In 2012, they finished with an 88–74 (.543) record and second place in the NL Central. By virtue of coming in second to the Atlanta Braves, they won the second National League Wild Card spot, and then beat the Braves in the Wild Card Game. They then played the NL East champion Washington Nationals in the NLDS and beat them in five games to advance to the NL Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants. However, they lost to the Giants in seven games after leading the series 3 games to 1.