ALCS - Seattle Mariners (94-68) vs New York Yankees (103-59)
VS 
Season Series: 7-4 New York
Cone handcuffs Mariners; Yankees seize 1-0 advantage in ALCS
Much like he did way back on Opening Day, David Cone baffled the Mariners all night long, giving up only two hits in the Yankees 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Cone was very effective all night long, his only blemish being a solo homer by Dan Wilson in the fifth inning. Cone gave up one run on two hits, walking two and striking out six over seven innings of work. Cone only needed 85 pitches to get through those seven innings.
The closest the Mariners came to even putting Cone under threat was in the seventh inning when Paul Sorrento got the second hit of the night for the Mariners. But, Joey Cora grounded into an inning-ending double play. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of perfect relief to nail down his first save of the postseason.
Randy Johnson gave up three runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out seven over 7 and 1/3 innings of work in a losing effort.
Wilson blasts Yankees, Mariners take Game 2 11-4
The Mariners chased Yankees' starter Andy Pettite out of the game in the fourth inning as the Mariners hammer the Yankees 11-4 in front of a stunned crowd at Yankees Stadium.
Pettite's postseason struggles continued, as he gave up seven runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out three over 3 and 1/3 innings of work. Every Mariner, except Ken Griffey, Jr. who went 0 for 5, collected at least one hit.
Joey Cora and Dan Wilson were the main drivers of the Mariners' offense. Cora collected two hits on the day, scoring a run and collecting three RBIs. Wilson collected three hits and four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
Jeff Fassero picked up his first victory in the postseason, giving up four runs on ten hits, walking three, and striking out six in 6 and 2/3 innings of work.
Road win lifts Yankees to 2-1 lead in ALCS
The Yankees jumped all over Jamie Moyer in the first inning, which is all they would need as David Wells kept the Mariners off balance en route to a 5-2 victory over the Mariners in Game 3.
Moyer had a rough first inning, thanks to an error, two hits, and a walk. Unfortunately for Moyer, all of those base runners ended up scoring, the exclamation point being Paul O'Neill's two-run blast to make it 4-0.
Moyer would pick up the loss, giving up five runs (two earned) on three hits, walking three, and striking out six over seven innings of work for his first loss of the postseason.
Wells was solid, giving up two runs on eights hits, walking two, and striking out five over seven innings of work to pick up his first win in the postseason. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of one-hit relief to grab his second save of the postseason.
Game four would see both have to go to their bullpens as neither starter made it out of the fourth inning. Yankees starter Eric Milton would give up six runs on nine hits, striking out one in 3 and 2/3 innings of work. Mariners starter Omar Olivares would give up six runs (three earned) on eight hits, walking two and striking out two over 3 and 2/3 innings of work. Neither starter would factor into the decision.
Both bullpens were able to stop the bleeding. Heathcliff Slocumb, who blew two saves in the Twins series, was able to drop his ERA from 18.00 down to 10.50 after working three innings of relief, but he still gave up the go-ahead run in the tenth inning. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of dominating relief in the eighth and ninth innings, striking out four of the six hitters he faced.
With the Yankees grabbing the lead in the tenth, they turned to Ramiro Mendoza to nail down the save, but he was unable to pitch around a Derek Jeter error and the Mariners were able to tie the game back up. In the 12th inning, the Yankees lit up Mike Timlin, who had come in during the 11th inning and had pitched five scoreless innings of relief this postseason.
The Yankees put up a three-spot in the inning, and Mendoza came back out for the 12th inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to put the Mariners away.
Martinez, Griffey stave off elimination in 7-5 victory
Edgar Martinez slugged two homers and drove in four runs while Ken Griffey, Jr. hit the go-ahead single in the 7th inning that gave the Mariners a 7-5 victory, forcing a trip back to Yankee Stadium for Game 6.
In a rematch of Game 1, neither David Cone nor Randy Johnson was at their best today. Cone gave up seven runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out eight in 6 and 2/3 innings pitched in a losing effort. Johnson gave up four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out six in 6 and 1/3 innings pitched in a no-decision.
