2022 National League Division Series
The 2022 National League Division Series were the two best-of-five playoff series in Major League Baseball’s 2022 postseason to determine the participating teams of the 2022 National League Championship Series. These matchups were:
- Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres : Padres win series 3–1.
- Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies : Phillies win series 3–1.
Background
The top two division winners are determined by regular season winning percentages. The final two teams are the winners of the National League Wild Card Series, played between the league's third to sixth-seeded teams.The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth on September 13, their tenth straight postseason appearance, which is the third-longest streak in MLB history. They then clinched the National League West on September 14, a first-round bye from the National League Wild Card Series on September 19, the 1 seed in the National League on September 25, and the best record on September 30, earning them home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs. They played against the San Diego Padres, who clinched their first division series appearance since 2020 and just their second since 2006 by defeating the New York Mets in three games in the Wild Card Series. The Dodgers won the season series against the Padres 14–5 during the regular season.
The Atlanta Braves clinched their fifth straight postseason appearance on September 21 and clinched the National League East and first-round bye as the 2 seed on October 4, the second-to-last day of the season. The Braves had trailed the New York Mets for virtually the whole season, but they eventually overtook them on the last weekend of the season via a three-game sweep at Truist Park, winning the season series 10–9. They played against the Philadelphia Phillies, who clinched their first division series berth and appearance since 2011 by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a two-game sweep in the Wild Card Series. Atlanta went 11–8 during the season series against Philadelphia.
Matchups
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Los Angeles vs. San Diego
This was the second postseason meeting between Los Angeles and San Diego, following their 2020 National League Division Series match-up, which was won by Los Angeles in a three-game sweep. During the regular season, the Dodgers finished in first place in the National League West, while the Padres finished 22 games back in second place. This is a continuation of the Dodgers–Padres rivalry, which has heated up in recent years.Game 1
made his first career postseason Game 1 start for the Dodgers against Mike Clevinger of the Padres. Trea Turner homered in the first to give the Dodgers an early lead, which they added to quickly, scoring five runs off Clevinger in innings. The Padres came back to score three runs in the fifth inning to tighten the game, including a Wil Myers home run. It remained scoreless the rest of the way and the Dodgers won the first game, 5–3.Game 2
Game 2 marked Yu Darvish's first postseason start at Dodger Stadium since he started for the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, which the Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros. Injured Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler threw out the ceremonial first pitch.Clayton Kershaw started for the Dodgers. Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman each hit solo home runs in the first inning. Los Angeles took the lead the next inning on a solo homer by Max Muncy, but the Padres regained it in the third inning, thanks to a Machado double, scoring Ha-Seong Kim, and a Jake Cronenworth ground out, scoring Juan Soto. The game was tied up again in the bottom of the inning, when Trea Turner hit a solo home run. San Diego took the lead again when Jurickson Profar singled to right field off of reliever Brusdar Graterol, scoring Cronenworth and making it 4–3, right after Turner had botched what would have been an inning-ending double play. The lead would have been bigger if not for an improbable barehanded play by Graterol to get Wil Myers out at home, thwarting a bunt attempt by Trent Grisham.
The Dodgers were close to scoring many times during the rest of the game, but ultimately they did not capitalize. In the bottom of the sixth, with baserunners on the corners and nobody out, Robert Suarez relieved Darvish and proceeded to strike out Justin Turner, then induced an inning-ending double play to keep the Dodgers out of the scoreboard. In the bottom of the seventh, Los Angeles had the bases loaded but scored no runs. In the top of the eighth, Cronenworth hit a home run that made it 5–3 San Diego. Padres closer Josh Hader earned a four-out save, his first in more than two years, as he kept the game scoreless the rest of the way. The Padres won to even up the series at a game apiece, in what was their first win against the Dodgers in the postseason.
Game 3
In Petco Park's first playoff game before fans since the 2006 NLDS, Tony Gonsolin started for the Dodgers, while Blake Snell started for the Padres. The Padres took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Jake Cronenworth drove in Juan Soto from second base. Gonsolin lasted only innings after a shaky start. Trent Grisham hit a solo home run off of Andrew Heaney to double the lead in the fourth, and the Dodgers cut the lead back to one with a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth. San Diego did not record any hits since the bottom of the fourth, but its bullpen held the Dodgers scoreless, including Josh Hader with his second save in a row. The Dodgers finished the game 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, including a bases-loaded jam in the third where they came up emptyhanded. With the win, the Padres took a 2–1 series lead, their first in the National League Division Series since 1998, and their first of the season against LA after playing at least two games.Game 4
Game 4 commenced following a 31-minute rain delay, Tyler Anderson started for Los Angeles while Joe Musgrove started for San Diego. Former Padres pitcher Jake Peavy threw out the ceremonial first pitch.Musgrove worked around a Freddie Freeman double in the first when Trent Grisham made a ranging catch of a fly ball to end the inning. Tyler Anderson then worked around a Manny Machado single in the bottom of the inning. The top of the third inning saw the game's first action, with runners on second and third and one out, Freeman's two-run double gave the Dodgers the first runs of the game. In the top of the seventh, the Dodgers loaded the bases against the Padres bullpen with no outs, but only scored one run on a Will Smith sacrifice fly. Tim Hill retired the next two batters to prevent further damage. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Padres took the lead with a five-run inning against Tommy Kahnle, Yency Almonte, and Alex Vesia. With no outs, Austin Nola drove in the Padres' first run with an infield single against Kahnle. After the Dodgers pitching change to Almonte, Ha-seong Kim doubled in a run and a single by Juan Soto tied the game at 3. Almonte then retired the next two Padres. With Jake Cronenworth at the plate, Soto proceeded to steal second and Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts changed pitchers and brought Vesia into the game. Cronenworth then singled to center plating Kim and Soto to give the Padres a 5–3 lead. Robert Suárez pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Padres and closer Josh Hader struck out the top of the order to end the series.
With the win, the 89-win Padres completed the upset of the 111-win Dodgers in four games. The only other time in MLB playoff history that a team defeated an opponent who was more than 22 wins better was in the 1906 World Series when the 93-win Chicago White Sox defeated the 116-win Chicago Cubs. The Padres advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 1998. MLB.com ranked the Padres’ upset of the Dodgers as the second greatest upset in postseason history.
In the immediate aftermath of Game 4, Los Angeles Times sportswriter Bill Plaschke called the Dodgers' series loss to the Padres "the biggest disappointment in Dodger history." Many Dodger fans have agreed with this sentiment, and some fans have even regarded the series loss as worse than any other series loss in franchise history, including the team's devastating series loss to the Washington Nationals three years prior.