1997 National League Division Series

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The 1997 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1997 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, September 30, and ended on Friday, October 3, with the champions of the three NL divisions along with a wild card team participating in two best of five series. They were:

(1) San Francisco Giants (Western Division champions, 90–72) vs. (4) Florida Marlins (Wild Card, 92–70): Marlins win series, 3–0. (2) Houston Astros (Central Division champions, 84–78) vs. (3) Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champions, 101–61): Braves win series, 3–0. The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Marlins became the National League champions, and defeated the American League champion Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series.

The San Francisco Giants made it back to the postseason for the first time since the 1989 World Series. The Florida Marlins were in the postseason for the first time ever.

The Houston Astros finally made it back to the postseason for the first time since the 1986 National League Championship Series. The Atlanta Braves were hosting their first postseason series at Turner Field. The Braves and Astros were formerly members of the National League West from 1969 to 1993.

Game 1 was a matchup between Darryl Kile and Greg Maddux. Kenny Lofton led off the bottom of the first with a double, the first postseason hit at Turner Field. Keith Lockhart flied to right, putting Lofton at third. Then Chipper Jones hit a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 1–0 Braves in the first. Then Ryan Klesko homered to lead off the second, a homer which would prove to be the game winner. The Astros would strike for a run in the fifth, thanks to an RBI single by Kile. Maddux and Kile dueled for seven innings. Kile allowed only two hits and Maddux pitched a complete game.

The Astros sent Mike Hampton to the mound against Tom Glavine. The game was quiet through the first 2 1/2 innings, but, in the bottom of the third, Jeff Blauser hit a three run homer to put the Braves ahead. The Astros, however, would tie the game thanks to a two run double by Brad Ausmus and an RBI single by Mike Hampton that scored Ausmus. The Astros would make a game of it, but only for the moment. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Hampton would surrender four consecutive walks to give the Braves the lead. Hampton would leave, but Mike Magnante gave up two more runs thanks to a two run single by Greg Colbrunn. Next inning, Magnante allowed three singles, the last of which to Fred McGriff scoring a run. Ramón García walked Javy Lopez to load the bases before first baseman Jeff Bagwell's error on Andruw Jones's ground ball allowed two runs to score and put runners on second and third. Danny Bautista's two run single extended the Braves' lead to 11–3. In the eighth, Lopez's two run double off of Billy Wagner made it 13–3 Braves. Glavine pitched six innings for the win while Mike Cather and Mark Wohlers pitched three scoreless innings of relief to give the Braves a 2–0 series lead.

Game 3 was a battle between John Smoltz and Shane Reynolds. Chipper Jones got the Braves started with a two out homer in the top of the first. An RBI single by Jeff Blauser made it 2–0 in the second, and another RBI single, by Michael Tucker, made it 3–0 in the seventh. John Smoltz pitched brilliantly, allowing only three hits and one run, a homer by Chuck Carr, in a complete game victory. A passed ball allowed one final insurance run to make it 4–1 Braves in the eighth. Bill Spiers grounded out in the bottom of the ninth to end the series.