![]() The Kingdome in Seattle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date | October 2, 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | The Kingdome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
City | Seattle, Washington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 52,356 [1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Television | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TV announcers | Jon Miller and Joe Morgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Radio | CBS KMPC (CAL) KIRO (SEA) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Radio announcers | CBS: Ernie Harwell and Al Downing KMPC: Bob Starr and Mario Impemba KIRO: Dave Niehaus and Rick Rizzs |
The 1995 American League West tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 regular season; the California Angels and Seattle Mariners met to determine the winner of the American League's (AL) West Division. It was played at the Kingdome in Seattle, on October 2, 1995.[3]
The game was necessary after both teams finished the strike-shortened 144-game season with identical records of 78–66 (.542).[3][4] Scoreless until the fifth inning, Seattle held a slim 1–0 lead at the seventh-inning stretch. The Mariners then broke it open and won 9–1 to secure the franchise's first postseason berth.[1][2] It was counted as the 145th regular season game for both teams, with all the events in the game added to regular season statistics.
On August 3, the Angels were 56–33 (.629), 11 games ahead of the second place Texas Rangers,[5] and 13 ahead of the third-place Mariners, at 43–46 (.483).[6][7] By the end of the month, the Angels (67–50 (.573)) were on a six-game losing streak and their lead was trimmed to 7+1⁄2 games over both Texas and Seattle.[8][9] On September 21, the Angels lost their seventh-straight and the Mariners pulled even at 72–63 (.533), with Texas four games behind.[10][11] Five days later, Seattle had won its seventh straight and built a three-game lead with five to go.[12][13] They were then shut out by the Angels.[14][15] The Mariners won the first two games at Texas to clinch at least a tie with two remaining,[16] but lost the last two while the Angels swept the Oakland Athletics to finish on a five-game winning streak.[3][17]
At the time, the Angels' lead relinquishment was the third-largest in major league history, behind the 1978 Boston Red Sox and 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers.[10]
After winning the tie-breaker, the Mariners met the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series. After two losses at Yankee Stadium, the second in 15 innings, Seattle swept the next three games at home, capped by an 11th-inning double by Edgar Martínez in Game 5. The Mariners hosted and won the opener of the AL Championship Series, but lost to the Cleveland Indians 4 games to 2. The Angels did not return to the postseason until 2002.
TEXstats
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).SEAstats
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).