The 1998 Yankees dominated their six game series with the 1958 Yankees, winning five of six games. The '98 Yankees improved to 22-8, tied for first place by winning percentage with the 1953 Yankees. The '58 Yankees dropped to 66-84 with one series left against the '53 Yankees.
The '58 Yankees won the first game of the series 4-2. Four pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts while Mickey Mantle provided the offense with a pair of two-run homers. The '98 Yankees won the final five games, including back-to-back 6-5 contests in 10 innings in Games Two and Three. In Game Two, Homer Bush pinch ran on second base in the 10th for Jorge Posada; he stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run. In Game Three, Hank Bauer tied the game for the '58 Yankees 5-5 with a three-run homer. The '98 Yankees went back out in front for good in the 10th on a two-out RBI single by Posada. The '98 Yankees won another tight one in Game Four 3-2 on a walk-off single by Derek Jeter in the 9th. The offense kicked in the final two games, scoring 10 runs in each game with wins of 10-1 and 10-3. Bernie Williams and Scott Brosius had four RBI each in Game Five while Game Six was tight until the 8th inning when they broke open a 4-3 lead with six runs, including a grand slam by Darryl Strawberry.
Jeter leads the '98 Yankees in hitting at .359 with a 1.009 OPS. Williams is hitting .336 with 10 homeruns and a 1.059 OPS. Orlando Hernandez and David Wells are a combined 8-0 in their 10 starts with ERAs of 2.13 and 2.65 respectively. In 10 appearances, Mariano Rivera has a win and eight saves in 10 2/3 scoreless innings.
Mantle hit .364 in the series with three homeruns and seven RBI. He raised his average to .280 with 43 homeruns, 99 RBI, 106 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, and a 1.005 OPS. Ryne Duren picked up his 25th save of the season in Game One.
