The 2025 National League Wild Card Series reshaped the path to the World Series
In short: The 2025 National League Wild Card Series determined which teams advanced to the Division Series. While the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs overcame the San Diego Padres in a tense three-game series. These matchups marked significant milestones for franchises seeking to end long-standing postseason droughts.
The 2025 National League postseason landscape was defined by the absence of the Atlanta Braves, ending their streak of appearances dating back to 2017. The Dodgers, securing the third seed as division winners, faced the sixth-seeded Cincinnati Reds. The Reds had barely qualified, clinching their spot on the final day of the regular season after a tie-breaker scenario favored them over the New York Mets. This series was a historic rematch of the 1995 National League Division Series, the only previous postseason meeting between the two clubs, where the Reds had swept the Dodgers. History repeated itself in terms of dominance, but this time in favor of Los Angeles, who swept the series 2–0 to advance to the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the other bracket, the fourth-seeded Chicago Cubs faced the fifth-seeded San Diego Padres. This series was the first postseason encounter between the two teams since the 1984 National League Championship Series. The Cubs, clinching their first postseason berth since 2020, proved resilient. After the teams split the first two games, the Cubs secured a 3–1 victory in the decisive third game. Key moments included Mason Miller’s record-tying performance for the Padres, where he struck out eight consecutive batters, the longest such streak to start a postseason career. Despite the Padres' efforts, the Cubs’ win marked their first postseason series victory since 2017.
The outcomes of these series highlighted the ongoing struggles of the National League Central division, which had not won a playoff series since 2019 prior to the Cubs' advancement. The Reds' defeat extended their postseason series win drought to 30 years, the longest in Major League Baseball. As the Dodgers and Cubs moved forward to face the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies, the Wild Card round served as a reminder of how quickly postseason fortunes can shift, with teams like the Dodgers leveraging high-octane offense and others relying on clutch pitching to survive the elimination format.
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