The Rockies earned the first NL Wild Card under the newly aligned postseason format, and in only their third season of existence, faced a Braves team that was picking up after the '94 labor stoppage where it had left off as a postseason fact of life. But this Braves team was even better now, featuring a notable newcomer who would become a familiar face in Octobers to come: Chipper Jones.

The third baseman blasted two home runs in Game 1, including the two-out, tiebreaking solo shot off Curtis Leskanic in the top of the ninth to lead Atlanta to a 5-4 victory. That rescued a Braves bullpen that had blown a save in the bottom of the eighth after Greg McMichael and Alejandro Pena got into trouble. Colorado came out swinging at their new Coors Field home, as expected, but Jones was 3-for-5 in Game 2 and Marquis Grissom homered for the second straight game, giving the Braves both wins on the road.

As the series shifted to Atlanta, Andres Galarraga and Vinny Castilla delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the 10th to put Colorado on the board in this series. But Braves cleanup man Fred McGriff homered twice and drove in five to back Greg Maddux in Game 4, and Atlanta moved on to the NLCS with a 10-4 win. They outslugged the Rockies, .519 to .458. Jones finished the series with a .389 average (7-for-18).

Path to the NLDS: Atlanta (90-54) won the NL East by 21 games; Colorado (77-67) won the NL Wild Card?

Managers: Bobby Cox, ATL Don Baylor, COL