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

Jeff Bagwell homered in Game 1 against the 1994 Montreal Expos only to watch his Astros lose in extra innings. He made sure it didn’t happen again. Bagwell hit a 2-run home run in the 1st against Pedro Martínez, and added another 2-run shot in the 5th inning. He finished 3 for 4 as the 1998 Houston Astros romped to a 7-2 win. Martínez picked up the loss, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings. Shane Reynolds was great for the Astros. Reynolds allowed 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 in a complete game victory. Derek Bell was the other Astros standout, going 3 for 4 and scoring 3 runs. Gil Heredia pitched 2 innings of relief for the Expos, allowing a run on 4 hits. The win evens the best-of-5 series between the two teams. They have a day off before heading to Montreal for Games 3 and 4.

’94 Expos @ ’98 Astros – 9/9/24

One day after the 1990 Oakland Athletics lost Carney Lansford due to injury, the 1995 Cleveland Indians lost Jim Thome and backup third baseman Álvaro Espinoza. Despite the injuries, the Indians used the longball, hitting 3 home runs off Bob Welch to top Oakland 7-3 and take a 2-0 series lead in the Best of the 1990s Tournament. Willie McGee led off the 3rd inning with a triple off Dennis Martínez. Thome ranged into foul territory. He caught the ball, but fell into the stands out of play, allowing McGee to score, and exiting the game. In Espinoza’s 1st at-bat in the 4th, he pulled a muscle swinging, bringing in Herbert Perry, the 3rd third baseman of the game for Cleveland. Meanwhile, Kenny Lofton led off the homers with a solo shot. Manny Ramírez and Sandy Alomar added 2-run homers in the 4th and 6th innings. Chad Ogea got McGee to ground into a double-play and pitched two more scoreless innings to hold the lead for the Indians. Lofton finished 3 for 5, scoring twice and adding a stolen base. The win puts the Athletics one loss away from heading to the Loser’s Bracket as the series moves to Oakland for Game 3.

’90 Athletics @ ’95 Indians – 9/9/24