The 2013 National League Championship Series, the 44th 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

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 ...

against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's National League pennant. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers in six games. This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Dodgers, after the 1985 NLCS (Cardinals won 4–2),

2004 NLDS The 2004 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2004 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 5, and ended on Monday, October 11, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team— ...

(Cardinals won 3–1), and 2009 NLDS (Dodgers won 3–0). The Cardinals would go on to lose to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in the

2013 World Series The 2013 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 season. The 109th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Lea ...

in six games.

Matchup

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game Summaries

Game 1

Friday, October 11, 2013 – 8:37 p.m. ( EDT) 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 St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Things got off to a rough start for Los Angeles when

Hanley Ramirez Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been th ...

was hit in the ribs by a 95-mph Joe Kelly fastball, which impacted his ability for the remainder of the series. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs off of Joe Kelly on a double and two walks in the third inning when

Juan Uribe Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena (born March 22, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He played shortstop, third base and second base during his career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White S ...

's single scored two, but in the bottom of the inning,

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 ...

allowed a two-out single to Kelly and walked Matt Carpenter before both men scored on

Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Fra ...

's double tying the game. Greinke allowed only two runs in eight innings, while striking out a season high ten batters, the first pitcher to strike out ten Cardinals in a post-season game since

Denny Galehouse Dennis Ward Galehouse (December 7, 1911 – December 12, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Browns between 1934 and 1949. Galehouse batted and threw right-handed. ...

in the 1944 World Series. The game went into extra innings and in the top of the tenth, Mark Ellis tripled with one out and tried to score on Michael Young's sacrifice fly, but was thrown out by Beltran to end the inning. In the bottom of the 13th, Beltran drove in the winning run with a line drive into the right-field corner that scored

Daniel Descalso Daniel William Descalso (born October 19, 1986) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs. Early life Ita ...

from second off of

Kenley Jansen Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Signed by the ...

. The game was the third longest NLCS game ever (after game six in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and game five in 1999), the Dodgers' longest post-season game since game two of the 1916 World Series and the Cardinals' longest ever. It was the longest NLCS Game 1 ever.

Game 2

Saturday, October 12, 2013 – 4:07 p.m. ( EDT) at

The Dodgers' offense was short-handed in game two because

Hanley Ramírez Hanley Ramírez (born December 23, 1983) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Florida / Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cleveland Indians. Ram� ...

sat out with injured ribs, the result of getting hit with a pitch in game one, and with

Andre Ethier Andre Everett Ethier (; born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Do ...

getting a day off for playing the entirety of Game 1's 13-inning affair. The game was a pitchers' duel as the Cardinals only got two hits off of

Clayton Kershaw Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) . He has played for the Dodgers for the entirety of his MLB career. A left-handed starting pi ...

and two relievers.

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 ...

's sacrifice fly scored

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 ...

(after he doubled to lead off the inning) for the game's only run, in the bottom of the fifth. Due to a

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

, Freese's run was unearned. The Dodgers managed five hits off Michael Wacha but were unable to get any runs. They loaded the bases in the sixth inning with one out, but Wacha struck out Yasiel Puig and

to end the threat.

Trevor Rosenthal Trevor Jordan Rosenthal (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and S ...

struck out the side (Puig, Uribe, and pinch hitter Ethier) in the ninth inning for the save and the Dodgers fell behind 2–0 in the series. Kershaw was the first starting pitcher in postseason history to allow no earned runs and two or fewer hits and lose the game.

Game 3

Monday, October 14, 2013 – 8:07 p.m. ( EDT) at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

In Game 3, Hyun-jin Ryu pitched seven shutout innings and the Dodgers managed to score off

Adam Wainwright Adam Parrish Wainwright (born August 30, 1981), nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in the ...

to take the game 3–0. In the fourth, Mark Ellis hit a leadoff double, then scored on Adrián González's double one out later. González then scored on Yasiel Puig's triple, his first hit of the series, after 11 hitless at-bats.

had two hits and an RBI single in the seventh in his return to the Dodgers lineup, despite a fractured rib. It was the first postseason series since the

1948 World Series The 1948 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1948 season. The 45th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Boston Br ...

in which neither team hit a home run in the first three games.

Game 4

Tuesday, October 15, 2013 – 8:07 p.m. ( EDT) at

Ramirez was still hobbled by the rib injury and struggled at the plate and in the field before leaving the game in the sixth inning. In the third,

hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on Matt Carpenter's double. One out later,

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 ...

