1995 NLDS: The Braves & Reds Move Forward
1995 was the first year the Division Series became a permanent fixture on MLB’s postseason calendar. The format had been used only once before, in the strike-split season of 1981. It was also scheduled to debut as part of baseball’s new playoff structure in 1994 before the players’ strike cancelled the postseason entirely. Thus, the 1995 NLDS finally began the new era.
The Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies had completely different histories. The Braves were after a breakthrough championship following several years of coming up just short. The Rockies were an expansion franchise. In the other matchup, the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers renewed a grudge match rivalry that went back to the 1970s.
You can read more about the personnel and regular season journeys of all four teams at the links below. This article will focus squarely on the games of the 1995 NL Division Series.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1995 ATLANTA BRAVES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1995 CINCINNATI REDS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1995 COLORADO ROCKIES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1995 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The LDS format was a best-of-five, but they used a 2-3 rotation for homefield, as opposed to the 2-2-1 of today. All games were scheduled at 8 PM EST. Our own format here will go day-by-day.
Tuesday, October 3
Denver
The Braves had Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux set to go for the series opener. The Rockies gave the ball to Kevin Ritz. Atlanta began threatening almost immediately. They ran themselves out of a potential inning in the second but got a two-out homer from Marquis Grissom in the third for the game’s first run. In the top of the fourth, the Braves put two on with none out, but Ritz got a big strikeout of Ryan Klesko to maneuver out of it.
Atlanta had made a lot of noise but only had a 1-0 lead to show for it. Colorado made them pay for it in the bottom of the fourth. Larry Walker worked a one-out walk, went to third on a base hit by Andres Galarraga and scored on a sac fly by Ellis Burks. Then Vinny Castilla homered and the Rockies had a 3-1 lead.
Ritz kept the Braves at bay until the sixth, when Chipper Jones led off a with a home run to cut the lead in half. With one out, Klesko followed a walk issued to David Justice with a base hit that set up runners on first and third. An RBI groundout from Luis Polonia produced the tying run, and Colorado was into their bullpen.
Grissom’s leadoff double in the seventh put Atlanta in business, but he was quickly cut down at third base on an infield groundball. For the second time in a close game, the Braves lost an opportunity on the basepaths.
But the Rockies had their own big missed chance in the bottom of the same inning. Castilla led off with a double. Maddux hit a batter with a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out.
Maddux stayed in the game. He induced John Vander Wal to tap one back to the mound, and it started a 1-2-3 double play. The game remained tied.
Mike Munoz was on in relief for Colorado and got the first two men out in the top of the eighth. Klesko singled. Manager Don Baylor went to pen for Darren Holmes. It didn’t work. Javy Lopez and Dwight Smith hit consecutive singles that gave the Braves a 4-3 lead.
With Maddux’s night complete, Greg McMichael was pitching for Atlanta. A walk to Dante Bichette followed by a Walker single quickly set the Rockies up with runners on the corners and none out. McMichael got Galarraga and Braves skipper Bobby Cox then went to Alejandro Pena. Burks greeted him with a double that tied the game 4-4.
What’s more, Colorado still had runners on second and third and only one out. But a big strikeout of Jayhawk Owens kept the game knotted as we went to the ninth.
Chipper, a rookie in the playoffs, was unfazed by the moment and he hit a two-out homer in the ninth. Atlanta closer Mark Wohlers came on. With one out, singles by Bichette and Walker loaded the bases. Galarraga was coming up. But for the second time in the final two innings, “The Big Cat” couldn’t deliver. Wohlers struck him out and then struck out Lance Painter. A thrilling Game 1 was in the books as a 5-4 Atlanta win.
Los Angeles
Pete Schourek was on the mound for Cincinnati, facing off with L.A.’s Ramon Martinez. And it took little time for the Reds to get after Ramon. With one out in the top of the first, Barry Larkin and Ron Gant singled, to put runners on the corner. Ramon got Reggie Sanders to pop out and was in position to escape. But Hal Morris hit an opposite field double to left to score both runs. Then Benito Santiago homered. In the blink of an eye, it was 4-zip Cincy.
