1996 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Baltimore Orioles (3) Davey Johnson 88–74, .543, GB: 4 Cleveland Indians (1) Mike Hargrove 99–62, .615, GA:14+1⁄2
Dates	October 1 – 5
Television	ESPN (Games 1–3) ESPN2 (Game 4)
TV announcers	Jon Miller,Dave Campbell, andKirby Puckett (Game 1) Jon Miller andJoe Morgan (Game 2) Jon Miller andBuck Martinez (in Cleveland)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Ernie Harwell andRick Cerone
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Yankees (3) Joe Torre 92–70, .568, GA: 4 Texas Rangers (1) Johnny Oates 90–72, .556, GA:4+1⁄2
Dates	October 1 – 5
Television	NBC (Games 1, 3) Fox (Game 2) ESPN (Game 4)
TV announcers	Bob Costas,Joe Morgan, andBob Uecker (Games 1, 3) Thom Brennaman andBob Brenly (Game 2) Chris Berman andDave Campbell (Game 4)
Radio	CBS WABC (Yankees' broadcast) KRLD (Rangers' broadcast)
Radio announcers	CBS:Gary Cohen andJim Hunter WABC:John Sterling andMichael Kay KRLD:Eric Nadel andBrad Sham
Umpires	Drew Coble,Greg Kosc,Tim Tschida,Tim Welke,John Shulock,Ted Hendry (Indians–Orioles, in Baltimore; Yankees–Rangers, in Arlington) Jim Evans,Ken Kaiser,Durwood Merrill,Larry Young,Al Clark,Mark Johnson (Yankees–Rangers, in New York; Indians–Orioles, in Cleveland)
← 1995 ALDS 1997 →

The1996American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of theAmerican League side inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)1996 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

• (1)Cleveland Indians (Central Division champion, 99–62) vs. (4)Baltimore Orioles (Wild Card, 88–74): Orioles win series, 3–1.
• (2)Texas Rangers (Western Division champion, 90–72) vs. (3)New York Yankees (Eastern Division champion, 92–70): Yankees win series, 3–1.

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The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees went on to meet in theAL Championship Series (ALCS). The Yankees became the American League champion, and defeated theNational League championAtlanta Braves in the1996 World Series, the Yankees' first title since 1978.

Baltimore won the series, 3–1.

New York won the series, 3–1.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

It was Baltimore's first playoff game since the clinching Game 5 of the1983 World Series. For the Indians, it was their second consecutive division title.Charles Nagy andDavid Wells matched each other, but in the wrong way.Brady Anderson's leadoff homer in the bottom of the first gave the Orioles a 1–0 lead. In the top of the second,Manny Ramírez led off with a home run of his own to tie the game. ThenB. J. Surhoff's one-out home run gave the Orioles the lead back. In the third, after a leadoff single, the Orioles added two more runs on an RBI double byRafael Palmeiro and an RBI single byCal Ripken Jr., but after a single and double,Sandy Alomar Jr. singled home a run andOmar Vizquel followed with a sacrifice fly that made it a one-run game in the fourth. That made it 4–3 and the Orioles needed to put the game away. With one out in the sixth, the Orioles loaded the bases on a single and two walks and chased Nagy out of the game. His reliever,Alan Embree, made things worse for Cleveland. He allowed a sacrifice fly that made it 5–3, then hit Palmeiro. With the bases loaded,Bobby Bonilla got his only hit of the game: a grand slam offPaul Shuey, which made it 9–3 Orioles. In the seventh, Vizquel hit a ground-rule double and scored onKenny Lofton's single, but the Orioles got that run back in the bottom of the inning on Surhoff's second home run of the game off Shuey. Four Baltimore relievers held the Indians scoreless over the last2+2⁄3 innings as the Orioles took a 1–0 series lead with a 10–4 win.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