's home run, the first of the series, put the Cardinals up 3−0. The Dodgers cut the lead to 3–2 on RBI singles by Yasiel Puig and

A.J. Ellis Andrew James Ellis (born April 9, 1981), is an American former professional baseball catcher who is currently a Special Assistant to the General Manager in the front office of the San Diego Padres. Ellis played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

off of

Lance Lynn Michael Lance Lynn (born May 12, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. ...

, but Shane Robinson's home run in the seventh off of J.P. Howell padded the Cardinals' lead to 4−2 as they took a commanding 3–1 series lead.

Game 5

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 – 4:07 p.m. ( EDT) at

The Dodgers staved off elimination in Game 5 as

pitched seven strong innings and the bats came alive. In the second, the Dodgers hit four singles off of Joe Kelly, the last two of which by

and Greinke scored a run each. The Cardinals tied the game in the third when Matt Carpenter singled, then scored on

's triple before Beltran scored on

's double. Adrián González's home run in the bottom of the inning put the Dodgers up 3−2. They added to their lead on home runs by

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

in the fifth, A. J. Ellis in the seventh off of

Edward Mujica Edward José Mujica (; born May 10, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Florida/Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Oak ...

and González in the eighth off of

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 ...

. The four homers tied a Dodger post-season record that had previously been accomplished in Game 2 of the

1977 World Series The 1977 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1977 season. The 74th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Natio ...

and Game 1 of the 1978 NLCS. The Cardinals managed two runs off

in the ninth on RBI singles by

Matt Adams Matthew James Adams (born August 31, 1988) is an American professional baseball first baseman in the Washington Nationals organization. Nicknamed "Big City" for his imposing size and ability to regularly hit long home runs, the St. Louis Cardina ...

and

Pete Kozma Peter Michael Kozma (born April 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and the Oakland ...

, but the Dodgers held on to win 6–4 and send the series back to St. Louis.

Game 6

Friday, October 18, 2013 – 8:37 p.m. ( EDT) at

Hoping to force a game seven, the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

sent their ace

to the mound to face the

rookie Michael Wacha in a rematch of Game two's matchup. This time, Kershaw had his worst outing of the season, as he struggled through the third inning with 48 total pitches and surrendered a total of seven earned runs, ten hits, and two walks in four innings of work. Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig committed two costly throwing errors that epitomized the frustration of that night. By contrast, Michael Wacha, backed up by solid defense and timely hits, stymied the Dodgers' offense, going seven innings and allowing just two hits and no runs. The Cardinals scored in the third inning when Matt Carpenter lined a double into right field after an 11-pitch battle with Kershaw.

scored Carpenter from second with a line drive single, again to right field, and advanced to second. Kershaw struck out

but yielded another single to

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 great ...

, which scored Beltran from second to make it 2–0 Cardinals.

singled to center field to move Molina to second and Kershaw, already having an uncharacteristic night, walked

to load the bases for Shane Robinson. Robinson drove in two runs with a single to right

Puig Puig () is a word of Catalan origin, meaning "hill". Hence, in Catalan-speaking areas, it appears in the names of numerous people and geographical features: Geographical features * Puig-l'agulla, a mountain of Catalonia * Puig de l'Àliga (Sant ...

, extending the Cardinals' lead to 4–0. Puig committed a throwing error by tossing the ball on a misstep and slinging it all the way to backstop over the head of catcher

. Kershaw ended the inning by intentionally walking

and striking out Wacha. The Cardinals added five runs in the fifth inning. Molina singled to right field and reached second base on Puig's second throwing error of the night.

singled to advance Molina to third base and Adams drove him home with a double in to make it 5–0 Cardinals. Kershaw left the game with runners on second and third after throwing 98 pitches and was replaced by reliever Ronald Belisario. Shane Robinson came up to the plate and reached second base on a choice out by shortstop

to catcher A.J. Ellis, who tagged out David Freese in a rundown between third and home. With runners still on second and third, Kozma was intentionally walked for the second time that night. Then Wacha hit Belisario's pitch and reached first base on a fielder's choice by second baseman Mark Ellis, who allowed Matt Adams to score after hesitating on a throw to home, making the score 6–0 Cardinals. Belisario was replaced by relief pitcher J.P. Howell, who allowed Robinson and Kozma to score on a sacrifice fly by Carpenter and a wild pitch to Molina respectively, stretching the lead to 8–0. Carlos Beltran closed the door on the Dodgers' postseason by singling to left field and scoring Wacha for the final run of the game, giving the Cardinals a commanding 9–0 lead. The Dodgers had one more hit, a double by catcher A.J. Ellis. The Cardinals pitching staff retired the next 12 batters to end the game. Winning pitcher Michael Wacha was named the NLCS MVP after winning both of his starts with a 0.00 ERA, holding the Dodgers to a .149

batting average against In baseball statistics, batting average against (denoted by BAA or AVG), also known as opponents' batting average (denoted by OBA), is a statistic that measures a pitcher's ability to prevent hits during official at bats. It can alternatively be ...

