The top of the ninth inning saw the first World Series ejection since 1985 (when St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog and Joaquín Andújar were ejected). Sid Bream led off the inning with a single off of Game 2 winner Duane Ward. As was often the case late in games at this time, Braves manager Bobby Cox elected to pinch run for the slow-footed Bream with Brian Hunter, his backup and a legitimate threat to steal a base (although he only had one steal during the regular season). With Jeff Blauser batting and the count at 2-2, Hunter took off from first. Blauser had thought about swinging, but attempted to stop himself as catcher Pat Borders threw down to second to beat the sliding Hunter to the bag. After he put the tag on Hunter, shortstop Manuel Lee jumped up and told Borders to appeal to first base umpire Dan Morrison, who ruled that Blauser had not checked his swing in time and was also out. Cox, who said he had been frustrated with home plate umpire Joe West's strike calls the entire night, picked up a batting helmet and threw it down with enough force that it bounced out of the Braves' dugout and rolled out onto the field. West, seeing this, immediately ejected Cox from the game immediately after the incident (Cox would later get ejected in the 1996 World Series). Shortly thereafter Ward struck out Damon Berryhill to end the inning.