The New York Mets began the season with high hopes of finally ending the Atlanta Braves' string of division titles.
The Mets lived up to their high expectations and roared out of the gate, taking over first place in the division on the fourth day of the season and never looking back.
It appeared as if this season would follow the established pattern as the Cardinals steadily built up their lead to as much as five and a half games and a 42–26 record on June 19.
The Cardinals began interleague play by being swept by both the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers as part of an eight-game losing streak.
The Cardinals' struggles largely stemmed from the numerous injuries to key players throughout the season, including Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, David Eckstein, Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Jason Isringhausen.
The Cardinals were able to regain their composure, winning three of their next four and clinching on the final day of the season with an Astros loss to the Atlanta Braves.
The San Diego Padres' playoff run was led by their strong pitching and saw closer Trevor Hoffman overtake Lee Smith as the all-time saves leader.
The Dodgers were awarded the wild-card spot based on their 5–13 head-to-head record against San Diego, who earned the divisional championship.
Shea Stadium in Queens, New York The game started off with Mets rookie starter John Maine on the mound as an emergency replacement for Orlando Hernández.
Martin would score on Marlon Anderson's double but Carlos Delgado and Cliff Floyd hit solo home runs in the fourth off Derek Lowe.
In the seventh, Anderson hit a leadoff single off Guillermo Mota and second baseman Valetin's error on Wilson Betemit's ground ball put runners on first and third with no outs for the Dodgers.
In the bottom of the inning, reliever Brad Penny walked two with one out before Delgado's single and Wright's double scored a run each.
Shea Stadium in Queens, New York Game 2 pitted Dodgers rookie Hong-Chih Kuo against Tom Glavine.
Wilson Betemit hit a home run in the eighth off Aaron Heilman for the Dodgers but Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.
In the fifth, Marlon Anderson singled with two outs before Jeff Kent's home run off reliever Darren Oliver tied the game at four.
Three consecutive bloop hits from José Reyes, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltrán scored a run each, making it 7–5 Mets.
Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, as the Mets swept a postseason series for the first time since the 1969 NLCS.
2006 NLDS (3–0): New York Mets over Los Angeles Dodgers Petco Park in San Diego, California In a pitching rematch of Game 1 of the 2005 NLDS, Chris Carpenter and Jake Peavy both started strong through three innings and it appeared that the pitcher's duel that was expected the previous year would occur this time around.
Jim Edmonds then singled, moved to third on Scott Rolen's double, and scored on Juan Encarnación's sacrifice fly.
[8] Petco Park in San Diego, California Cardinal starter Jeff Weaver and four relievers combined on a four-hitter to shut out the Padres 2–0.
Carpenter started off shakily, allowing back-to-back one hit singles to Brian Giles and Adrián González and walking Josh Bard to load the bases.
The game remained tied until the seventh when Albert Pujols drew a leadoff walk and scored on Juan Encarnación's triple.