Both pitchers settled in and it was still 4-0 in the top of fifth when the Reds went back on the attack. Sanders doubled. A Morris single moved him to third and a Santiago sac fly scored the run. Bret Boone doubled to put runners on second and third and chase Ramon. Jeff Branson’s double scored both runs, it was 7-0 and this game was broken open.
A modest Dodger threat in the bottom of the fifth produced one run but ended with a double play ball. Mike Piazza homered in the sixth for the home team. But it was an otherwise uneventful final four innings as Cincinnati cruised to a 7-2 win.
Wednesday, October 4
Denver
Tom Glavine took the hill for Atlanta, while Colorado turned to Lance Painter to try and even the series. Grissom greeted Painter with a home run and gave the Braves a quick 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, Mark Lemke hit a leadoff single, and Chipper beat out a bunt. Following a one-out walk, Javy Lopez’s sac fly put Atlanta up 2-0. And in the top of the fourth, Grissom did it again, with a two-out solo shot. The Braves had a 3-zip lead and Glavine was cruising.
Until the bottom of the sixth. After Glavine had struck out in the top of the inning to kill a promising Atlanta inning, he ran into troubles on the mound. An error by Jeff Blauser at short opened the door, and it was followed by a Bichette single and a Walker three-run blast that tied the game.
Bruce Ruffin was on for the Rockies in relief, and he escaped a bases loaded/one-out jam in the top of the seventh with a big strikeout of Lopez. In the bottom of the eighth, Colorado got to Braves’ reliever Steve Avery. Bichette ripped a one-out double. With two outs, Cox went to Pena, to get a righty-righty matchup with Galarraga. After the missed opportunities of Game 1, the Big Cat came through here, with a double to the gap in right-center that put the Rockies up 4-3.
Chipper doubled to lead off the top of the ninth. Munoz came out of the Rockie bullpen, replacing Curtis Leskanic. To no avail. Fred McGriff singled and we had a 4-4 ballgame.
And the Braves weren’t done. While Munoz got the next two batters out, Mike Devereaux singled. Mike Mordecai, pinch-hitting for Pena, singled to give Atlanta the lead and the futile throw home enabled runners to move to second and third. Both scored on an error by Colorado second baseman Eric Young.
It was 7-4, Cox turned to Wohlers, who closed the ninth without serious incident. Atlanta was going home with a 2-0 series lead.
Los Angeles
Dodger skipper Tom Lasorda turned to Ismael Valdez to try and even up this series. John Smiley was on the hill for the Reds. Los Angeles struck first tonight, with Brett Butler leading off the bottom of the first with a single, getting bunted up and scoring on a two-out double from Eric Karros. In the meantime, Valdez retired the first 11 Cincinnati batters.
It was about to be 12, when Valdez induced a grounder to short that should have ended the inning. An error by Chad Fonville kept Cincinnati at the plate. Reggie Sanders made it hurt with a two-run blast. The Reds had only one hit through four, but they had a 2-1 lead.
Karros immediately answered with a solo shot that tied the game, but rallies in the fifth and sixth couldn’t nudge across the lead run. The Reds missed their own chance in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, with Dave Burba now on in relief of Smiley, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out.
Tim Wallach came to the plate. A groundball to third resulted in a forceout at the plate. Delino DeShields popped out. For the third straight inning, L.A. had let a good scoring opportunity go to waste and the game remained 2-2.
Antonio Osuna came on in relief of Valdez for the top of the eighth. With one out, Mariano Duncan singled. With two outs, Duncan stole second and set himself up to score the go-head run on a base hit to right by Larkin.
Cincinnati took out some insurance in the top of the ninth when L.A. reliever Kevin Tapani walked the bases loaded. A run-scoring groundball out by Mark Lewis made it 4-2, and Duncan got what proved to be a big two-out RBI single to extend the Reds’ lead to 5-2.
