In a way, turning a one-game lead into a seven-game deficit is just as much of a meltdown as turning a seven-game lead into a narrow miss. For it to properly resonate as a September collapse, though, the team needs to still be in the hunt until the bitter end. But let's quickly, chronologically run through nine of the biggest cases of teams embarrassingly failing to stick the landing.
1996 Houston Astros
Houston entered September at 74-63, leading the NL Central by 2.5 games. But after losing 16 of their next 20 games, the Astros had plummeted all the way to 78-79 and were mathematically eliminated with five games yet to be played.
2003 Philadelphia Phillies
On September 19, the Phillies held a half-game lead over the Marlins for the NL wild-card spot, only to lose seven of their final eight games, including getting swept by the Marlins. They ended up missing the playoffs by five games. And, strangely enough, they did something quite similar 17 years later. On September 19, 2020, they had a 1.5-game cushion above the wild-card cutline and had to be passed by three teams to miss the cut. They went 1-7 in their final eight games and indeed missed the playoffs.
2005 Florida Marlins
With less than three weeks remaining, the Marlins were in wild-card position, one game ahead of Philadelphia and 1.5 games ahead of Houston. They lost 12 of their next 14 games and ended up six games behind the Astros.
2010 Colorado Rockies
The Rockies didn't actually blow a lead, but this was still a memorable meltdown. On September 18, they were one game back in the NL West and still within feasible striking distance for the wild card, 2.5 games behind Atlanta. But they lost 13 of their final 14 games, missing the postseason cut by a full eight games.
2014 Milwaukee Brewers
At the end of play on August 19, the Brewers were just one game behind the Nationals for the best record in the NL. And even after starting their collapse in the second half of August, they woke up on September 1 tied for first place in the NL Central. They went 9-17 in September, finishing eight games back for the division title and six games out of the wild-card mix.
2018 Arizona Diamondbacks
The Serpents spent most of the 2018 regular season in first place in the NL West and still held a one-game lead at the end of play on August 31. September was a nightmare, though, as Arizona went 8-19 to finish nine games back of the division title, as well as eight games back for a wild-card spot.
2019 Chicago Cubs
With 13 days remaining in the season, the Cubs were right in the thick of things, two games back in the NL Central with a one-game lead over Milwaukee for the final wild-card spot. And then they imploded with nine consecutive losses, including a four-game sweep at the hands of the first-place Cardinals to end the dream of winning the division. They ended up five games behind Milwaukee for the No. 5 seed.
2021 San Diego Padres
At the beginning of September, the race for the NL's No. 5 seed was jam-packed. San Diego had a slight lead, but Cincinnati, St. Louis and co-NL East leaders Atlanta and Philadelphia were all right there, breathing down the Padres' necks. And they completely fell apart, going 7-21 the rest of the way to finish at 79-83, 11 games behind the Cardinals.
2022 Minnesota Twins
On September 4, Minnesota and Cleveland were tied for first place in the AL Central. One month later, the Twins were 14 games behind the Guardians. Minnesota went 10-20 overall, including losing seven out of eight against Cleveland, taking what was a tight race and turning it into a blowout in two weeks' time.