Considering the gravity of the situation, Lou Pinella brought in his slated Game 6 starter Jeff Fassero to relieve the Big Unit in the seventh inning. Fassero allowed his two inherited runs to score to tie the game up and wasn't very effective in relief. However, he didn't allow the Yankees to score any more runs and got credited with the win out of the bullpen.
The Mariners did not go to Heathcliff Slocumb for the save, whether that was because of rest or ineffectiveness, Pinella did not go into detail. Youngster Brian Sweeney came in and immediately served up a lead-off homer to Derek Jeter to cut the lead to two. The kid though followed that up by striking out Bernie Williams, getting Tino Martinez to pop out in the infield, and then struck out Mike Stanley to put an exclamation point on the Game 5 victory.
A wild crazy Game 6
After the decision to use Jeff Fassero in relief in Game 5, manager Lou Pinella had a dilemma. Either pitch Jamie Moyer on short rest after his Game 3 loss or go to rookie Joe Mays to make a start in a potential clinch game for the Yankees at a sold out Yankee Stadium.
Pinella went to the kid. The Yankees countered with Andy Pettite, hoping to rebound from his last start. Neither pitcher made it out of the fifth inning, nor factored into the decision.
Mays gave up six runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out three in 4 and 1/3 innings pitched. Pettite gave up six runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out three in 4 and 1/3 innings pitched.
Heading into the eighth inning, the Yankees were clinging to an 8-7 lead and brought in the Sandman to nail it down. Mariano Rivera had been the workhorse of the Yankees bullpen all through the playoffs. The top of the Mariners order finally got to him, to the tune of four straight hits. Alex Rodriguez singled, Joey Cora doubled, Edgar Martinez knocked both of them in, and then Ken Griffey, Jr. cleared the bases with one of his patented line-drive homers to give the Mariners an 11-8 lead.
Unfortunately for the Mariners, they turned to Heathcliff Slocumb. And all fans could ask, was what happened to Slocumb. After the Mariners acquired him at the deadline from Boston, Slocumb was a solid piece for the Mariners bullpen. The postseason has been a complete nightmare, and Game 6 was no different.
Slocumb was unable to record an out, served up two homers, and the Yankees forced the game into extra innings. With two outs in the tenth inning and Chad Curtis sitting at second base, Bernie Williams jumped on the first pitch and flared one out to right field just beyond Cora's glove. Curtis beat Jay Buhner's throw to home, and the Yankees in walk-off fashion will advance to the World Series.
Series MVP
1B Tino Martinez
.550 AVG (11/20) - 2 HR - 7 RBI - .655 OBP - .900 SLG
VS Season Series: 7-4 New York
| Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees | ||||||||||||
| Oct 9, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Seattle ((0-1)) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| New York ((1-0)) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| W: David Cone (2-0) L: Randy Johnson (0-1) S: Mariano Rivera (1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | SEA | NYY | ||
| NYY | 1 | Martinez singled to left center. Jeter scored. | 0 | 1 |
| NYY | 2 | Curtis singled to left center. Posada scored. | 0 | 2 |
| NYY | 4 | Sanchez doubled to deep center. Boggs scored. | 0 | 3 |
| SEA | 5 | Wilson homered to left (383 feet). | 1 | 3 |
Cone handcuffs Mariners; Yankees seize 1-0 advantage in ALCS
Much like he did way back on Opening Day, David Cone baffled the Mariners all night long, giving up only two hits in the Yankees 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Cone was very effective all night long, his only blemish being a solo homer by Dan Wilson in the fifth inning. Cone gave up one run on two hits, walking two and striking out six over seven innings of work. Cone only needed 85 pitches to get through those seven innings.
The closest the Mariners came to even putting Cone under threat was in the seventh inning when Paul Sorrento got the second hit of the night for the Mariners. But, Joey Cora grounded into an inning-ending double play. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of perfect relief to nail down his first save of the postseason.
