The 2018 National League Wild Card Game was a

play-in game A play-in gameTh ...

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 (MLB) 2018 postseason between 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 ...

's two wild card teams, the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

and the

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 ...

. The Cubs earned home field advantage by virtue of having a better regular season record. The game occurred on October 2, 2018, with the Rockies victorious by a score of 2–1 in 13 innings—the longest winner-take-all game in MLB postseason history. The Rockies advanced to face the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in the

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ...

Background

At the scheduled end of the regular season, the NL Central and NL West divisions each had two teams tied for the division lead; Cubs and Brewers in the Central, and

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 ...

and Rockies in the West. This resulted in two tiebreaker games being played on October 1 to determine division winners, with the losers of the tiebreaker games—the Rockies and Cubs—relegated to this Wild Card Game. This was the first Wild Card Game to require tiebreakers to determine both teams, and the first NL Wild Card Game to require any tiebreaker game, as the only other Wild Card Game to require a tiebreaker was the 2013 AL Wild Card Game. The Cubs and Rockies became the first teams in MLB history to lose tiebreaker games at the end of the regular season yet still enter postseason play, as they played in the first divisional tie-breaker games needed since MLB's addition of a second Wild Card team in 2012. The Cubs entered the Wild Card Game with a record of 95–68, while the Rockies entered at 91–72. The Cubs and Rockies tied the six-game regular season series 3–3, with each team winning two of the three games in its opponent's ballpark. This was the first postseason meeting between the two teams.

Game results

Line score

Charlie Blackmon Charles Cobb Blackmon (born July 1, 1986), nicknamed "Chuck Nazty", is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2011, as a member of the Rockies. Blackmon throw ...

walked to lead off the game for the Rockies, and

DJ LeMahieu David John LeMahieu (; born July 13, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies. The Cubs selected LeMahieu in the ...

followed with a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. They recorded their first

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in the first inning when

Nolan Arenado Nolan James Arenado (; born April 16, 1991) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Arenado is widely recognized as an elite third baseman, both offensively and defensively. ...

hit a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

that scored Blackmon. In the eighth inning,

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

hit a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

for the Cubs.

Pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

Terrance Gore Terrance Jamar Gore (born June 8, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He played college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College. He made his MLB debut in 2014 with the Kansas City Royals and has also played ...

stole second base, and scored on an RBI double by

Javier Báez Ednel Javier Báez (born December 1, 1992), nicknamed "El Mago" (Spanish for "The Magician"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cu ...

Tony Wolters Anthony John Wolters (born June 9, 1992) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. Career Cleve ...

, who entered the game in the 12th inning in a double switch, had an RBI single for Colorado in the 13th inning, scoring

Trevor Story Trevor John Story (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies. He made his MLB debut ...

. Scott Oberg recorded the win, striking out Gore, Baez and

Albert Almora Reinaldo Albert Almora Jr. (born April 16, 1994) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds. Amateur career Almora a ...

in the bottom of the 13th to secure a spot in the NLDS. Oberg became the first reliever to win a postseason game when facing at least four batters and striking out all of them.

References

External links

2018 Major League Baseball postseason schedule

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