1998 American League Championship Series

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

The Yankees defeated the Indians four games to two 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.

Background
Cleveland advanced to the ALCS by ousting the Wild Card Boston Red Sox three games to one in the AL Division Series, while New York swept the West Division champion Texas Rangers three games to none.

Game 1
Tuesday, October 6, 1998 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York

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 first to score two runs. This paved the way for three more runs as a wild pitch and two more hits knocked starter Jaret Wright out of the game in the first. Chad Ogea came on in relief. Eventual ALCS MVP David Wells cruised through $8 1/3$ innings. A two-run homer by Manny Ramírez would knock home the only runs of the game for Cleveland in the ninth.

Game 2
Wednesday, October 7, 1998 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York

In Game 2, twenty-game winner David Cone went for the Yankees, who looked like they would go to Cleveland up two games in the series. But David Justice hit a solo home run in the fourth, putting the Yankees behind for the first time in the postseason. A Scott Brosius double tied the game in the seventh, but the Yankees would squander the chance to score him. They would also squander many chances in the game to score, as the game moved to extra innings. Jim Thome led off the top of the twelfth 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. Knoblauch 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 apiece.

Game 3
Friday, October 9, 1998 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

At Jacobs Field for Game 3, the Yankees were rendered helpless by a barrage of Indian home runs and the dazzling pitching of young flamethrower Bartolo Colón. After the Yankees took the lead in the first on a Bernie Williams RBI-single, the Indians took control of the game. Jim Thome led off the bottom of the second with a home run, then Enrique Wilson drove in a run to make it 2–1 Cleveland. Three more home runs in the fifth with two outs, including the second of the game by Thome, made it 6–1 Indians. The strong pitching of Colon silenced the Yankees' bats the rest of the way as the New York batters were held hitless from the fifth inning onwards. Colon would finish with a four-hit complete game victory, and the Indians took a 2–1 edge in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4
Saturday, October 10, 1998 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

The Yankees looked to Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez for a clutch pitching performance. Hernandez had come to the Yankees shrouded in mystery, having defected from Cuba just ten months earlier. He was making his postseason debut with this start against former Yankee Dwight Gooden. Paul O'Neill gave Hernandez a run to work with by hitting a solo home run off Gooden in the top of the first. Hernandez responded by giving his team seven shutout innings. The Yankees added two more in the fourth and one more in the ninth to win Game 4 4–0.

Game 5
Sunday, October 11, 1998 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Instead of pitching Jaret Wright in Game 5, Mike Hargrove looked to Chad Ogea, who had pitched well in the 1997 World Series, to give his team a three games to two lead in the series. The Yankees once again took the early lead with a three-run first inning, but the Indians would respond. A leadoff homer by Kenny Lofton and a sacrifice fly by Manny Ramírez made it a one-run game. Paul O'Neill singled home a run in the second to make it 4–2 Yankees. Chili Davis homered in the fourth to put the Yankees ahead by three, but Jim Thome hit his third homer of the series in the bottom of the sixth to make it a two-run game. Wells and the Yankees' bullpen held off any further Indians scoring, and the Yankees were one win away from the World Series.

Game 6
Tuesday, October 13, 1998 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York

The Yankees built 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 fifth. But the Yankees would score three 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 ninth with Omar Vizquel grounding out to end the ALCS, sending the Yankees to their second World Series in three seasons.

Composite box
1998 ALCS (4–2): New York Yankees over Cleveland Indians