These days, a regular season rematch of the previous year’s World Series is hardly a rarity. The Yankees literally just played in one against the Dodgers over the weekend. Thanks to the way the schedule is set up, you’re now going to see one every year.

For a long time in baseball history, that was impossible as AL and NL teams didn’t meet in the regular season. Then when interleague play first did begin, they only played a handful of games, and there was a decent chance their two reigning league champions just didn’t end up on the schedule against each other.

However on this day 25 years ago, the Yankees were involved in a World Series rematch, and it was the heavyweight fight that status deserves.

June 4: Yankees 7, Braves 6 (box score)

Record: 30-22 (1 GA in AL East)

That day in Atlanta, the Yankees were tasked with facing one of the Braves’ lesser pitchers in Terry Mulholland. (Mulholland had a no-hitter and an All-Star season on his résumé, but 2000 wasn’t a particularly strong year for him.) The Yankees took advantage of that, putting up three quick runs in the first inning. Four of the first six Yankees’ batters reached base, with one of the two that didn’t, Félix José, still driving home a run with a sacrifice fly. Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez also had RBI hits in the inning, giving the Bombers a nice early lead. Martinez also struck in the third, hitting a run-scoring double that brought home Shane Spencer.

Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte got the start for the Yankees that day, and threw two scoreless innings to start before Atlanta got to him in the third. After getting one out of the third, he did the thing you never want to do, which was allow the No. 9 hitter to reach base. Even worse was that this was a game in an NL park in 1999, meaning it was the pitcher reaching base, as Mulholland singled. Petitte then walked Quilvo Veras, setting the Braves up with Joneses Andruw and Chipper due up. Both took advantage, with Andruw singling and Chipper hitting a sacrifice fly to get the Braves a pair of runs.

After that, the two teams traded runs for a while. Three-straight Yankee singles in the fourth ended with Spencer plating a run. Right after that, Javy López scored Brian Jordan with a single for Atlanta. However right after that, Scott Brosius led off the fifth with a homer off Mulholland, giving the Yankees a three-run edge. Then, the Braves cut into that yet again when Jones and Jones combined again for a run in the bottom of the fifth.

Despite the initial edge he had been given, Pettitte then allowed the Braves to climb all the way back into the game in the sixth. Leading off the inning, López and Reggie Sanders went back-to-back, erasing the Yankees’ lead and evening things at six runs apiece.

Even though he’d given up six runs, Bobby Cox and the Braves stuck with Mulholland for the seventh. He got two quick groundouts and seemed to be on his way to a painless inning. The Yankees then made their pitching move, sending up Clay Bellinger as a pinch hitter for Pettitte. In that spot, sending up a position player to hit for a pitcher that was probably going to exit at some point soon anyway is the obvious move. However, the choice in player ended up being perfect. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Bellinger took a pitch over the left field wall for a homer to put the Yankees back in front.

Jason Grimsley got the seventh inning for the Yankees before Joe Torre brought in Mariano Rivera for six outs, having dealt with several bullpen issues in previous days. The first five outs of that went without incident, although one did require a nice running catch from Spencer in right field.

Getting the sixth out proved to be a bit scary, though. Once again, it was Andruw and Chipper Jones causing the Yankees issues, as they both hit two-out singles, with Andruw moving to third and putting the tying run 90 feet away. However, as he so often would, Rivera then just got the next out without issue. He struck out Andrés Galarraga to seal a back and forth 7-6 win.

Much as they had in both World Series matchups against the Braves of this era, this particular day belonged to the Yankees.

Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.