1998 Atlanta Braves starter John Smoltz struck out 10 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks batters in the first 4 innings, but couldn’t overcome another monster game by Matt Williams. Atlanta jumped out to an early lead against Armando Reynoso, scoring 2 in the 2nd inning and another in the 3rd on a Chipper Jones solo home run. Williams had the first of his RBI in the bottom of the inning, singling in the 1st Arizona run of the game. Steve Finley hit a triple to cut the lead to 3-2. Javy López homered in the 6th to give Atlanta a little more breathing room, but Luis Gonzalez and Williams hit back-to-back homers to chase Smoltz and take a 5-4 lead. Ryan Klesko responded with a 2-run homer of his own to get Atlanta back on top in the 8th. But Williams hit an RBI single with 2 outs and 2 runners on off Atlanta closer Kerry Ligtenberg to keep Arizona hopes alive. In the 11th, Erubiel Durazo led off with a double off Rudy Seánez, who walked Tony Womack. But Jay Bell struck out, and Gonzalez popped out. That brought up Williams, who smashed a walk-off single to win it 7-6. Williams finished 4 for 6 with a homer and 4 RBI. He’s hitting .447 in the Tournament. More importantly, the Diamondbacks head back to Atlanta with a chance to beat the top seed and advance in the Winner’s Bracket.

’98 Braves @ ’99 Diamondbacks – 9/12/24

The 1998 New York Yankees jumped out to an early lead against Todd Stottlemyre and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, holding off a comeback to win 7-5 and advance in the Best of the 1990s Tournament. The Blue Jays hope to work their way up through the Loser’s Bracket for another shot. The Yankees loaded the bases in the 4th inning, scoring on a Scott Brosius single. Chuck Knoblauch walked to score another, followed by a Derek Jeter sacrifice fly to give New York a 5-0 lead. The Jays scored twice in the bottom of the inning against Orlando Hernández, when Paul Molitor and Tony Fernández hit back-to-back RBI singles. But Knoblauch hit a 2-run homer in the 6th with 2 outs to extend the lead to 7-2. Toronto scored in the 6th against Hernández, and the 7th and 8th innings against Darren Holmes to cut the lead to 7-5. New York turned things over to Mariano Rivera in the 9th, picking up his 3rd save with a 1-2-3 inning. The Yankees will get some rest, awaiting the winner of the 1995 Cleveland Indians and 1990 Oakland Athletics series.

’98 Yankees @ ’93 Blue Jays – 9/12/24

The 1998 Houston Astros needed a lot of help, but walked away with a 7-5 win over the 1994 Montreal Expos to even the series in the Best of the 1990s Tournament. Facing Butch Henry in the 6th, Moises Alou doubled in Jeff Bagwell to tie the game 2-2. Mike Lansing then bobbled a grounder to let the go-ahead run score. In the 7th, Larry Walker missed a sharp grounder that led to two more unearned runs. Even so, the Expos came back in the bottom of the inning against a tiring Mike Hampton when Walker hit an RBI double and Wil Cordero followed with a triple, his 4th hit of the game. Sean Berry’s error allowed the Expos to tie the game. In the 9th, Carl Everett doubled off Expos reliever Mel Rojas, and Bill Spiers hit a clutch pinch-hit RBI single to put Houston on top again. Ricky Gutiérrez added another run off John Wetteland to give the Astros a 7-5 lead. Billy Wagner had another shaky outing, allowing a double sandwiched with two walks to load the bases with one out. But pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd flew out to shallow left, and Marquis Grissom struck out to end the game. With the series even, it heads back to the Astrodome for Game 5. Grissom’s has struggled at the plate, going 0 for 6 in this game, and hitting .047 in the Tournament.

’98 Astros @ ’04 Expos – 9/12/24

José Canseco hit a 2-run home run off 1995 Cleveland Indians starter Ken Hill in the 1st inning, and scored on a Dave Henderson single in the 3rd, but Albert Belle hit a 2-run single off Mike Moore, and Omar Vizquel added an RBI double to keep the game tied. Athletics relievers Gene Nelson, Rick Honeycutt, and Todd Burns allowed just 2 hits in 4 innings of relief. Meanwhile, Hill pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the 9th, striking out Mike Gallego with the winning run on 3rd. Hill then intentionally walked Rickey Henderson to load the bases before getting Willie McGee to fly out to end the inning. Rickey was 3 for 4 with 3 stolen bases up to that point. Julián Tavárez came in to pitch the 10th and wasn’t so lucky. After striking out Canseco, he left one too much over the plate and Mark McGwire took him deep for the walk-off homer, giving Oakland the 4-3 win and forcing a Game 5 back in Cleveland.