Reds manager Davey Johnson summoned closer Jeff Brantley. A leadoff single by Fonville was followed a one-out homer by Karros. It was a 5-4 game. But Brantley got Wallach and DeShields to close it out.
Just like Atlanta, Cincinnati had gone on the road and taken the first two games of the series.
Friday, October 6
Cincinnati
David Wells was on the mound in old Riverfront Stadium to try and close out the series for the Reds. The Dodgers, having gone to the regular season wire to clinch their playoff spot, could only now go to rotation ace Hideo Nomo.
Larkin quickly generated action for Cincinnati in the top of the first with a leadoff single and a stolen base. He died on third base. In the bottom of the third, Larkin again got things going with a single. This time Gant went deep, and the Reds had a 2-0 lead.
A Sanders error in rightfield in the top of the fourth gave Los Angeles their first sign of life, putting Karros on second. Raul Mondesi delivered a two-out RBI single to cut the lead in half. But Boone immediately got the run back for Cincy with a solo blast to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Morris legged out an infield hit. Santiago followed with a single. Tapani came out of the Dodger bullpen to try and stop the tide. He walked Boone, to load up the bases with none out. Mark Guthrie came on in relief, as Lasorda emptied his pen.
None of it would work. Lewis hit a grand slam to blow this game and the series wide open. It was 7-1. Wells worked comfortably into the seventh inning. Mike Jackson came on in relief and not only pitched well but hit a bases-loaded double with two outs that made it 10-1.
It was party time in Cincinnati. Brantley cleaned up in the ninth, and when he got Pizza to line out to Thomas Howard in center, the Reds were going to the NLCS.
Atlanta
Smoltz took the mound for Atlanta to try and close out the sweep. Bill Swift was entrusted with keeping Colorado’s season alive. And the Rockies quickly got Swift a run. Young drew a leadoff walk to open the game. On a sacrifice bunt, Young ran the bases aggressively and got all the way to third base, enabling him to score on a wild pitch. The heavy-hitting Rockies used some small ball to get a 1-0 lead.
Colorado added on the third, with Young again at the center of the action. After Walt Weiss singled, the Rockie second baseman homered to make it 3-zip.
Swift moved comfortably through three innings but ran into trouble with one out in the bottom of the fourth. In short order, McGriff singled, Justice walked and Klesko doubled. It was 3-1 and there were runners on second and third. Lopez’s base hit pulled the Braves even at 3-3.
The back and forth continued in the top of the sixth, when Bichette singled and then Castilla hit a two-out home run to make it 5-3. Swift held that lead to the bottom of the seventh when, after a one-out base hit by Klesko, Baylor went to Steve Reed out of the bullpen.
Reed struck out Lopez and Baylor continued to play matchups, bringing in Munoz. This was one move too many. Mordecai drilled an RBI double to cut the lead to 5-4. When one pitcher doesn’t work, try another—Baylor summoned Leskanic who ended the inning and kept the lead through the eighth inning.
Ruffin came out of the Colorado pen for the bottom of the ninth. Klesko continued to hit, knocking a one-out single. The reliever parade continued for the Rockies, this time Darren Holmes. Lopez blooped a single to right putting the tying run on second and the winning run on first.
Holmes got Mordecai to fly out to left, but down to their last out, Atlanta got a clutch base hit from Luis Polonia. It was 5-5 and we were going extra innings.
Cox went to Wohlers for the tenth frame and the closer got the first two men out. Bichette kept the inning alive with a double. In the meat of the Rockie lineup, Walker was issued an intentional walk, to get a righty-righty matchup with Galarraga. It didn’t work. The Big Cat singled to drive in the go-ahead run, and Castilla’s single added some insurance.
Mark Thompson pitched the 10th for Colorado and set Atlanta down in order. The Rockies had the first postseason win in franchise history and were alive to fight another day.
Saturday, October 7
Atlanta
Maddux came back on three days rest to go for the clinch on Saturday night. The Rockies went to veteran Bret Saberhagen to try and force a decisive fifth game.
