The 2011 National League Championship Series (abbreviated NLCS) was a

best-of-seven playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly ...

pitting the winners of the 2011 National League Division Series, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Milwaukee Brewers, against each other for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

championship and the right to be the league's representative in the 2011 World Series. The series was the 42nd NLCS in league history. The series began on October 9 to accommodate the World Series, which was scheduled to begin on October 19. TBS televised all games in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with Game 1 starting at 4:05pm EDT. Games 1, 2 and 6 were played at

Miller Park American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, while the other games were played at

Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) f ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. By coincidence, Brian Anderson, who usually called Brewers games on

Fox Sports Wisconsin Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North until 2007, the channel was known as Fox ...

during the regular season, did the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

for the NLCS on TBS, along with

Ron Darling Ronald Maurice Darling Jr. (born August 19, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a m ...

and

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

. Anderson filled in for regular TBS lead baseball announcer Ernie Johnson, who was tending to a son in the hospital. This was the Brewers' first-ever appearance in the NLCS, having moved to the

in 1998. As an

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

team, the Brewers made the ALCS in their pennant season of 1982, defeating the California Angels, 3–2. Thus, the Brewers became the first franchise to play in the LCS as a member of each league. The Cardinals, meanwhile, appeared in the NLCS for the first time since winning the 2006 World Series. This was a rematch of the

1982 World Series The 1982 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1982 Major League Baseball season, 1982 season. The 79th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Leag ...

(a.k.a. the "Suds Series", with both cities associated with the brewing industry with Milwaukee's

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...

Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz (), was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was adve ...

, and

Pabst Brewing Company The Pabst Brewing Company () is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over ...

and St. Louis, whose

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

company is namesake of the Cardinals'

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

), which the Cardinals won, 4–3. The Cardinals would go on to defeat the Texas Rangers in seven games in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. As of , this is the most recent

League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, an ...

in either league to be played between divisional opponents. This is mainly due to the restriction between two divisional opponents meeting in the

Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

being removed following this season.

Summary

Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Game summaries

Game 1

Sunday, October 9, 2011 – 4:05 pm ( EDT) at

Game 1 would be a back-and-forth affair. The Cardinals manufactured a run in the first with a walk by

Jon Jay Jonathan Henry Jay (born March 15, 1985) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the first base coach for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Dieg ...

, a single by Albert Pujols, and a two-out single from

Matt Holliday Matthew Thomas Holliday (born January 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 2004 to 2018 for the ...

. The Brewers answered with a two-run home run from

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and f ...

after a walk in the bottom half. The Cardinals would go ahead in the fourth on a

David Freese David Richard Freese (born April 28, 1983) is an American former professional baseball Infielder, infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a key player during the 2011 Major Leag ...

three-run home run and would add on a run with a

Lance Berkman William Lance Berkman (born February 10, 1976), nicknamed "Fat Elvis" and "Big Puma", is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Houston Christian H ...

single in the fifth. The Brewers came storming back in the fifth. The inning began with a Corey Hart single and a

Jerry Hairston Jr. Jerry Wayne Hairston Jr. (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers ...

double. Braun then hit a ground-rule double, making the score 5–4.

Prince Fielder Prince Semien Fielder (born May 9, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected in ...

put the Brewers ahead with a two-run home run and after

Octavio Dotel Octavio Eduardo Dotel Diaz (born November 25, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. Dotel played for 13 major league teams, the second most teams played for by any player in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), setti ...

relieved starter Jaime García, Yuniesky Betancourt hit another two-run home run to make it 8–5 Brewers. A Pujols double-play grounder in the seventh off of

Takashi Saito is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher who is currently the chief pitching coach for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Saito's professional career spanned 23 years. He spent his first 13 seasons pit ...

would make it 8–6 (the run charged to starter

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los An ...

), but the Brewers got the run back with a

Jonathan Lucroy Jonathan Charles Lucroy (born June 13, 1986) is a former American professional baseball catcher. Between 2010 and 2021, he spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Oakl ...

RBI single in the bottom half off of Kyle McClellan. Francisco Rodríguez would pitch a scoreless eighth inning and

John Axford John Berton Axford (born April 1, 1983), nicknamed "Ax Man", is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pitts ...

would get the save in the ninth as the Brewers took Game 1, 9–6.

