The #3 seed Baltimore Orioles played the #6 seed Florida Marlins in
a first round best-of-5 playoff series. The first two games were to be
played in Florida, while games 3-5 would be in Baltimore, if necessary.
The winner would advance to the Semi-final round against Colorado.
GAME 1
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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Baltimore 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 10 0
Florida 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 7 12 1
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Starting Pitchers: Baltimore - John Smoltz
Florida - Jose Rosado
WP - John Smoltz (1-0) LP - Jose Rosado (0-1) S - Jeff Zimmerman (1)
E: Baltimore - None
Florida - Jose Rosado
HR: Baltimore - Chuck Knoblauch, Edgar Martinez, F.P. Santangelo
Florida - Magglio Ordonez, Dave Nilsson, Alex Gonzalez
INJURIES: Baltimore - None
Florida - None
Highlights: The O's scored 4 times in the 1st highlighted by HRs from
Knoblauch and Martinez. A 2-run HR by Santangelo in the 2nd
and 2 more runs in the 5th gave the Orioles an 8-3 lead. The
Marlins fought back to get to within 8-7, but Zimmerman pitched
the final 2 innings to earn the save.
GAME 2
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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Baltimore 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 6 1
Florida 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 - 6 11 1
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Starting Pitchers: Baltimore - Mike Mussina
Florida - Chris Carpenter
WP - Chris Carpenter (1-0) LP - Mike Mussina (0-1)
E: Baltimore - Jeff Reed
Florida - Alex Gonzalez
HR: Baltimore - Bruce Aven, Chuck Knoblauch
Florida - None
INJURIES: Baltimore - None
Florida - Rafael Palmeiro - 2 days
Highlights: Carpenter was strong on the mound for Florida as he took a
2-1 lead into the 6th. Lowe and Foulke took over from there,
and the offense scored four more times (2 unearned) as Nilsson
doubled and tripled for the Marlins.
GAME 3
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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Florida 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 10 1
Baltimore 2 3 2 0 3 0 3 8 - 21 19 0
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Starting Pitchers: Florida - Jose Rosado
Baltimore - David Cone
WP - David Cone (1-0) LP - Jose Rosado (0-2)
E: Florida - Jeremy Giambi
Baltimore - None
HR: Florida - None
Baltimore - Carlos Delgado (2), Derek Jeter, Jeffrey Hammonds,
Tony Gywnn, Bruce Aven, Edgar Martinez
INJURIES: Florida - None
Baltimore - None
Highlights: The first four batters of the game (for Florida) reached base
as the Marlins took an early 3-0 lead. A Delgado HR in the
bottom of the inning got the O's close (3-2). Florida scored
once in the 2nd, but Jeter hit a 3-run HR in the bottom of the
2nd to give the O's a lead. The score was tied at 7 into the
bottom of the 5th when a fatigued Rosado hit Delgado, walked
Kevin Millar, and gave up a 3-run HR to Gwynn. From there, the
Orioles bullpen shut down the Florida offense on one hit, and
the O's offense kept hitting. With the score 13-7 O's in the
bottom of the 8th, Mike Lowell (an infielder) pitched and gave
up eight more runs to make the final 21-7. The Orioles hit 7
HRs in the 19-hit attack.
GAME 4
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Baltimore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 0
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Starting Pitchers: Florida - Justin Thompson
Baltimore - John Smoltz
WP - Armando Benitez (1-0) LP - Keith Foulke (0-1)
E: Florida - Ray Durham
Baltimore - None
HR: Florida - None
Baltimore - Jerry Hairston
INJURIES: Florida - Dave Nilsson - 5 days
Baltimore - None
Highlights: In a complete opposite of game 3, this game was a pitcher's duel all
the way. The Marlins had only 7 baserunners in the game; the Orioles
had 10. Florida used all of their good bullpen -- Lowe, Venafro, Howry,
and Foulke. The Orioles used Smoltz for 8.1 innings (all used up in the
series), and Benitez. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Jerry
Hairston, a late inning replacement, came to the plate and rolled his only
HR chance on his card -- HR 1-3, and got it to win the game and the series
for the Orioles. Baltimore will now take on the Colorado Rockies in the
Semi-Finals.