Randy Johnson gave up three runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out seven over 7 and 1/3 innings of work in a losing effort.
| Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees | ||||||||||||
| Oct 10, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Seattle (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 0 |
| New York (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Jeff Fassero (1-0) L: Andy Pettite (0-2) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | SEA | NYY | ||
| SEA | 3 | Cora singled to left center. Blowers scored. Rodriguez scored. | 2 | 0 |
| SEA | 3 | Martinez singled to center. Advanced to second on error. Cora scored. | 3 | 0 |
| SEA | 3 | Buhner singled to right center. Martinez scored. | 4 | 0 |
| SEA | 4 | Blowers singled to right. Kelly scored. | 5 | 0 |
| SEA | 4 | Rodriguez doubled to right center. Blowers scored. | 6 | 0 |
| SEA | 4 | Cora ground out to third. Rodriguez scored. | 7 | 0 |
| NYY | 4 | Martinez doubled to left center. Williams scored. | 7 | 1 |
| NYY | 4 | Posada singled to right center. Martinez scored. | 7 | 2 |
| SEA | 5 | Wilson singled to left. Buhner scored. | 8 | 2 |
| NYY | 5 | Williams singled to left center. Curtis scored. | 8 | 3 |
| NYY | 5 | Martinez flied out to left. Jeter scored. | 8 | 4 |
| SEA | 7 | Wilson homered to left. Buhner scored. | 10 | 4 |
| SEA | 9 | Wilson singled to center. Sorrento scored. | 11 | 4 |
Wilson blasts Yankees, Mariners take Game 2 11-4
The Mariners chased Yankees' starter Andy Pettite out of the game in the fourth inning as the Mariners hammer the Yankees 11-4 in front of a stunned crowd at Yankees Stadium.
Pettite's postseason struggles continued, as he gave up seven runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out three over 3 and 1/3 innings of work. Every Mariner, except Ken Griffey, Jr. who went 0 for 5, collected at least one hit.
Joey Cora and Dan Wilson were the main drivers of the Mariners' offense. Cora collected two hits on the day, scoring a run and collecting three RBIs. Wilson collected three hits and four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
Jeff Fassero picked up his first victory in the postseason, giving up four runs on ten hits, walking three, and striking out six in 6 and 2/3 innings of work.
| New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners | ||||||||||||
| Oct 12, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (2-1) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Seattle (1-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
| W: David Wells (1-0) L: Jamie Moyer (1-1) S: Mariano Rivera (2) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | NYY | SEA | ||
| NYY | 1 | Moyer throws wild pitch. Curtis scored. | 1 | 0 |
| NYY | 1 | Williams flied out to center. Jeter scored. | 2 | 0 |
| NYY | 1 | O'Neill homered to right center (400 feet). Martinez scored. | 4 | 0 |
| SEA | 4 | Sorrento singled to left center. Buhner scored. | 4 | 1 |
| SEA | 7 | Wells throws wild pitch. Rodriguez scored. | 4 | 2 |
| NYY | 8 | Curtis homered to left (374 feet). | 5 | 2 |
Road win lifts Yankees to 2-1 lead in ALCS
The Yankees jumped all over Jamie Moyer in the first inning, which is all they would need as David Wells kept the Mariners off balance en route to a 5-2 victory over the Mariners in Game 3.
Moyer had a rough first inning, thanks to an error, two hits, and a walk. Unfortunately for Moyer, all of those base runners ended up scoring, the exclamation point being Paul O'Neill's two-run blast to make it 4-0.
Moyer would pick up the loss, giving up five runs (two earned) on three hits, walking three, and striking out six over seven innings of work for his first loss of the postseason.
Wells was solid, giving up two runs on eights hits, walking two, and striking out five over seven innings of work to pick up his first win in the postseason. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of one-hit relief to grab his second save of the postseason.
