The 2012 National League Wild Card Game was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's (MLB) 2012 postseason played between the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

's (NL) two wild card teams, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. It was held at

Turner Field Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the c ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, on October 5, 2012, at 1:07 p.m. EDT. The Cardinals won by a 6–3 score and advanced to play the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in the NL Division Series. In addition to being the inaugural NL Wild Card Game, it is notable for being the final game of

Chipper Jones Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the first overall p ...

's career, as well as for a controversial infield fly rule call made by umpire

Sam Holbrook Samuel Woodford Holbrook (born July 7, 1965) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 1996 and became a crew chief in 2017. Holbrook wears number 34. Umpiring career Sam Holbrook began his umpiring career i ...

. The game was televised on TBS.

Game results

Line score

The Braves started Kris Medlen, who had a 9–0

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

and 0.97

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in 12

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is li ...

during the 2012 season. The Cardinals selected

Kyle Lohse Kyle Matthew Lohse (; born October 4, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, an ...

, who had a 16–3 win–loss record and 2.86 ERA during the season, as their starting pitcher. Lohse allowed a two-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

to David Ross in the second inning. The Cardinals scored three runs in the fourth inning, in which

committed a throwing

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, taking a 3–2 lead. Medlen allowed a

Matt Holliday Matthew Thomas Holliday (born January 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 2004 to 2018 for the ...

in the sixth inning. After the Cardinals scored two more runs in the top of the seventh inning, the Braves scored one in the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrelton Simmons hit a fly ball to left field that dropped in between Cardinals shortstop

Pete Kozma Peter Michael Kozma (born April 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and the Oaklan ...

and left fielder Holliday. Left field umpire

called Simmons out, citing the infield fly rule. Had an infield fly not been called, Simmons would have been credited with a single and Atlanta would have had the bases loaded with one out, trailing 6–3. Fans littered the field with trash, delaying the game for 19 minutes before a message over the

public address system advised fans the game was subject to forfeiture by the umpires if the field continued to remain unplayable due to the thrown debris. Atlanta manager

Fredi González Fredi Jesús González (born January 28, 1964) is a Cuban-born American baseball coach, manager and is currently the bench coach for the Baltimore Orioles. He managed the Florida Marlins from 2007 to 2010 and the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 201 ...

announced that the Braves would play the rest of the game under protest. The protest was denied shortly after the game by

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

, MLB executive vice president for baseball operations, saying it was a judgment call—which cannot be protested under MLB rules. Prior to the game, MLB's official Twitter bio included the joke "We don't understand the infield fly rule either". This was quickly removed in light of the controversial call. In the bottom of the ninth inning, batting against Cardinals closer

Jason Motte Jason Louis Motte (born June 22, 1982) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals drafted ...

, Chipper Jones reached first base on an infield single in his final Major League at-bat. Freddie Freeman hit a

ground rule double A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the gro ...

, bringing

Dan Uggla Daniel Cooley Uggla (born March 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals. In 2010, Uggl ...

to bat as the potential tying run. Motte retired Uggla with a groundout to record the save, then both teams rushed off the field after fans resumed throwing debris.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio 2012 Major League Baseball season Atlanta Braves postseason St. Louis Cardinals postseason 2012 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) 2012 in Atlanta Major League Baseball Wild Card Game October 2012 sports events in the United States Major League Baseball controversies