2011 Major League Baseball wild card chase

The 2011 Major League Baseball wild card chase (also known as Game 162) was a playoff chase involving the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in the American League and the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.

On September 2, the Red Sox and Braves led the American League and National League wild card races by 9 and 8+1⁄2 games, respectively.

Over the next 24 games, the Red Sox went 7–17, while the Braves went 8–16; in the same timespan, the Rays went 16–8, while the Cardinals went 16–7 to tie for the wild cards at 90–71 and 89–72 respectively going into Game 162 on September 28, with the rallying teams both being set to host Game 163, if it was necessary.[1]

On September 28, the last day of the 2011 regular season, the postseason fate of these four teams fighting for two playoff spots across both leagues was decided.[2]

In the American League, the Rays defeated their American League East division rivals, the New York Yankees, with dramatic home runs in the 9th inning by Dan Johnson and later in extra innings by Evan Longoria to win the American League wild card berth after the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Red Sox on a walk-off single.[3][4][5] In the National League, the Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros to win the National League wild card berth after the Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.[6]

The Red Sox and Braves became the first teams in history to hold leads as large as eight games in September and miss the postseason.[7] Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci called the events of September 28 "the most thrilling 129 minutes in baseball history."[8] The Cardinals eventually rode the momentum of their win to win the NLDS and NLCS on their way to defeating the Texas Rangers for their 11th World Series title.[9][10][11]

The 2011 season was the final season of the single wild card format, as MLB added second wild card teams to each league starting with the 2012 season.

  1. ^ "Game 163 Scheduled, If Necessary - CBS Boston". www.cbsnews.com. September 28, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Baxter, Kevin (September 29, 2011). "The wildest night ever; Cardinals, Rays earn final postseason spots after Braves, Red Sox collapse". Los Angeles Times. p. C1.
  3. ^ "Red Sox miss out on postseason after loss to O's and Rays' win". ESPNBoston.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. September 29, 2011. Archived from the original on January 5, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  4. ^ "Evan Longoria homers in 12th as Rays storm into postseason". ESPNNewYork.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. September 29, 2011. Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  5. ^ Orioles rally for win, help keep Red Sox out of playoffs – The Bangor Daily News Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  6. ^ GOOLD, DERRICK. "Cardinals claim wild card as Braves lose in the 13th". STLtoday.com. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  7. ^ Corcoran, Cliff (September 29, 2011). "Where collapses by Red Sox and Braves rank among worst ever". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Verducci, Tom (September 29, 2011). "Drama of Game 162 never seen before and likely never will again". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Bruce (September 29, 2011). "Wild-card Wednesday was plain crazy". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
  10. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (September 29, 2011). "Walk-off wins-day delivers grandest finales". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011.
  11. ^ Leach, Matthew (October 29, 2011). "Eleventh heaven: Cardinals are Series champs". MLB.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.