The 2021 National League Division Series were two best-of-five-games series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the 2021 National League Championship Series. The three divisional winners, seeded first through third, and a fourth team — determined by the NL Wild Card Game — played in two series. These matchups were:
(1) San Francisco Giants (NL West champions) vs. (4) Los Angeles Dodgers (Wild Card Game winner): Dodgers win series 3–2. (2) Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central champions) vs. (3) Atlanta Braves (NL East champions): Braves win series 3–1.
The team with the better regular season record (higher seed) of each series hosted Games 1, 2, and (if necessary) 5, while the lower seeded team hosted Game 3 and 4.
The Braves would go on to defeat the Dodgers in six games in the 2021 National League Championship Series, and would then defeat the American League champion Houston Astros in six games in the 2021 World Series.
Background
Seeds 1–3 were determined by regular season winning percentages among division-winning teams. The final team was the winner of the National League Wild Card Game, played between the league's fourth and fifth-seeded teams.
The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the National League Central and the 2 seed in the NL on September 26 via their 95–67 record. The Atlanta Braves clinched the National League East and the 3 seed in the NL on September 30 via their 88–73 record. The Brewers and Braves were tied in their season series, with both winning three games each.
The San Francisco Giants clinched the National League West and home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs with a 107–55 record on October 3, the last day of the regular season. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game, 3–1, to advance to the NLDS. The postseason match-up between the two rivals was the first in their history and was a continuation of their battle over the NL West crown during the regular season. San Francisco won the season series over Los Angeles, 10–9.
The Giants made their first postseason appearance since 2016. This was the Braves' fourth straight postseason appearance, having won the NL East each of those seasons. The Brewers made their fourth straight postseason appearance, extending a franchise record. Also extending a franchise streak of postseason appearances were the Dodgers, who made their ninth straight appearance.
Matchups
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Atlanta Braves
San Francisco vs. Los Angeles
This was the first postseason match-up between the Dodgers and Giants and a continuation of the tight divisional race between the two rivals, which saw the Giants win a franchise-record 107 games and the Dodgers tie theirs at 106 wins. The Dodgers and Giants divisional race became only the fourth time a pair of 100 win teams in the same division were separated by one game, the others being: 1915 Red Sox/Tigers; 1962 Giants/Dodgers; and 1993 Braves/Giants. The Giants won the season series, 10–9.
There had been no prior postseason match-ups between the two rivals in the modern era, but they had previously met with high stakes on the line. When the teams were located in New York, they met in the 1951 National League tie-breaker series, due to both teams finishing with identical win–loss records of 96–58. It is most famous for the walk-off home run hit by Bobby Thomson of the Giants in the deciding game, which has come to be known as baseball's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". In California, and with identical 101–61 records after 162 games, the teams met with a pennant on the line in the 1962 National League tie-breaker series. The Giants closed out the series in Game 3 with a 6–4 victory to clinch their first pennant in San Francisco.
There were various connections between the two clubs, mainly due to the presence of the Giants' president of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi. Zaidi was the Dodgers' general manager from 2014 to 2018. Giants manager Gabe Kapler was the Dodgers' director of player development from 2014 to 2017, where he had a hand in helping develop many of the Dodgers' homegrown players.
Additionally, managers Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts were both members of the famed curse-breaking 2004 Red Sox.
The Dodgers and Giants 213 combined regular season wins were the most in MLB postseason series history, beating out the 1998 World Series between the 114–48 Yankees and 98–64 Padres (212 combined victories).