| New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners | Final/12 innings | |||||||||||||
| Oct 13, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Extras | R | H | E |
| New York (3-1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 0 3 | 11 | 20 | 1 |
| Seattle (1-3) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 0 0 | 8 | 15 | 2 |
| W: Ramiro Mendoza (1-0) L: Mike Timlin (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | NYY | SEA | ||
| SEA | 1 | Martinez ground out to third. Rodriguez scored. | 0 | 1 |
| SEA | 2 | Sorrento scored on passed ball. | 0 | 2 |
| SEA | 2 | Wilson doubled to deep center. Kelly scored. | 0 | 3 |
| SEA | 2 | Rodriguez singled to right center. Wilson scored. | 0 | 4 |
| SEA | 2 | Martinez doubled down right field line. Rodriguez scored. | 0 | 5 |
| NYY | 3 | Williams homered to right (367 feet). Sanchez scored. | 2 | 5 |
| NYY | 4 | Curtis singled to right center. Posada scored. | 3 | 5 |
| NYY | 4 | Jeter walked. Boggs scored. | 4 | 5 |
| NYY | 4 | Williams flied out to left. Sanchez scored. | 5 | 5 |
| NYY | 4 | Martinez singled to left center. Curtis scored. | 6 | 5 |
| SEA | 4 | Cora ground out to short. Blowers scored. | 6 | 6 |
| SEA | 6 | Rodriguez singled to second. Wilson scored. | 6 | 7 |
| NYY | 7 | Martinez homered to right (364 feet). | 7 | 7 |
| NYY | 10 | Jeter singled to right center. Boggs scored. | 8 | 7 |
| SEA | 10 | Kelly doubled down left field line. Buhner scored. | 8 | 8 |
| NYY | 12 | Stanley singled to right center. Jeter scored. | 9 | 8 |
| NYY | 12 | Posada doubled down left field line. Martinez scored. Stanley scored. | 11 | 8 |
Game four would see both have to go to their bullpens as neither starter made it out of the fourth inning. Yankees starter Eric Milton would give up six runs on nine hits, striking out one in 3 and 2/3 innings of work. Mariners starter Omar Olivares would give up six runs (three earned) on eight hits, walking two and striking out two over 3 and 2/3 innings of work. Neither starter would factor into the decision.
Both bullpens were able to stop the bleeding. Heathcliff Slocumb, who blew two saves in the Twins series, was able to drop his ERA from 18.00 down to 10.50 after working three innings of relief, but he still gave up the go-ahead run in the tenth inning. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of dominating relief in the eighth and ninth innings, striking out four of the six hitters he faced.
With the Yankees grabbing the lead in the tenth, they turned to Ramiro Mendoza to nail down the save, but he was unable to pitch around a Derek Jeter error and the Mariners were able to tie the game back up. In the 12th inning, the Yankees lit up Mike Timlin, who had come in during the 11th inning and had pitched five scoreless innings of relief this postseason.
The Yankees put up a three-spot in the inning, and Mendoza came back out for the 12th inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to put the Mariners away.
| New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners | ||||||||||||
| Oct 14, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (3-2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| Seattle (2-3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | X | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Jeff Fassero (2-0) L: David Cone (2-1) S: Brian Sweeney (1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | NYY | SEA | ||
| SEA | 1 | Martinez homered to left (387 feet). Cora scored. | 0 | 2 |
| NYY | 2 | Boggs singled to second. Stanley scored. | 1 | 2 |
| NYY | 2 | Sanchez ground out to second. O'Neill scored. | 2 | 2 |
| SEA | 6 | Martinez homered to center (428 feet). Cora scored. | 2 | 4 |
| NYY | 7 | Stanley walked. Curtis scored. | 3 | 4 |
| NYY | 7 | Fielder walked. Jeter scored. | 4 | 4 |
| SEA | 7 | Griffey singled to right. Blowers scored. Rodriguez scored. | 4 | 6 |
| SEA | 7 | Sorrento walked. Martinez scored. | 4 | 7 |
| NYY | 9 | Jeter homered to left (363 feet). | 5 | 7 |
Martinez, Griffey stave off elimination in 7-5 victory
Edgar Martinez slugged two homers and drove in four runs while Ken Griffey, Jr. hit the go-ahead single in the 7th inning that gave the Mariners a 7-5 victory, forcing a trip back to Yankee Stadium for Game 6.
In a rematch of Game 1, neither David Cone nor Randy Johnson was at their best today. Cone gave up seven runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out eight in 6 and 2/3 innings pitched in a losing effort. Johnson gave up four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out six in 6 and 1/3 innings pitched in a no-decision.
Considering the gravity of the situation, Lou Pinella brought in his slated Game 6 starter Jeff Fassero to relieve the Big Unit in the seventh inning. Fassero allowed his two inherited runs to score to tie the game up and wasn't very effective in relief. However, he didn't allow the Yankees to score any more runs and got credited with the win out of the bullpen.
