The Oakland Athletics wasted no time against Yankees starter David Wells, scoring two runs in the 1st thanks to José Canseco’s 5th home run of the Tournament. In the bottom of the 1st, Carney Lansford’s misplay put Chuck Knoblauch on. That was followed by three straight hits against Scott Sanderson, capped by a 2-run homer by Bernie Williams. The New York Yankees carried a 4-2 lead into the 4th. After Canseco led off with a triple, Mark McGwire walked. Wells fielded one grounder, but couldn’t get a hold of a 2nd one, scoring Canseco. Later, Wells walked in a run to tie the game. Tino Martinez’s two-out solo shot put New York back on top. In what has become common in the Tournament, Mariano Rivera quickly retired two batters in the 9th before Lance Blankenship tripled and Rickey Henderson drove him in with a double. It was Rivera’s 4th blown save. Gene Nelson entered to pitch the bottom of the 9th, but loaded the bases with walks to Chad Curtis and Knoblauch, and a single by Scott Brosius. Derek Jeter flew out to shallow center for the 2nd out, but Paul O’Neill followed with a walk-off single. It was New York’s 2nd straight walk-off win. O’Neill finished 4 for 5 in the 6-5 win. Canseco homered, tripled, and doubled in the game. He struck out in his only other at-bat.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/7/24

Yet again, the 1998 New York Yankees found themselves playing from behind. Thanks to some key base hits, the 1990 Oakland Athletics took a 4-2 lead into the 7th. Paul O’Neill’s RBI single cut the lead, but Andy Pettitte tired in the 8th, allowing back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. Both runners would score to push the Oakland lead to 6-3. Jorge Posada hit a solo home run to get one run closer in the bottom of the inning. Dennis Eckersley came in to close things out in the 9th, but gave up a leadoff homer to Derek Jeter. He quickly retired O’Neill on a groundout and struck out Bernie Williams. Down to their last out, Tino Martinez singled. Shane Spencer came in to pinch-hit for a struggling Darryl Strawberry. Spencer drilled the next pitch into the gap to tie the game. The Yankees got two perfect innings of relief from Hideki Irabu. Jeter opened the bottom of the 11th with a double off Rick Honeycutt. O’Neill grounded out, and Bernie Williams was intentionally walked to set up a double-play. Martinez came through again with a liner for the walk-off hit, giving the Yankees a 7-6 win to start off the Best-of-7 series. Martinez finished 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. Terry Steinbach was 3 for 4 and drove in 4 of Oakland’s 6 runs. Irabu is now 2-1 with a 0.96 ERA in relief during the Tournament.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/6/24

Facing a must-win game to keep their tournament hopes alive, the Yankees did what they had to do. Orlando Hernández scattered 8 hits, allowing 2 runs while striking out 9 to give New York the chance they needed. Oakland scored 1st with a sacrifice fly by Carney Lansford in the 3rd. After Scott Brosius singled, and Chuck Knoblauch walked to start the Yankee 3rd against Bob Welch, Derek Jeter struck out. Paul O’Neill followed with a liner into the gap that Lance Blankenship misread, leading to a bases-clearing triple to give New York the lead. A two-out single by José Canseco tied the game back up in the 5th. But Derek Jeter led off the bottom of the inning with a triple, scoring on O’Neill’s flyout. El Duque allowed a Mark McGwire single and a Walt Weiss double in between strikeouts, and walked Willie Randolph to load the bases. Mariano Rivera came in and struck out Terry Steinbach to end the inning. With 2 outs in the 9th, Rivera hit Lansford and walked Canseco to put the tying run in scoring position. McGwire bounced one back to the mound to end the game, giving the Yankees a 3-2 win. The teams will now face off in a Best-of-7 series to determine who will advance to face the 1998 Atlanta Braves in the 1990s World Series. Oakland will continue to be without Dave Henderson until late in the series. Blankenship’s defense in CF likely cost them a few runs today.

’90 Athletics @ ’98 Yankees – 10/5/24

The 1998 Atlanta Braves and the 1994 Montreal Expos scored 11 runs in the 1st 3 innings, but it wasn’t until the 9th that all of the excitement happened. Tom Glavine allowed 3 runs in back-to-back innings, including a 2-run home run to Moisés Alou. But Pedro Martínez wasn’t sharp either. Javy López hit a 2-run double in the 3rd to cut the Montreal lead to 6-5, and then hit a 2-run homer to give Atlanta a lead in the 5th. Kevin Millwood pitched 4 strong 2-hit innings of relief. Tim Scott and Mel Rojas combined for 3 scoreless relief innings for the Expos. Kerry Ligtenberg came in to close out the 9th, but Lou Frazier walked and stole 2nd. Marquis Grissom dribbled one back to the mound for the 2nd out. Juan Bell, who was hitting below .200 in the Tournament, hit a single up the middle to tie the game. In the bottom of the 9th, Rojas got two quick outs before Chipper Jones hit a homer to walk it off. With the 8-7 win, the Braves took the last 3 games of the series after losing the 1st two. They now advance to the Best of the 1990s World Series. Montreal heads home after the heart-breaking loss. Alou finished the Tournament with a .440 average.

’94 Expos @ ’98 Braves – 10/5/24

Ken Hill did everything he could to give the 1994 Montreal Expos a win and send things to a best-of-7 series. Hill allowed an RBI single to Chipper Jones in the 3rd inning, scattering 9 hits and striking out 9 in 8 innings. It wasn’t enough. Greg Maddux put on a masterclass, holding the Expos to 2 hits, while striking out 5 for his 2nd 2-hit shutout of the Tournament. The win evens the series after Montreal had a 2-0 lead. The series heads back to Atlanta for Game 5. If the Braves win that one, they’ll advance to the Best of the 1990s World Series. Ryan Klesko went 4 for 4 and is hitting over .500 in 21 at-bats.

’98 Braves @ ’94 Expos – 10/3/24