New York(NL)/Baltimore Playoff Series



The #2 seed Baltimore Orioles played the #6 seed New York Mets in a Semi-final round best-of-7 playoff series. The first two games were to be played in Baltimore, games 3-5 in New York, and games 6 and 7 in Baltimore, if necessary. The winner would be playing in the 1998 CBML World Series.



GAME 1
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Inning        1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
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New York(NL)  0  0  0   1  0  0   3  1  0     5  9  1
Baltimore     2  0  0   0  1  0   0  2  3     8 12  0
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Starting Pitchers: New York(NL) - Curt Schilling
                   Baltimore    - Roger Clemens

WP - Roger Clemens (1-0)  LP - Curt Schilling (0-1)

 E: New York(NL) - Jim Edmonds
    Baltimore    - None

HR: New York(NL) - Jeromy Burnitz, Dave Nilsson
    Baltimore    - Edgar Martinez, Tony Gwynn, Jeff King

INJURIES: New York(NL) - None
          Baltimore    - None

Highlights:  Martinez and Gwynn hit back-to-back HRs in the
             1st for Baltimore, but a 3-run Edmonds HR in
             the 7th and a Nilsson solo shot in the 8th gave
             the Mets a 5-3 lead.  A Knoblauch double, Jeter
             triple, and Edmonds 2-base error tied the game
             after 8.  A leadoff walk to Gwynn and double by
             Stynes tired Schilling.  In came McElroy to face
             pinch hitter Jeff King, and King hit a ballpark
             HR (1-13) to win the game for the O's.


GAME 2 ----------------------------------------------------- Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ----------------------------------------------------- New York(NL) 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 10 0 Baltimore 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 7 13 2 ----------------------------------------------------- Starting Pitchers: New York(NL) - Scott Erickson Baltimore - David Cone WP - Tom Martin (1-0) LP - Doug Henry (0-1) E: New York(NL) - None Baltimore - Derek Jeter, Wally Joyner HR: New York(NL) - Jeromy Burnitz, Dave Nilsson Baltimore - Jeff Reed (2), Willie McGee INJURIES: New York(NL) - None Baltimore - None Highlights: Both teams had many chances to score. The Orioles scored one run in 7 of the 9 innings. New York left 15 runners on base, while the O's left 10, but Derek Jeter hit a one out single in the bottom of the 9th to win the game for Baltimore.
GAME 3 ----------------------------------------------------- Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ----------------------------------------------------- Baltimore 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 3 0 7 10 0 New York(NL) 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 4 2 ----------------------------------------------------- Starting Pitchers: Baltimore - Mike Mussina New York(NL) - Jose Rosado WP - Mike Mussina (1-0) LP - Jose Rosado (0-1) S - Arthur Rhodes (1) E: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - Jeromy Burnitz, Jose Rosado HR: Baltimore - Ron Coomer New York(NL) - Eric Young, Dave Nilsson INJURIES: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - None Highlights: Mike Mussina pitched a strong 7.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, and Rhodes shut down a rally in the 8th as Baltimore took a commanding 3 games to 0 lead in the series. Ron Coomer was the outstanding hitter as he hit a HR and knocked in 3 for the Birds. Nilsson homered for the third straight playoff game for the Mets.
GAME 4 ----------------------------------------------------- Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ----------------------------------------------------- Baltimore 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 6 13 0 New York(NL) 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 - 9 12 0 ----------------------------------------------------- Starting Pitchers: Baltimore - Roger Clemens New York(NL) - Curt Schilling WP - Trevor Hoffman (1-0) LP - Arthur Rhodes (0-1) E: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - None HR: Baltimore - Jeff Reed New York(NL) - Chipper Jones, Dave Nilsson, Jeromy Burnitz INJURIES: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - None Highlights: Baltimore held a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th with Clemens still in the game. The Mets refused to get swept in the series as they tired Clemens after 3 batters in the 8th, and pounded Rhodes. The Mets had 5 singles, a double, and a 3-run HR (Burnitz) as they scored 6 times. Hoffman got the win in relief.
GAME 5 ----------------------------------------------------- Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ----------------------------------------------------- Baltimore 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 2 New York(NL) 1 0 0 2 8 1 0 0 - 12 11 0 ----------------------------------------------------- Starting Pitchers: Baltimore - David Cone New York(NL) - Scott Erickson WP - Scott Erickson (1-0) LP - David Cone (0-1) E: Baltimore - Bill Spiers, David Cone New York(NL) - None HR: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - Chipper Jones, Mark Grace INJURIES: Baltimore - None New York(NL) - None Highlights: The Mets led the game 4-3 after 4 when the floodgates opened. Grace singled, Jones walked, Burnitz struck out, Edmonds walked, Nilsson singled, Leyritz reached on a Cone error, Young singled, Valentin struck out, Easley singled, Grace homered, and Jones lined out. 8 runs scored in the 5th (5 unearned)!! Erickson took over from there as the O's could only manage 4 more hits the rest of the game.
GAME 6 ----------------------------------------------------- Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ----------------------------------------------------- New York(NL) 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 Baltimore 0 2 1 1 2 0 3 0 - 9 12 0 ----------------------------------------------------- Starting Pitchers: New York(NL) - Doug Henry Baltimore - Mike Mussina WP - Mike Mussina (2-0) LP - Doug Henry (0-2) E: New York(AL) - None Baltimore - None HR: New York(AL) - Chipper Jones, Dave Nilsson Baltimore - Chuck Knoblauch, Gregg Zaun, Tony Gwynn INJURIES: New York(AL) - None Baltimore - None Highlights: Mike Mussina's 5-hit complete game was helped offensively by HRs from Knoblauch, Zaun, and Gwynn as the Orioles won the series 4 games to 2. The Mets hit 13 HRs in the series to the Orioles 11. Nilsson hit 5 of the 13 Met HRs, and Burnitz added 4. Mussina was 2-0 as he gave up only 9 hits in 16.2 innings.