Game 2

Monday, October 10, 2011 – 8:05 pm ( EDT) at

The Cardinals' offense erupted off of

Shaun Marcum Shaun Michal Marcum (born December 14, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Cleveland Indians. In 2015, he became the ...

in Game 2, going up 2−0 in the first on Albert Pujols's two-run home run. His two-run double in the third made it 4−0 Cardinals. Next inning,

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the grea ...

hit a leadoff double and scored on

Nick Punto Nicholas Paul Punto (born November 8, 1977) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers ...

's single. In the bottom half,

hit a leadoff double off of Edwin Jackson before

Rickie Weeks Rickie Darnell Weeks Jr. (born September 13, 1982) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays. H ...

's home run put the Brewers on the board. In the fifth,

hit a leadoff double off of Marco Estrada, then scored on Pujols's double. Pujols moved to third on a groundout, then scored on a wild pitch. The Brewers had a chance to put the game within one run in the fifth, but Weeks grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, killing the Brewers' rally. In the seventh, Pujols hit a ground-rule double with one out, then scored on

's single off of

Kameron Loe Kameron David Loe (born September 10, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves. At , Loe was o ...

. After

singled, RBI singles by Molina,

, and

made it 11–2 Cardinals.

hit a solo home run for the Brewers in the eighth off of

Mitchell Boggs Mitchell Thomas Boggs (born February 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies. High school Boggs played two sports while attending Da ...

and Freese did the same for the Cardinals in the ninth off of

Chris Narveson Christopher Gregg Narveson (; born December 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins, and in Nippon Professiona ...

. The Cardinals won 12–3, tying the Series at a game apiece as well as potential momentum going back to St. Louis. Pujols hit a home run, three doubles, three runs scored, and five RBIs.

Game 3

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 – 8:05 pm ( EDT) at

Rafael Furcal Rafael Antoni Furcal (born October 24, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Miami Marlins. With St. Louis, he ...

hit a leadoff single in the first inning off

Yovani Gallardo Yovani Gallardo (pronounced gah-YAR-doh; born February 27, 1986) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft out of Trimble Technical High ...

, moved to second on a wild pitch and back-to-back RBI doubles by

and Albert Pujols made it 2–0 Cardinals. Two walks loaded the bases before

's ground-ball double-play and

's double scored a run each. Gallardo and three Milwaukee relievers held the Cardinals scoreless for the rest of the game. In the second, three consecutive leadoff singles off of

Chris Carpenter Christopher John Carpenter (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012. A Cy Young Award win ...

put the Brewers on the board. After a fly ball moved

to third, he scored on Gallardo's sacrifice fly. Next inning, Mark Kotsay's home run made it a one-run game, but Carpenter and four relievers held the Brewers scoreless for the rest of the game as the Cardinals' 4–3 win gave them a 2–1 series lead.

Game 4

Thursday, October 13, 2011 – 8:05 pm ( EDT) at

Brewers starter

Randy Wolf Randall Christopher Wolf (born August 22, 1976) nicknamed "Wolfie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, ...

kept Milwaukee from falling into a 3–1 series deficit, throwing seven stellar innings, striking out six batters, but allowed home runs to

in the second and

Allen Craig Allen Thomas Craig (born July 18, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals drafted Craig from the Uni ...

in the third to put the Cardinals up 2–0. The Brewers scored two runs to tie the game in the fourth inning, with Jerry Hairston hitting an RBI double to score

, who doubled to lead off, and Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a single to score Hairston. The Brewers went up 3–2 in the fifth on a single by

off of

with the run charged to starter

Kyle Lohse Kyle Matthew Lohse (; born October 4, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, an ...

, and added an insurance run in the sixth on a crucial error by

Ryan Theriot Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an electo ...

on George Kottaras's ground ball. Though the Cardinals had the tying run at the plate in three of the last four innings, Wolf, along with relievers Francisco Rodríguez and

, shut the Cardinals down to even the series at two games apiece, guaranteeing that the series would end in Milwaukee. It was also the Brewers' first playoff win on the road since Game 1 of the 1982 World Series.

Game 5

Friday, October 14, 2011 – 8:05 pm ( EDT) at

The Cardinals took advantage of four Milwaukee errors to grab a 3–2 series lead.

