miss at a pitch in the dirt. Pendleton contended that he had made contact with the ball and asked home plate umpire Don Denkinger for an appeal. Denkinger then asked third base umpire Terry Tata to rule, and Tata said the ball was foul tipped. While the ball did bounce in the dirt, there was no conclusive replay angle that confirmed the foul tip. Morris contended in 2009 that he had indeed struck Pendleton out and that Denkinger had made the wrong call. Nonetheless, although the run had not scored, both runners were now in scoring position and a hit would likely drive them both in and give the Braves the first runs of the game. With the middle of the order looming and nobody out, Morris faced Gant looking for a way out of the jam he now found himself in. He was able to induce a weak groundout to first, which did not allow either runner to advance and gave Minnesota its first out. The next batter was David Justice, and Tom Kelly emerged from the dugout to talk to his ace. Morris was not pleased to see his manager, as he thought that he was coming to the mound to remove him from the game. Instead, he was there to discuss strategy. Justice was a significant enough power threat that Kelly thought of intentionally walking Justice and pitching instead to Sid Bream, who had been struggling throughout the series with only three hits. Morris agreed with Kelly, and Justice was walked to load the bases for Bream. This proved to be the last in the series of events that ended up costing the Braves, as Morris induced a ground ball up the first base line. First baseman Kent Hrbek threw home to retire Smith, whose gaffe set the series in motion. Harper then fired back to Hrbek to retire Bream, who had been playing with chronic knee injuries (five previous surgeries and playing with a large brace on one knee still) and as a result was regarded as one of the slowest baserunners in the league. The rare 3-2-3 double play ended the inning, and the Braves did not have a runner reach base for the remainder of the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Randy Bush pinch-hit for Gagne to lead off for the Twins, and singled off Smoltz, then was removed in favor of