We’re just a week into the MLB postseason, and already chaos reigns. Two of the top teams in all of baseball during the regular season, the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers, each lost the first two games of their respective Division Series. Now both have to go on the road for Game 3, knowing they’ll need three wins in a row to avoid a bitterly disappointing October exit.
If they’re looking for some optimism ahead of such a daunting task, however, baseball history is here to help. While it’s not exactly common, this wouldn’t be the first time that a team has rallied from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series — let’s take a look at the list.
Teams that have overcome 2-0 deficit in best-of-five series
MLB first introduced the Divisional round back in 1994, a byproduct of adding a Wild Card team to the postseason. In nearly three decades of those best-of-fives, eight teams have dropped the first two games only to come back and win the series.
Teams that have rallied from 2-0 deficits
| Year and series | Winner (overcame 2–0 deficit) | Loser (blew 2–0 lead) |
|---|---|---|
| Year and series | Winner (overcame 2–0 deficit) | Loser (blew 2–0 lead) |
| 1981 NLDS | Los Angeles Dodgers* | Houston Astros |
| 1995 ALDS | Seattle Mariners | New York Yankees |
| 1999 ALDS | Boston Red Sox | Cleveland Indians |
| 2001 ALDS | New York Yankees | Oakland Athletics |
| 2003 ALDS | Boston Red Sox | Oakland Athletics |
| 2012 NLDS | San Francisco Giants* | Cincinnati Reds |
| 2015 ALDS | Toronto Blue Jays | Texas Rangers |
| 2017 ALDS | New York Yankees | Cleveland Indians |
The first team to do it actually predates the official advent of the Divisional round. After the 1981 players strike canceled a large chunk of the regular season, the league decided that the best course of action was to have the first-half leaders automatically qualify for postseason play while giving every team a clean slate to begin the second half. The 1981 Dodgers dropped two one-run games to open their NLDS against the Astros, only to rally and win a decisive Game 5 at Dodger Stadium — then go on to win the World Series.
L.A. isn’t the only team to go from 2-0 hole to a title: The 2012 San Francisco Giants had their backs against the wall against the Cincinnati Reds, but stormed back — with some help from an iconic Buster Posey grand slam in Game 5 — to win the series and eventually win it all. The most recent team to pull off the feat were the 2017 Yankees, who lost each of the first two games against the then-Indians in Cleveland but shocked Corey Kluber in Game 5 to move on to the ALCS.
