In 1996, Johnson returned to Baltimore as the Orioles' manager on a three-year, $2.25 million contract. The Orioles had gone 71-73 the previous year, but the team had promising talent to go with future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken, Jr, Mike Mussina, Eddie Murray, and Roberto Alomar. The team went 88–74, finishing four games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East but it was good enough for the Wild Card by three games. It was the Orioles' first trip to the postseason since winning the 1983 World Series. The Orioles met the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series, the defending champion of the American League who had won 99 games, the best in the majors that season. The Orioles won the first two games before Cleveland forced a Game 4 with a win, and they were one inning away from forcing another one before the Orioles rallied with an Alomar two-out RBI single, and he gave them the lead in the 12th on a home run that delivered Baltimore to the Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The Orioles were leading Game 1 4–3 in the seventh inning before a fly ball hit by Derek Jeter was illegally caught over the fence by fan Jeffrey Maier over the hands of Tony Tarasco that tied the game. The Yankees won the game in the eleventh inning, and while the Orioles rebounded to win Game 2, the Yankees then won the next three; Game 3 saw a blown lead by the Orioles in the eighth inning that turned a 2-1 lead into a 5-2 loss, while the Yankees scored three runs in the eighth in Game 4 to blow open an 8-4 decision, while Game 5 saw the Yankees score all the runs they needed in the third inning for a 6-4 clincher.