles a 2–0 lead. In the top of the sixth inning, Sean Murphy hit a home run off Tarik Skubal to cut the Braves' deficit to 2–1. In the bottom of the sixth, Kyle Tucker hit a two-run home run off AJ Smith-Shawver to extend the Dodgers' lead to 4–1, followed immediately by Max Muncy's solo shot to make it 5–1. It pushed his franchise record for postseason home runs to 17. In the top of the ninth inning, Ozzie Albies hit a two-run home run off Tanner Scott to trim the Braves' deficit to 5–3, which would stand as the final score as the Dodgers secured a 1–0 series lead.
Game 2
The Braves opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Ronald Acuña Jr. scored on a bases-loaded infield single by Mauricio Dubón to give the team an early 1–0 lead. Ray Kerr pitched innings for Atlanta, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out four batters.
The Dodgers tied the game at 1–1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run off Grant Holmes. For Los Angeles, Blake Snell pitched innings, allowing three hits and one run while walking five batters and striking out five.
Atlanta regained the 2–1 lead in the top of the fifth when Michael Harris II hit a two-out triple and scored on a wild pitch by Kris Bubic. The Braves added another run in the top of the seventh when Harris doubled to drive in Matt Olson, extending their lead to 3–1.
Max Muncy hit his second home run of the series with a solo shot off Didier Fuentes in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to 3–2. Raisel Iglesias then recorded the final out to secure the win for the Braves, evening the series at one game apiece as the series shifts to Atlanta.
Game 3