The 10 Greatest MLB Divisional Series Upsets in Postseason History

There will be no major upsets in the Division Series round of the 2026 playoffs, so the only way to experience that particular thrill involves diving into history.

So, here are the 10 greatest upsets in the history of the ALDS and the NLDS.

Just to be clear, the mismatches in question concern not payroll, but performance. Since 1995, there have been 13 cases of one team beating another in the DS round despite a gap of at least 10 wins between the two during the regular season. In nine of these cases, it was a 100-win team going down.

Our focus along the way will primarily be on the losing teams. It's winners that history remembers, and that's at the expense of teams that, while ultimately disappointing, were favorites for a reason. This is their chance to shine again.

Let's begin with some honorable mentions and then count down the upsets in order from least to most shocking.

1996 ALDS: Baltimore Orioles over Cleveland Indians

Series Result: 4 games, +5 run differential

This was one of those powerhouse teams that Cleveland had in the 1990s, with Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle each going off for over 30 home runs and 100 RBI in service of a 99-win team. Yet even their offense couldn't keep pace with Baltimore's, which homered nine times and scored 25 runs in four games.

1997 ALDS: Cleveland Indians over New York Yankees

Series Result: 5 games, -3 run differential

A year after losing that series to the Orioles, Cleveland took it out on a Yankees club that won 96 games in defense of its 1996 World Series title. They had five guys get MVP votes, including enough to make Tino Martinez the runner-up to Ken Griffey Jr. But they just couldn't get it done in Games 4 and 5, losing both by one run.

2012 NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals over Washington Nationals

Series Result: 5 games, +16 run differential

It may have been the Cardinals who were the defending World Series champions, but the Nationals had home-field advantage after a 98-win season. And they were poised to win the series, too…until Drew Storen let Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma get the better of him in a four-run ninth for St. Louis in Game 5.

10. 2023 ALDS: Texas Rangers over Baltimore Orioles

Series Result: 3 games, +10 run differential

The 2023 season was meant to be the proper start of the Orioles' reign as an American League powerhouse.

They won 101 games, largely fueled by an offense for which Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson both got MVP votes. The pitching was more so just solid, but Kyle Bradish was a sneaky ace and Félix Bautista was arguably the best closer in the AL, finishing with 33 saves and a 1.58 ERA.

For their part, the Rangers somewhat backed into the playoffs after losing the AL West on the last day of the season. But they pretty much made a mockery of the Orioles. After winning two tight ones to open the series, the Rangers rode seven innings of one-run ball from Nathan Eovaldi to a 7-1 laugher in Game 3.

9. 2017 ALDS: New York Yankees over Cleveland Indians

Series Result: 5 games, +3 run differential

Yes, there was also an 11-win gap at play when Cleveland went down against Baltimore in the 1996 ALDS. Yet that 1996 team didn't do what the 2017 squad did: win 102 games, including an AL-record 22 in a row.

The 2017 squad continued looking like a wrecking ball in the first two games of the ALDS against the Yankees, winning both at home to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. Game 2 was the one in which Francisco Lindor hit the huge grand slam to start a comeback that ended with a Yan Gomes walk-off single in the 13th inning.

Alas, Cleveland ran out of offense after that. They scored just five runs in the final three games of the series, largely due to an absolutely loaded Yankees bullpen. To end Game 5, David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman combined for 4.2 innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

8. 2011 NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals over Philadelphia Phillies

Series Result: 5 games, -2 run differential

In case you're too young to remember, the 2011 Phillies were one of those teams that lived up to seemingly impossible-to-live-up-to hype.

Their starting rotation was anointed before the year as one of the best ever , and Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels all made good by topping 200 innings with ERAs in the 2.00s. The rotation as a whole had a 2.86 ERA, which was the engine of a 102-win season.

Yet despite not earning their playoff ticket until Game 162 , the Cardinals split the first four games of the NLDS to set up a Halladay vs. Chris Carpenter showdown in Game 5. Carpenter was simply better, answering Halladay's eight one-run innings with a complete-game, three-hit shutout.

7. 2008 NLDS: Los Angeles Dodgers over Chicago Cubs

Series Result: 3 games, +14 run differential

The 2008 Cubs are hardly counted among the great teams in history, but they are a fun little artifact of 2000s baseball.

This was when they had Alfonso Soriano in his heyday as one of MLB's top stars, as well as the perpetually underrated Aramis Ramírez. Even if they were past their primes, Jim Edmonds and Derrek Lee were also there. The Cubs also had four All-Star hurlers in Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrando, Kerry Wood and Carlos Mármol.

Yet even if that year's Dodgers were only an 84-win team, they changed for the better after Manny Ramirez arrived and got "Mannywood" up and running. He fueled a 30-23 finish with a 1.232 OPS and 17 home runs down the stretch, and kept it up in the NLDS by going 5-for-10 with two homers and four walks.