The Mariners did not go to Heathcliff Slocumb for the save, whether that was because of rest or ineffectiveness, Pinella did not go into detail. Youngster Brian Sweeney came in and immediately served up a lead-off homer to Derek Jeter to cut the lead to two. The kid though followed that up by striking out Bernie Williams, getting Tino Martinez to pop out in the infield, and then struck out Mike Stanley to put an exclamation point on the Game 5 victory.
| Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees | Final/10 Innings | |||||||||||||
| Oct 16, 1997 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Extras | R | H | E |
| Seattle (2-4) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 1 |
| New York (4-2) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 3 |
| W: Ramiro Mendoza (2-0) L: Bobby Ayala (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | SEA | NYY | ||
| SEA | 1 | Griffey fielder's choice at second. Rodriguez scored. | 1 | 0 |
| SEA | 1 | Buhner homered to right (375 feet). Cora scored. Griffey scored. | 4 | 0 |
| SEA | 2 | Rodriguez homered to left (388 feet). | 5 | 0 |
| NYY | 3 | Jeter singled to right. Posada scored. Boggs scored. | 5 | 2 |
| NYY | 4 | Boggs flied out to center. Martinez scored. | 5 | 3 |
| SEA | 5 | Buhner doubled to deep center. Martinez scored. | 6 | 3 |
| NYY | 5 | Martinez singled to left. Jeter scored. | 6 | 4 |
| NYY | 5 | O'Neill flied out to left. Williams scored. | 6 | 5 |
| NYY | 5 | Posada doubled down left field line. Martinez scored. Stanley scored. | 6 | 7 |
| NYY | 5 | Boggs doubled to deep center. Posada scored. | 6 | 8 |
| SEA | 7 | Sorrento scored on wild pitch. | 7 | 8 |
| SEA | 8 | Martinez singled to left. Rodriguez scored. Cora scored. | 9 | 8 |
| SEA | 8 | Griffey homered to right (362 feet). Martinez scored. | 11 | 8 |
| NYY | 8 | Williams homered to right (386 feet). Jeter scored. | 11 | 10 |
| NYY | 8 | Martinez homered to right (397 feet). | 11 | 11 |
| NYY | 10 | Williams singled to right. Curtis scored. | 11 | 12 |
A wild crazy Game 6
After the decision to use Jeff Fassero in relief in Game 5, manager Lou Pinella had a dilemma. Either pitch Jamie Moyer on short rest after his Game 3 loss or go to rookie Joe Mays to make a start in a potential clinch game for the Yankees at a sold out Yankee Stadium.
Pinella went to the kid. The Yankees countered with Andy Pettite, hoping to rebound from his last start. Neither pitcher made it out of the fifth inning, nor factored into the decision.
Mays gave up six runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out three in 4 and 1/3 innings pitched. Pettite gave up six runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out three in 4 and 1/3 innings pitched.
Heading into the eighth inning, the Yankees were clinging to an 8-7 lead and brought in the Sandman to nail it down. Mariano Rivera had been the workhorse of the Yankees bullpen all through the playoffs. The top of the Mariners order finally got to him, to the tune of four straight hits. Alex Rodriguez singled, Joey Cora doubled, Edgar Martinez knocked both of them in, and then Ken Griffey, Jr. cleared the bases with one of his patented line-drive homers to give the Mariners an 11-8 lead.
Unfortunately for the Mariners, they turned to Heathcliff Slocumb. And all fans could ask, was what happened to Slocumb. After the Mariners acquired him at the deadline from Boston, Slocumb was a solid piece for the Mariners bullpen. The postseason has been a complete nightmare, and Game 6 was no different.
Slocumb was unable to record an out, served up two homers, and the Yankees forced the game into extra innings. With two outs in the tenth inning and Chad Curtis sitting at second base, Bernie Williams jumped on the first pitch and flared one out to right field just beyond Cora's glove. Curtis beat Jay Buhner's throw to home, and the Yankees in walk-off fashion will advance to the World Series.
Series MVP
1B Tino Martinez
.550 AVG (11/20) - 2 HR - 7 RBI - .655 OBP - .900 SLG
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