’95 Indians @ ’90 Athletics – 9/12/24

José Lima and Jeff Fassero fought through rough starts as the 1998 Houston Astros came to Olympic Stadium to face the 1994 Montreal Expos. Fassero allowed 5 hits and 3 runs in the 1st two innings. In the bottom of the 2nd, Sean Berry bobbled a sharp grounder, and then Lima allowed back-to-back doubles. Cliff Floyd singled to tie the game 3-3 as Lima allowed 6 hits in his 1st two innings. That score held until the 7th when Moises Alou capped a 3-run inning with a 2-run home run. John Wetteland came in to close out the 9th, but Sean Berry doubled with one out, and Carl Everett followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-4. Wetteland struck out pinch-hitter Bill Spiers, but Craig Biggio walked and Ricky Gutiérrez tripled to tie the game. Scott Elarton retired the first two Expos hitters he faced in the 9th, but Floyd doubled. That’s when Alou came through again, taking an Elarton fastball deep to center for the walk-off homer, giving Montreal an 8-6 victory. Alou finished 4 for 5 with his two 2-run homers. The Expos are now in a great position for Game 4, needing just one more win to advance in the tournament.

Astros @ Expos – 9/11/24

1990 Oakland Athletics starter Scott Sanderson held the 1995 Cleveland Indians to just 2 runs on 6 hits in 8 innings while striking out 5, as the A’s took Game 3 of the series 6-2. Sanderson allowed an RBI double in the 1st to Carlos Baerga, and a solo home run to Manny Ramírez in the 7th. Other than that, he shut down a potent Cleveland offense. Orel Hershiser struggled to keep the ball in the park, serving up solo homers to Rickey Henderson and Mark McGwire in the 1st inning, and a 2-run shot to José Canseco in the 3rd. It was the 2nd time in the tournament that Henderson led off the game with a home run. Hershiser allowed 6 runs on 9 hits in 8 innings of work. Oakland will try to carry the momentum into tomorrow. After three series saw teams down 2-0, none of them were sweeps.

Indians @ Athletics – 9/11/24

Matt Williams went 3 for 4 with a 1st inning 2-run triple, and Jay Bell added a 3-run homer in the 4th, as the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks topped Denny Neagle and the 1998 Atlanta Braves 8-4 to keep their hopes alive in the series. Neagle allowed 10 hits and 8 runs, 6 of them earned, in 6 2/3 innings. Arizona ace Randy Johnson struck out 12, but allowed a 2-run homer to Danny Bautista in the 5th and 2 more runs in the 8th as he tired. Despite that, Johnson collected his 2nd win of the tournament, giving the Diamondbacks a chance to face Atlanta again tomorrow. Bell finished 2 for 4 and scored 3 times.

Braves @ Diamondbacks – 9/11/24

1993 Toronto Blue Jays #9 hitter, Pat Borders, hit a grand slam in the 4th inning, and Joe Carter and John Olerud went back-to-back to start the 5th, chasing 1998 New York Yankees starter David Wells. Wells allowed 8 runs on 11 hits in just 4 innings. Ramiro Mendoza allowed another run, but was otherwise great in 4 innings of long relief in which he allowed just 3 hits. Despite taking a 9-1 lead into the 8th, the Blue Jays nearly blew it. Dave Stewart allowed just 5 hits and one run through 7 innings, but RBI hits from Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams ended his day. Reliever Jack Morris was ineffective, allowing 3 straight hitters to reach and walking in a run before turning things over to Mike Timlin. A two-run single by Jorge Posada and a sacrifice fly by Scott Brosius put the last of 6 runs on the board as the Yankees batted around to cut the Jays lead to 9-7. In the 9th, Williams tripled with one out against Toronto closer Duane Ward, and scored on a Tino Martinez single. But Ward got Darryl Strawberry to fly out, and Chad Curtis grounded out as the Yankees come-back came up short. The 9-8 win gives the Blue Jays life, as they avoid a sweep.

Yankees @ Blue Jays – 9/11/24

Tom Glavine scattered 8 hits over 8 innings, allowing 2 runs while striking out 3 as the 1998 Atlanta Braves topped the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2 to take a 2-0 series lead. Gerald Williams led off the 3rd inning with a solo home run against Andy Benes, before Benes retired the next two batters. That’s when Benes allowed 5 straight base runners, capped by back-to-back two-run hits by Andrés Galarraga and Ryan Klesko. Benes left in the 5th inning, allowing 7 runs and 8 hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Braves scored two more runs off Todd Stottlemyre in the 8th inning. Every Atlanta batter had a hit. Mark Wohlers pitched a perfect 9th to end the game. The series will head to Phoenix, as the DBacks hope to come back and avoid the Loser’s Bracket.

’99 Diamondbacks @ ’98 Braves – 9/9/24

1993 Toronto Blue Jays starter Pat Hentgen allowed the 1998 New York Yankees just 3 hits in 6 innings. One of those hits was a solo home run by Paul O’Neill in the 6th inning. That added to a Derek Jeter sacrifice fly put the Jays in a 2-0 hole. They never got out of it. Yankees starter David Cone took a 4-hit shutout into the 9th, striking out 9. Joe Carter led off the 9th with a single, and after Paul Molitor flew out, Tony Fernández walked. The game was too close for a tiring Cone to stay in. Mariano Rivera got Devon White to foul out, and Ed Sprague grounded out to end the game for his 2nd save in as many games. One more loss and Blue Jays will be knocked to the Loser’s Bracket. The series heads back to Toronto for Game 3.

’93 Blue Jays @ ’98 Yankees – 9/9/24