After a 37-minute rain delay, Game 2 commenced. VeteransOrel Hershiser of Cleveland andScott Erickson of Baltimore met in this crucial game. In the bottom of the first, after two two-out walks, first basemanKevin Seitzer's error onBobby Bonilla's ground ball gave the Orioles the lead. In the bottom of the fifth, aBrady Anderson lead off home run made it 2–0 Orioles. After a two-out single and walk, aCal Ripken Jr. single andEddie Murray double scored a run each to make it 4–0, but the Indians rallied for three runs in the sixth.Kenny Lofton singled with one out, stole two bases, and scored on Seitzer's groundout. After a single, a two-run home run byAlbert Belle made it a one-run game. In the eighth, the Indians loaded the bases on two singles offJesse Orosco and walk offArmando Benitez before a misjudged fly ball byBrady Anderson fromJulio Franco allowed them to tie the game at four, but, in the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs on a double and two walks offEric Plunk, then aB.J. Surhoff groundout put them back atop 5–4 offPaul Assenmacher. A walk reloaded the bases before an Anderson sacrifice fly scored another run, then after another walk reloaded the bases, an RBI hit byRoberto Alomar offJulián Tavárez made it 7–4 Orioles. In the ninth,Randy Myers had a 1–2–3 inning for the save, giving Baltimore a 2–0 series lead heading to Cleveland.

Jacobs Field inCleveland, Ohio

Game 3 was critical with Cleveland facing elimination.Mike Mussina was sent to the mound againstJack McDowell to try to end the series in Cleveland. The Indians scored first whenKenny Lofton reached second on an error byBobby Bonilla, stole third and scored onKevin Seitzer's groundout. In the top of the second, the Orioles loaded the bases and forced home a run when McDowell hitBrady Anderson with a pitch, but aManny Ramírez home run and an RBI double byJosé Vizcaíno after a single made it 3–1 in the bottom half. In the top of the fourth,B. J. Surhoff silenced the crowd with a towering three-run home run after two singles that gave the Orioles their first lead of the night. However,Kevin Seitzer would deliver the game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Indians loaded the bases on three walks offJesse Orosco, thenAlbert Belle hit a grand slam offArmando Benitez to put the Indians back atop 8–4. They added another run on another RBI hit by Seitzer offTerry Mathews (the run charged toArthur Rhodes) to ensure a Game 4.

Jacobs Field inCleveland, Ohio

Game 4 saw a rematch of Game 1:David Wells vs.Charles Nagy. In the top of the second, back-to-back home runs byRafael Palmeiro andBobby Bonilla gave the Orioles a 2–0 lead. Then,Sandy Alomar Jr.'s two-run single tied the game in the fourth. In the fifth, the Indians broke the tie with an RBI single byOmar Vizquel to scoreJose Vizcaino, who singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The bats on both sides were then silenced until the top of the ninth inning, whenJosé Mesa came on in a save situation and looked to extend the series to a deciding Game 5. However, after two one-out singles,Roberto Alomar's two-out RBI single tied the game. It looked like the Indians might win in the bottom half with two runners in scoring position and two out forKenny Lofton, but he struck out to force extra innings. In the top of the 12th, the Orioles recaptured the lead whenRoberto Alomar (who would play for Cleveland later in his career) hit the go-ahead home run.Randy Myers would finish off the Indians and send the Orioles to the1996 American League Championship Series.

1996 ALDS(3–1):Baltimore Orioles overCleveland Indians

John Burkett took the mound for the Rangers in their first ever postseason game, facingDavid Cone. The Yankees would get a run in the first on a groundout byBernie Williams with runners on second and third, but in the fourth, after a leadoff single and walk,Juan González's three-run home run gave the Rangers a 3–1 lead. After a single and strikeout,Dean Palmer's two-run home run made it 5–1. The Yankees would get a run in the bottom half whenTino Martinez doubled with one out and scored onMariano Duncan's RBI single but no more. The Rangers added an insurance run in the sixth onMark McLemore's RBI single. Burkett would go the distance for the win. He would allow only two runs despite giving up ten hits.

The Rangers' win in Game 1 was their first postseason win in franchise history. They proceeded to lose the rest of the series to the Yankees, and did not win another postseason game until their pennant season of2010, when they won Game 1 of theALDS.

