the plate. This seen as a gesture of the respect the teams had for each other, though Morris later admitted that in the competitive heat of the moment he had not been happy with his catcher about it, even though Smith extended his hand initially. Neither team was able to score a run early on. The Twins had their first opportunity in the bottom of the third inning, when Dan Gladden doubled and advanced to third on a flyout by Chuck Knoblauch. But Smoltz struck out Kirby Puckett to end the inning. The Braves put a runner into scoring position with one out in the top of the fifth, as Mark Lemke reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Rafael Belliard and a bunt single by Smith. But Morris got Terry Pendleton to pop out and then struck out Ron Gant to end the threat. Neither team threatened again until the eighth inning. Morris retired the Braves in order in both the sixth and seventh, and Smoltz only allowed a single by Gladden in the bottom of the fifth and walked Puckett the next inning before inducing a double play. With Morris and Smoltz both still working on shutouts, the game entered the road half of the eighth with the top of the Atlanta lineup due up. Smith started the inning with a single. What followed proved to be the first in a costly series of events for the Braves. With Pendleton up, manager Bobby Cox called for a hit and run and Smith took off. Pendleton responded by hitting a deep fly ball into the gap in left center field on a 1-2 pitch for a double, and with the hit and run called Smith likely would have scored. However, as he rounded second Smith stopped running for a moment and ended up having to stop at third base after the relay throw reached the infield. The middle of the Twins’ infield, Knoblauch at second and Greg Gagne at shortstop, feigned like they were going to start a double play, and some thought Smith might have fallen for it. Smith himself later denied this, saying that he had been following the trajectory of the ball and wanted to see if either Puckett in center field or Gladden in left would catch the ball. To further complicate matters, on the pitch before Pendleton’s double Morris got him to swing and