NL Wild Card Game

Game	Date	Matchup/Result	Breakdown
1	Fri. Oct. 5	Cardinals 6 at Braves 3	Recap | Box
Cardinals Win Wild Card Playoff

History

The Cardinals and Braves are no stranger to one another when it comes to October baseball.

The teams have met three times in the past 30 years with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 edge in the three previous meetings.

The first such meeting came in 1982 when Whitey Herzog led his Cardinals to a three-game sweep over a Braves squad that featured National League MVP Dale Murphy. The Braves were three outs from winning Game 1 of the series before rain washed the opener at Busch Stadium away. The Cards would thump the Braves 7-0 in the replay, steal Game 2 in the ninth and complete the sweep with a 6-2 win.

The Braves would have their revenge, however, in 1996. In the midst of a stretch that would see them play in eight straight NLCS, Atlanta drew the Cards in defence of their 1995 World Series crown. The Cardinals looked to have the series locked up after taking a three-games-to-one lead. The Braves would turn the tide at Busch in game 5, though, and would never look back. In the final three games of the series, the Braves ace trio of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine would shut the Cards down allowing just one run between them.

The Cards would have their revenge in the 2000 NLDS, once again facing Maddux and Glavine but this time batting them around. The Cards put up six runs on Maddux in the first inning of Game 1 and held on for a 7-5 win. The Cards would take the series with lopsided wins in Game 2 (10-4 at Busch) and Game 3 (7-1 at Turner Field).

Most recently, however, the two teams were linked by fate on the unbelievable final day of the 2011 season. The Braves saw an 8 ½-game lead in the NL Wild Card evaporate to a dead heat with the Cards with one game to go. On the season's final night, the Cards rolled over the Houston Astros in their season finale in an 8-0 victory and watched to see what the Braves would do in Philadelphia. The Braves surrendered a ninth-inning lead that would have ensured a one-game playoff and then lost the game in the 13th inning, sending the Cards to the NLDS and - eventually – a World Series crown.

The Braves won the 2012 season series, taking five of six contests including two of three in Atlanta.

Tale of the Tape