1999 Diary, July 3: Brosius homer completes comeback, walk-off win

07/03/2024 11:30 AM

Scott Brosius played the hero on this day 25 years ago.

Every walk-off win is fun in its own right. However, there's something a little more fun about the ones that come when the Yankees go into the final inning trailing. It's even more fun when the entire deficit is erased on just one swing.

That's exactly how the Yankees came away with a win on this day 25 years ago.

July 3: Yankees 6, Orioles 5 (box score)

Record: 49-29, .628 (4 GA)

The pitching matchup for the day was Orlando Hernández against future Yankee Sidney Ponson, and neither looked particularly dominant early. El Duque had to work around an early walk, while the Yankees put a couple of runners on against Ponson in the first couple innings. Eventually, Baltimore broke through. Albert Belle and Harold Baines hit back-to-back solo homers off Hernández on two-straight pitches to give the O's the lead.

In the bottom half of the fourth, the Yankees got one of those runs right back when Chili Davis came up with a two-out RBI single, but the Orioles went and extended their lead right back out in the fourth as Brady Anderson singled home Cal Ripken Jr. Yet that was also immediately answered. In the bottom of the fifth, with Scott Brosius on after a double, Derek Jeter tied things up with a homer.

Hernández and Ponson both worked around some trouble with walks in the sixth, and Joe Torre then sent El Duque back out for the seventh. While he retired two of the first three batters he faced, a walk to Charles Johnson and a Mike Bordick single that put runners at the corners left Hernández in a jam. At that point, Torre went to the bullpen and brought in Mike Stanton. That did not work out as on just the second pitch that Stanton threw, B.J. Surhoff laced a double that scored both runners. Stanton managed to keep things from getting any worse than that, but the Yankees now had only nine outs to rally.

Ponson also came back out for the seventh and quickly put a runner on himself by walking Ricky Ledee. However, unlike Hernández, he managed to easily escape, as he picked off Ledee in a scoreless inning. For the day, the Yankees managed just three runs on six hits and four walks off the future Yankee, who did not do that too often in pinstripes.

In the eighth, the Yankees wasted a Bernie Williams single and still trailed by two heading into their last chance.

While Mike Timlin would go on to have a perfectly serviceable season and record 27 saves, the Orioles were in a bit of an interesting spot. Timlin had either blown a save or taken a loss in three of his four previous appearances, including one against the Yankees back on June 25th. So while he hadn't pitched the previous day, the Orioles opted not to go to him and brought in Arthur Rhodes for the ninth. Rhodes himself wasn't having a great year — a 6.00 ERA to that point — but Baltimore needed just three outs with a two-run lead. They couldn't do that.

Davis led off the inning with a single. Up next was Jorge Posada, who worked the count full before drawing a walk to put the tying run on base. Rhodes then got some respite when a pinch-hitting Luis Sojo only managed a strikeout after failing to get a bunt down. That brought Scott Brosius to the plate.

Brosius worked the count to 3-1, laying off a couple pitches to ensure that he was probably going to get something to hit with the top of the order due up next. He did indeed get something to hit and he made the most of it.

Brosius wrapped a three-run shot around the foul pole in left field for a walk-off home run. Having entered the inning with just an 11% win probability, the Yankees had come all the way back for a third-straight win and a 10th win in their last 11.

There aren't a ton of highlight videos of this game out there beyond the walk-off, so here's a video of the bottom of the eighth inning, featuring the late Bobby Murcer and Tim McCarver on the call.

Read the full 1999 Yankees Diary series here.