San Diego Padres NLDS

Everything on the Padres’ path through the National League Division Series — how the round works, when Petco Park hosts, and every NLDS the Padres have actually played.

Current NLDS Picture

Game 3 & 4: Padres vs Brewers @ Petco Park

How the NLDS Works

Best-of-5, played in a 2-2-1 format. The higher-seeded team gets Games 1, 2 and 5 at home. The lower seed gets Games 3 and 4.

The NL’s top two seeds skip the Wild Card round and wait for the Wild Card winners. That’s this year’s setup: the No. 1 seed Brewers host the Padres, who got here by beating the Cubs. The two NLDS winners meet in the NLCS. For tickets to any Padres home playoff game, see the playoff tickets hub.

Padres in the NLDS

1996: Swept 3-0 by the Cardinals in the Padres’ first-ever Division Series, played back in the Jack Murphy Stadium days.

1998: Beat the Astros 3-1, the franchise’s first postseason series win since 1984. They went on to beat the Braves in the NLCS before the Yankees swept them in the World Series.

2005: Swept 3-0 by the Cardinals. The clinching Game 3 was played at Petco Park — the first-ever playoff game at Petco, and a loss.

2006: Lost 3-1 to the Cardinals again, with both home games at Petco going the Cardinals’ way — a 5-1 loss (starter Jake Peavy) and a 2-0 loss (starter David Wells).

2020: Swept 3-0 by the Dodgers. Because of the COVID-era bubble format that year, all three games were played at a neutral site in Texas — no games at Petco Park.

2022: Beat the 111-win Dodgers 3-1, winning both home games at Petco (Games 3 and 4, October 14 and 15) to reach the NLCS for the first time since 1998 — one of the bigger playoff upsets in recent memory.

2024: Lost 3-2 to the Dodgers. San Diego split its two home games at Petco, winning Game 3 (6-5) and losing Game 4 (8-0), before the Dodgers closed it out 2-0 in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium.

2026: Facing the 103-win Brewers, with Games 3 and 4 at Petco Park. Follow the series here.