(BAA), two walks and 13 SO in scoreless IP. He became the fourth rookie to win a postseason series MVP award, following

Larry Sherry Lawrence Sherry (July 25, 1935 – December 17, 2006) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed relief pitcher from 1958 to 1968, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles ...

( 1959 World Series),

Mike Boddicker Michael James Boddicker (born August 23, 1957) is an American right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (1993). ...

( 1983 NLCS), and

Liván Hernández Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (; born February 20, 1975) is a Cuban-born former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. Over a 17-year career, he played for nine different teams and was named to two Major League Baseball All-S ...

(

1997 NLCS The 1997 National League Championship Series (NLCS) pitted the 1997 Florida Marlins season, Florida Marlins against the 1997 Atlanta Braves season, Atlanta Braves. The Marlins won the series, 4–2, and went on to defeat the 1997 Cleveland Indian ...

and

1997 World Series The 1997 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1997 season. The 93rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National L ...

). The victory earned the Cardinals their 19th pennant as a franchise and their second

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 ...

appearance in three years.

Composite line score

2013 NLCS (4–2):

over

Aftermath

Days after their NLCS defeat, Dodgers general manager

Ned Colletti Ned Louis Colletti Jr. is an American sports executive with 40 years experience in Major League Baseball, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning baseball analyst, a professor of Sports Administration at Pepperdine University, the author of the best-se ...

and manager

Don Mattingly Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed ...

held a joint press conference, in which Mattingly's job status was discussed. The press conference proved to be awkward and disjointed as both Colletti and Mattingly seemed at odds Mattingly's contract status. "It puts me in a spot that everything I do is questioned because I'm basically trying out and auditioning, can you manage or can’t you manage? That’s not a great position for me as a manager," Mattingly voiced. In 2013, when the Dodgers stumbled to start the season, falling to last place in the NL West while injuries piled up, speculation was rampant that Mattingly would be fired. Team President Stan Kasten indicated to him at the time that things needed to improve for Mattingly to keep his job. The team responded, winning 42 of 50 games during a torrid midseason stretch to take over first place and eventually won the division by 11 games over Arizona. Ironically, it was Colletti who was removed from his position first when the team brought in Tampa Bay's general manager

Andrew Friedman Andrew Friedman is an American baseball executive. He is currently the President of Baseball Operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the general manager for MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, where '' ...

to oversee Baseball Operations after the 2014 season. Colletti stayed with the team until taking a scouting job with the NHL's

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

in September 2019. Mattingly mutually parted with the club after the 2015 postseason and was replaced by Dave Roberts. After leaving LA, Mattingly managed the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

from 2016-2022. The Cardinals and Dodgers met again during the 2014 National League Division Series with the Cardinals winning again and getting the better of 2013-2014

Cy Young award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

and 2014

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

winner

. Between the 2013 National League Championship Series and the 2014 National League Division Series, the Cardinals beat Kershaw in all four of his starts.

and Joe Kelly would eventually become teammates in Boston after Ramirez signed a free agent contract with the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

during the 2014-2015 off-season (Kelly had been traded to Boston at the previous season's trade deadline). The 95-mph pitch from Kelly in the first inning of game one fractured Ramirez's rib and turned the entire series on its head. Kelly eventually became a Dodger in 2019 and even became a fan favorite. 2009-2013 Cardinal

also became a popular Dodger for his clutch hitting during the twilight years of his career after being traded there from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in 2018. 2012-2013 Dodgers starting 2nd baseman Mark Ellis joined the Cardinals for the 2014 season, which was the last year of his career. The two teams met again in the postseason in the 2021 National League Wild Card Game, with the Dodgers winning in the ninth on a two-run Chris Taylor walk-off home run.

References

External links

2013 National League Championship Series
at ''Baseball Reference'' {{Los Angeles Dodgers

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 National ...

National League Championship Series Los Angeles Dodgers postseason St. Louis Cardinals postseason

2013 in Los Angeles 2010s in St. Louis October 2013 sports events in the United States