's one-out RBI double with runners on first and second put them on the board in the second off of

. One out later, an error on Jaime Garcia's ground ball scored two more runs. Garcia's groundout with runners on second and third in the fourth made it 4−0 Cardinals. Corey Hart's RBI single in the fifth provided the only run of the game for the Brewers. The Cardinals added to their lead on Albert Pujols's RBI single in the sixth and

's two-run double in the eighth off of Marco Estrada.

got the win in relief of García and

Jason Motte Jason Louis Motte (born June 22, 1982) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals drafted ...

earned another save with shutout innings.

Game 6

Sunday, October 16, 2011 – 8:05 pm ( EDT) at

The Cardinals got off to a quick start, scoring four runs off

in the first.

got things started with an RBI single. Eventual series MVP

hit a three-run blast to extend their early lead. Marcum would last only this one inning. The Brewers got a run right back on a leadoff solo shot by Corey Hart in the bottom half of the inning off of Edwin Jackson, but the Redbirds would make it a four run game again as

homered to make the score 5–1 in the second off of

. Milwaukee would start to claw their way back in their half of the inning, as

hit a leadoff home run and

hit a two-run home run to make the score 5–4. In the third, however, Albert Pujols led off with a solo shot of his own. They then loaded the bases on a single, double and intentional walk before

's sacrifice fly scored a run and moved the runners up.

LaTroy Hawkins LaTroy Hawkins (born December 21, 1972) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his 21-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Colorad ...

relieved Narveson and allowed a two-run single to

. In the bottom of the fourth, back-to-back doubles by

and Yuniesky Betancourt off of Fernando Salas made it 9–5 Cardinals, but in the fifth,

allowed back-to-back leadoff singles to

and Freese before

's fielder's choice scored a run. After Punto struck out,

Adron Chambers Adron Lamar Chambers (born October 8, 1986) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2011 to 2013. Early life Prior to playing professionally, Chambers atten ...

's sacrifice fly made it 11–5 Cardinals.

's groundout in the bottom half off of Marc Rzepczynski scored the last run for the Brewers while the Cardinals added a run in the eighth off of Francisco Rodríguez on Pujols's RBI single. In the ninth, with the score 12–6, Cardinals closer

came on to pitch in a non-save situation. Motte struck Mark Kotsay out swinging to end the game and give St. Louis the National League Pennant.

Composite box

2011 NLCS (4–2):

over Milwaukee Brewers

Aftermath

National League Championship Series MVP

would continue his torrid hitting in the

. In what is considered one of the greatest games ever played, with the Texas Rangers leading the game 7–5, and leading the series by 3 games to 2, Freese came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with two out and two men on base. With a count of one ball and two strikes, Freese hit a two-run

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

off closer

Neftalí Feliz Neftalí Feliz Antonio (; born May 2, 1988) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh ...

just out of the reach of Nelson Cruz's glove to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the 11th inning, Freese hit a game-winning lead-off, walk-off homerun to deep center field to send the World Series to a

Game 7 A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA pl ...

. The Cardinals would win the next game, thus giving them their 11th World Series. For his heroics, Fresse became just the sixth player to win an LCS and

World Series MVP The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The aw ...

in the same postseason. On December 10, 2011, it was revealed by Outside the Lines that regular-season

National League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. His initial positive test, from October 2011, had been overturned after Braun, and his legal team, waged a successful battle against the drug collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr. Laurenzi had waited to deliver the specimens to the lab, instead of delivering them right away per his instructions. Braun and his lawyers painted Laurenzi as incompetent and even insinuated that he purposefully tampered with Braun's urine sample because he was a

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

fan, a divisional rival of the Brewers, and an anti-Semitic (Braun is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

). In July 2013, Ryan Braun finally admitted to using

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

and apologized to Laurenzi. Nevertheless, he was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season. After admitting PED use in 2013, Braun never placed in the top-20 in MVP voting again and made just one All-Star game in the last eight years of his career. Game 6 was Prince Fielder's last game as a Brewer, as he signed a free agent contract with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in the off-season. Despite just seven seasons in Milwaukee, Fielder still ranks in the top 5 in most all-time offensive categories. To date, his 50 homerun season in 2007 is still the most in Brewers franchise history for a single-season. This was the start of four straight National League Championship Series appearances for the Cardinals, with 2011 being the only year they won the World Series.

References

External links

2011 NLCS at Baseball-Reference
{{St. Louis Cardinals

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

National League Championship Series Milwaukee Brewers postseason St. Louis Cardinals postseason

2010s in Milwaukee 2010s in St. Louis October 2011 sports events in the United States