 Under the pre-2012 format, only the NL West tie-breaker would have been played since the NL Central runner-up would have been assured the Wild Card.It was the first time that the loser of a tie-breaker game still qualified for the postseason.Since the advent of the wild card in 1995, there have been three occasions on which a tiebreaker was not necessary as the two teams that were tied for a division lead were also atop the wild card standings.