Game 2 proved memorable asKen Hill faced 21-game winnerAndy Pettitte. In the top of the second, inningsJuan González's second home run of the series gave the Rangers a 1–0 edge, but two walks and a groundout allowed the Yankees to tie the game in the bottom half onJim Leyritz's forceout. In the third innings, González hit his third homer of the series, this time a towering three-run home run, to give the Rangers a 4–1 lead, but the Yankees spent the next six innings chipping away at the lead.Cecil Fielder's home run in the fourth innings made it a two-run game. In the seventh, inningsCharlie Hayes lifted a sacrifice fly offDennis Cook to make it a one-run game, the run charged to Hill. In the eighth inning, the Yankees were five outs away from losing when Fielder tied the game with an RBI single to scoreBernie Williams, who had the singled to lead off and moved to second on a fly out. The game moved to extra innings and the Rangers blew scoring opportunities in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth innings. They put their leadoff men on but get nothing. In the 12th inning, the Yankees put their first two men on offMike Stanton when Hayes laid down a sacrifice bunt offMike Henneman, butDean Palmer made an error on that bunt down the third base line and Jeter managed to score all the way from second base, allowing the Yankees to walk off in dramatic fashion.

Game 3 sawJimmy Key faceDarren Oliver. In the first, Oliver gave up a homer toBernie Williams. That was all the Yankees could muster as Oliver began to settle in. In the bottom of the fourth inning,Juan González's fourth home run in three games tied the game and earned him the reputation of "Señor October." Then in the fifth inning,Kevin Elster walked, stole second and scored onIván Rodríguez's RBI double to give the Rangers a 2–1 edge. Oliver, along with the Rangers' bullpen, kept the Yankees scoreless until the ninth. After two leadoff singles off Oliver, Williams' sac fly offMike Henneman to tie the game and after a groundout and intentional walk,Mariano Duncan's RBI single put the Yankees up 3–2. In the ninth inning the Rangers'Mickey Tettleton walked. His pinch-runner,Damon Buford would advance to third on a sacrifice bunt byMark McLemore and a groundout from pinch hitterWarren Newson. That put Buford 90 feet away and the winning run at the plate, butJohn Wetteland gotDarryl Hamilton to strike out to end the game.

Kenny Rogers facedBobby Witt in the potential clincher. Rogers pitched a scoreless first but in the second the Rangers struck for two on RBI hits byMickey Tettleton after a leadoff double andIván Rodríguez two outs later after a single. In the third inning Rogers was replaced byBrian Boehringer.Juan González led off the inning with his fifth home run of the series to make it 3–0, then an error byDerek Jeter and the walk put two men on before theMark McLemore's RBI single gave the Rangers a 4–0 lead, but, in the top of the fourth inning after a single, wild pitch and walk put runners on first and third with no outs,Cecil Fielder's RBI single put the Yankees on the board. One out later,Mariano Duncan's RBI single cut Texas's lead to 4–2 and knock Witt out of the game. After aJoe Girardi single loaded the bases offDanny Patterson, Jeter's RBI groundout made it a one-run game. In the fifth inning the Yankees tied the game at four whenBernie Williams hit a leadoff home run offRoger Pavlik. In the seventh inning, the Yankees completed a four-run comeback by taking the lead onCecil Fielder's RBI single with two on. In the ninth inning, Williams once again provided insurance by win hitting his second home run of the game offMike Stanton. That made it 6–4 Yankees. In the bottom half, the Rangers put the tying runs on againstJohn Wetteland, but he gotWill Clark andDean Palmer, both potential home run threats, to fly out and strike out to end the game and the series.

1996 ALDS(3–1):New York Yankees overTexas Rangers

• BAL vs. CLE at Baseball-Reference
• NYY vs. TEX at Baseball-Reference

• American League Division Series
• 1996 Major League Baseball season
• New York Yankees postseason
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• Cleveland Guardians postseason
• Texas Rangers postseason
• Baseball competitions in Arlington, Texas
• 1996 in sports in Ohio
• 1996 in sports in Maryland
• 1996 in sports in New York City
• 1996 in sports in Texas
• 20th century in Arlington, Texas
• 1990s in Baltimore
• 1990s in Cleveland
• October 1996 sports events in the United States
• 1990s in the Bronx

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