National League Division Series
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In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determine which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The NLDS consists of two best-of-five series, featuring the three division winners and a wild-card team. The Division Series were created after the 1993 season when Major League Baseball restructured each league into three divisions, but were first played in 1995 due to the cancellation of the 1994 playoffs.
Typically, the wild-card team plays the division leader with the best winning percentage in one series, and the other two division leaders play the other series. However, if the wild-card team and the division leader with the best record are from the same division, the wild-card team plays the next winningest division leader, and the remaining two division leaders play. In any event, the two series winners move on to the best-of-seven NLCS.
Since the NLDS's inception, the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros are the only teams to have met more than twice, with the Braves winning the series the first three times and the Astros winning the fourth meeting.
NLDS results (1995-present)
†Denotes wild-card team.