Dodgers’ track record in the National League division series

The Dodgers will play the New York Mets in a National League division series, the Dodgers’ 10th NLDS appearance. Here’s how they have fared:

1981: Dodgers 3, Houston 2

In the first NLDS, held because the season was split by a players strike, the Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to win the final three games at Dodger Stadium. Jerry Reuss outpitched Nolan Ryan, 4-0, in Game 5. Steve Garvey was the batting star, hitting .368 with two home runs.

1995: Cincinnati 3, Dodgers 0

The Reds outclassed the Dodgers, outscoring them, 22-7. The lone bright spot for the Dodgers was Eric Karros, who had two home runs in Game 2.

1996: Atlanta 3, Dodgers 0

The Dodgers wasted a strong pitching effort by Ramon Martinez in Game 1 when reliever Antonio Osuna gave up a home run to Javy Lopez in the 10th inning of a 2-1 Braves victory. Ismael Valdez and Hideo Nomo were the losing pitchers in Games 2 and 3.

2004: St. Louis 3, Dodgers 1

After failing to win a playoff game since 1988, the Dodgers finally broke through against the Cardinals when Jose Lima pitched a five-hit shutout in Game 3.

2006: New York 3, Dodgers 0

The tone for the series was set in Game 1, when Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew were thrown out at the plate on the same play, after a double by Russell Martin, in a game the Dodgers lost, 6-5.

2008: Dodgers 3, Chicago 0

The Dodgers finally won a division series, with the key blow coming in Game 1 when James Loney hit a grand slam to center field in the fifth inning. The Dodgers never trailed in any game after that.

2009: Dodgers 3, St. Louis 0

The Dodgers rallied with two runs in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory in Game 2 when left fielder Matt Holliday lost in the lights a two-out liner hit by Loney and dropped the ball for an error.

2013: Dodgers 3, Atlanta 1

After splitting the first two games in Atlanta, the Dodgers returned home and routed the Braves, 13-6, behind home runs by Juan Uribe and Carl Crawford, then won the series with a 4-3 victory in Game 4. Crawford hit two home runs in Game 4, but the key blow was Uribe’s two-run home run in the eighth inning.

2014: St. Louis 3, Dodgers 1

The tone for the series was set in Game 1. Leading, 6-1, Clayton Kershaw couldn’t get out of the seventh inning as the Cardinals scored eight times and went on to a 10-9 victory. The teams split Games 2 and 3 before Kershaw returned for Game 4. Leading, 2-0, he again couldn’t escape the seventh, with the Cardinals scoring three times in a 3-2 victory, ending the series. Kershaw finished the series 0-2 with a 7.82 earned-run average.

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