6. 2003 NLDS: Chicago Cubs over Atlanta Braves

Series Result: 5 games, +4 run differential

To look back at the 2003 Braves is to gaze in awe at a 101-win team that seemingly had it all.

Tom Glavine was gone, but Greg Maddux was still there and his co-ace, Russ Ortiz, even finished fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting. They also had John Smoltz closing games to the tune of a 1.12 ERA. Oh , and Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield and Javy López coming off 100-RBI seasons.

As for the Cubs, well, they had Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. That proved to be all that mattered, as they recorded all three of the Cubs' wins in the NLDS and allowed just four earned runs over 24.1 innings as they did so.

5. 2019 NLDS: Washington Nationals over Los Angeles Dodgers

Series Result: 5 games, -1 run differential

The 2019 Dodgers were, at least to that point, probably the best regular season team the franchise had ever known.

They were the first Dodgers squad to win as many as 106 games, and they did so with a +273 run differential that still ranks among the 20 best of all time. Cody Bellinger was the eventual NL MVP, and Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu all got Cy Young Award votes.

It just didn't feel like the Nationals had any business beating those Dodgers, and their fate seemed certain when Kershaw came on to protect a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning of Game 5. But you know the rest: Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto for the tie , and Howie Kendrick for the win .

4. 2022 NLDS: Philadelphia Phillies over Atlanta Braves

Series Result: 4 games, +11 run differential

The 2022 Braves were both a post-championship team and a post-Freddie Freeman team, and it really did feel like the dawn of a new era.

In Freeman's shoes, Matt Olson arrived and recorded 34 homers and 103 RBI. Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider finished first and second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Kyle Wright ripped off a 21-win season in support of Max Fried. It was otherwise more of the same from Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley as Ronald Acuña Jr. got his legs back under him following a season-ending ACL tear in 2021.

As for how this 101-win team got pantsed by an 87-win Phillies team in the NLDS, it was largely a case of the bats not having it. Multiple Phillies got hot all at the same time, and none more so than Bryce Harper. He had a 1.592 OPS in the series, and it wasn't even the best thing he did that October.

3. 2023 NLDS: Philadelphia Phillies over Atlanta Braves

Series Result: 4 games, +12 run differential

If the 2022 Braves merely heralded a new era, the 2023 Braves were the team that seemed to usher it in.

The 104 wins were just the start of it. There was also the offense that truly earned comparisons to the 1927 Yankees. It had a collective 123 wRC+, the highest in AL/NL history. This was the 40-70 year for Ronald Acuña Jr., and he didn't even lead the team in homers because of Matt Olson's 54. On the other side of the ball, Spencer Strider won 20 games and led MLB with 281 strikeouts.

And yet, the Phillies just absolutely crushed them in the NLDS. There's just no other way to put it when it's a .937 OPS vs. a .519 OPS. The Phillies homered 11 times in the four games, with Nick Castellanos (4), Bryce Harper (3) and Trea Turner (2) all providing multiples.

2. 2023 NLDS: Arizona Diamondbacks over Los Angeles Dodgers

Series Result: 3 games, +13 run differential

It was the Braves who were the talk of baseball in 2023, yet they were one of two 100-win teams in the National League. The other was this Dodgers squad.

They may not have had Atlanta's offense, but this was the year that Mookie Betts fell one homer short of 40 amid an 8.6-WAR season. Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez also topped 30 homers, while Freddie Freeman added 59 doubles to go with his 29 homers. It was all more than enough to carry a pitching staff that spent much of the season toeing the line between bending and breaking.

At least, that is, until an 84-win Diamondbacks squad pummeled Dodgers pitchers for 19 runs in three games in the NLDS. Most of those (11, to be exact) came in a Game 1 romp at the expense of Clayton Kershaw, which pretty much set the tone for the whole series.

1. 2022 NLDS: San Diego Padres over Los Angeles Dodgers

Series Result: 4 games, +3 run differential

By any reasonable measure, the 2022 Dodgers were an all-time great team. Only they and four others have won as many as 111 games in a season. They're the only one to also do so with a +334 run differential.

This was the year that the Dodgers could do no wrong on the mound. The team had a 2.80 ERA, fueled by four starters who took at least 20 turns and finished with an ERA in the 2.00s. They scored 40 more runs than the next-best team, with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner all posting 5+ WAR.

It should have been the Padres who ran into a buzz saw, but it turned out they had a trump card that was worth more than anything the Dodgers had: their bullpen. It handled 16.0 innings in the NLDS and allowed just one run, whereas Dodgers relievers gave up eight runs and were stuck with two of their three losses.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference , FanGraphs and Baseball Savant .