2001 NLDS
| 2001 National League Division Series | |||||||||||||
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| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 9 – 12 | ||||||||||||
| Television |
Fox Family (Games 1–2) Fox (Game 3) |
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| TV announcers |
Kenny Albert, Rod Allen (Games 1–2) Mel Proctor, Rod Allen (Game 3) |
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| Radio |
ESPN (National) WSB (ATL) KTRH (HOU) |
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| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 9 – 14 | ||||||||||||
| Television |
Fox Family (Games 1–4) Fox (Game 5) |
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| TV announcers |
Thom Brennaman, Steve Lyons (Games 1–2) Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (Game 3–5) |
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| Radio |
ESPN (National) KTAR (ARI) KMOX (STL) |
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| Umpires |
Bruce Froemming, Chuck Meriwether, Mike Winters, Brian Gorman, Jim Joyce, Mike Everitt (Astros–Braves, Games 1–2; Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Games 3–5) Randy Marsh, John Hirschbeck, Larry Young, Tim Tschida, Dale Scott, Alfonso Márquez (Diamondbacks–Cardinals, Games 1–2; Astros–Braves, Game 3) |
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves (3) | Bobby Cox | 88–74, .543, GA: 2 | |
| Houston Astros (0) | Larry Dierker | 93–69, .574, GA: 0 |
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks (3) | Bob Brenly | 92–70, .568, GA: 2 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals (2) | Tony La Russa | 93–69, .574, GB: 0 |
The 2001 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2001 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 9, and ended on Sunday, October 14, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:
The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage (Games 1, 2 and 5 at home), which was determined by playing record. Houston and St. Louis tied for the Central Division title, but Houston was awarded the division winner's playoff-seeding over St. Louis due to their 9–7 advantage in head-to-head play. Officially the two clubs were co-champions. Although the team with the best record was normally intended to play the wild card team, the Astros played the Braves, rather than the wild card Cardinals, because the Astros and Cardinals are in the same division.
The Diamondbacks and Braves went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Diamondbacks became the National League champion, and defeated the American League champion New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series.
Atlanta won the series, 3–0.
Arizona won the series, 3–2.
The Atlanta Braves won their tenth straight division title, despite having the worst record (88–74) among playoff teams. With that record, 2001 was also the Braves' worst season since 1990, when they had the worst record in baseball. The Houston Astros were in the playoffs for the seventh time, hoping to avenge two postseason losses in the 1990s to the Braves. At 93–69, and having home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Astros were heavily favored to win this series.
In Game 1, Greg Maddux of Atlanta faced Wade Miller of Houston. Brian Jordan drove in the first two runs of the game, hitting a sacrifice fly in the first with runners on first and third and a solo homer in the fourth. Brad Ausmus's two-run homer after a walk tied the game in the fifth for the Astros. Then Moisés Alou's groundout with runners on second and third in the sixth gave the Astros the lead, but the Braves refused to concede. In the eighth, Keith Lockhart hit a leadoff double off of Mike Jackson and scored on Marcus Giles's single to tie the game. Julio Franco reached on an error before Billy Wagner relieved Jackson and allowed a tie-breaking three-run home run to Chipper Jones. Andruw Jones's leadoff home run in the ninth off of Mike Williams made it 7–3. Vinny Castilla's leadoff home run in the bottom half gave the Astros that run back, but John Smoltz got the save as the Braves won 7–4.
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