1998 American League Championship Series

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The 1998 American League Championship Series, the second round of the 1998 American League playoffs, was played between the Eastern Division champion New York Yankees and the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland advanced to the ALCS by ousting the Wild Card Boston Red Sox 3 games to 1 in the AL Division Series, while New York swept the Western Division champion Texas Rangers 3 games to none.

The Yankees defeated the Indians 4 games to 2 and went on to sweep the National League champion San Diego Padres in the 1998 World Series. New York, who won 114 games during the regular season, recorded their only two losses of the 1998 postseason in this series.

Managers: Mike Hargrove, Cleveland; Joe Torre, New York

Umpires: Jim Evans, Ted Hendry, John Shulock, Larry Young, Tim Welke, Jim McKean

Series MVP: David Wells, New York

Television: NBC (Bob Costas and Joe Morgan announcing)

[edit] Matchup

[edit] New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians

New York wins the series, 4-2

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	New York	7	Cleveland	2	October 6	1-0 (NYY)
2	New York	1	Cleveland	4	October 7	1-1
3	Cleveland	6	New York	1	October 9	2-1 (CLE)
4	Cleveland	0	New York	4	October 10	2-2
5	Cleveland	3	New York	5	October 11	3-2 (NYY)
6	New York	9	Cleveland	5	October 13	4-2 (NYY)

Cleveland came in as heavy underdogs, but also were the defending American League Champions. In Game 1, the Yankees got off to a good start, by hitting four straight singles in the bottom of the 1st to score 2 runs. This paved the way for 3 more runs as a wild pitch and two more hits knocked starter Jaret Wright out of the game in the 1st. Chad Ogea came on in relief. Eventual ALCS MVP David Wells cruised through 8 1/3 innings. A two-run homer by Manny Ramirez would knock home the only runs of the game for Cleveland in the 9th.
In Game 2, 20-game winner David Cone went for the Yankees, who looked like they would go to Cleveland up 2 games in the series. But David Justice hit a solo homerun in the 4th, putting the Yankees behind for the first time in the postseason. A Scott Brosius double tied the game in the 7th, but the Yanks would squander the chance to score him. They would also squander many chances in the game to score and, as the game moved to extra innings, they would squander the game. Jim Thome led off the top of the 12th with a single. Enrique Wilson was then called on the pinch run. Travis Fryman then laid a sacrifice bunt down, and, as Jeff Nelson went to throw it to first, he hit Fryman and the ball rolled past Chuck Knoblauch covering. He then tried to argue the call as the ball continued to roll. Wilson and Fryman continued to run and Wilson would score as the ball was still not dead. An error by Tino Martinez put Fryman at third. The Indians now had the lead back and would score two more and tie the series at a game a piece.
At Jacobs Field for Game 3, the Yankees were rendered helpless by a barrage of Indian homeruns. After the Yankees took the lead in the 1st on a Bernie Williams RBI-single, the Indians would strike back. Jim Thome led off the bottom of the 2nd with a homerun, then Enrique Wilson drive in a run to make it 2-1 Cleveland. 3 more homeruns in the 5th with 2 outs, including the second of the game by Thome, made it 6-1 Indians. That would be the final score and the Indians took the lead in the series.
The Yankees now trailed for the first time since April 23rd. And now they looked to Orlando Hernandez for a clutch pitching performance. El Duque had come to the Yankees shrouded in mystery, having floated in by raft just 10 months earlier. Now he was pitching the game of his life. Paul O'Neill gave El Duque a run to work with by hitting a solo homerun in the top of the 1st. El Duque responded by giving his team 7 shutout innings. The Yankees would add two more in the 4th and one more in the 9th to win Game 4 4-0.
Instead of pitching Jaret Wright in Game 5, Mike Hargrove looked to Chad Ogea, who had pitched so well in the 1997 World Series, to give his team a 3 games to 2 lead in the series. But, the Yankees once again struck first. A three-run first inning gave the Yanks some cushion, but the Indians would respond. A leadoff homer by Kenny Lofton and a sac fly by Manny Ramirez made it a one run game. Paul O'Neill would single home a run in the 2nd to make it 4-2 Yankees. Chili Davis would homer to put the Yankees ahead by 3 but Jim Thome would hit his third homer of the series to make it a 2 run game. But nothing more would happen and the Yankees were one win away from the World Series.
The Yankees would build a 6-0 lead behind David Cone in Game 6, but the Indians refused to go quietly. A bases-loaded walk and a grand slam by Jim Thome made it 6-5 in the 5th. But the Yankees would score 3 more on a Derek Jeter triple and a Bernie Williams single to make it 9-5. Mariano Rivera sealed a World Series berth in the 9th. Omar Vizquel would ground out to end the ALCS.