Young again looked to put his imprint on the game early, leading off with a single and moving up on a sac bunt. Then the speedy infielder swiped third base. With Colorado in position for early momentum again, Maddux got big strikeouts of Bichette and Walker to kill the threat.
Atlanta missed their own chance after Grissom beat out an infield hit and stole second. Saberhagen got Chipper and McGriff to stop the threat. The joust continued in the top of the second when Galarraga and Castilla began the inning with singles. Maddux escaped that jam by picking Galarraga off second.
But in the top of the third, the flirtations with danger caught up with the Braves’ ace. With one out, Young and Mike Kingery both singled. And Bichette unloaded with a three-run blast. It was 3-0 and the possibility of a Sunday Game 5 was very much alive.
Atlanta wasted little time in answering though. After two men were out in the bottom of that same inning, Grissom singled and Lemke beat out an infield hit. Chipper’s double brought both runners home and it was 3-2. And McGriff’s home run gave the Braves a 4-3 lead.
More was coming in the bottom of the fourth. Klesko’s leadoff single was followed by a walk. Rafael Belliard then hit a ground ball to Young that could have been a killer double play. But after Young stepped on second for the forceout, his throw to first went awry. A run came home, and Grissom followed with a double that extended the lead to 6-3.
Ritz was now in for Colorado with the game and the season on the verge of getting away from them. McGriff homered to make it 7-3. Even though Castilla answered with a solo blast in the Rockie sixth, it was still 7-4 and Maddux had been given new life.
The bottom of the sixth effectively ended the series. With two outs, Maddux was at the plate. Instead of the inning being over, the pitcher singled. Grissom did the same. Lemke doubled both home to make it 8-4. Later in the inning, with runners on second and third, McGriff’s two-run single extended the lead to 10-4.
Colorado had nobly battled the National League’s great power, but they had run out of steam. Maddux worked through seven. Alejandro Pena cleaned up the last two innings, striking out Vander Wal to make it official.
For the fourth straight year (excluding the strike cancellation of 1994), Atlanta was in the National League Championship Series.
DIVISION SERIES MVPs
Major League Baseball doesn’t give an LDS MVP award. That’s an omission we’ll rectify here.
Cincinnati – Los Angeles
Larkin and Morris were the most productive Cincinnati hitters over their three-game sweep, each getting five hits. With no pitchers needing to make multiple starts, it seems logical to go to one of these everyday players. I would lean Larkin, particularly given his instigator role to start Game 3 and keep his team’s momentum going.
For Los Angeles, shoutouts go especially to Karros, who went 6-for-12 and did all he could to lift his team in the must-win Game 2. Fonville also had a good series at the plate, going 6-for-12 himself, although that big error in Game 2 impacted the series more than any of his good at-bats.
Atlanta – Colorado
In a series with a number of notable performers, Grissom stands out. The leadoff man went 11-for-21, with three home runs, two stolen bases and was a constant presence at big moments. He’s an easy choice for MVP, with acknowledgments also going to Chipper, Klesko and McGriff who combined for 20 hits and made their own marks at threshold moments.
Bichette had ten hits for Colorado, meeting the postseason moment against the great Brave pitching staff. So did Castilla, with his seven hits including three home runs. Young went 7-for-16 and was a sparkplug.
AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED
This was the final postseason appearance for the legendary Lasorda. He managed a contending team into the summer of 1996 before health problems forced him to hand over the reins. Los Angeles returned to the playoffs in ’96.
For Colorado, the promise of this season and the competitive way they battled Atlanta didn’t have the payoff fans might have hoped. Baylor had two more winning seasons in Denver but never made the playoffs again and the Rockies disappeared from the radar until their pennant-winning season of 2007 with a different cast.
AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORS
Atlanta went on to sweep Cincinnati in the NLCS and then got their long-sought World Series title, beating Cleveland. The Braves continued to be the gold standard in the National League, playing in this Division Series round every year through 2005.
For the Reds, their sweep of the Dodgers was the last high point for a long time. The franchise didn’t even seriously contend again until 1999 and didn’t get back to the postseason until 2010.