MLB.com

VIDEO LINESCORE		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	Mariners	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	5	16	2
	Yankees	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	7	11	0
		10	11	12	13	14	15
		0	0	1	0	0	0
		0	0	1	0	0	2

Starters: Andy Benes vs. Andy Pettitte WP: Mariano Rivera   LP: Tim Belcher HR: SEA: Coleman, Griffey Jr; NYY: O'Neill, Sierra, Mattingly, Leyritz

After taking a 1-0 series lead with 9-6 victory in the first game, the Yankees looked to go two up by sending the 12-game winning rookie Andy Pettitte out to the mound. The Mariners countered with veteran Andy Benes, an 11-game winner. The two hurlers were tough at the beginning, as each only surrendered one run through the first five frames.

The Mariners struck for another run in the top of the sixth, but then the patented postseason magic that had lain dormant in Yankee Stadium for 14 years began to simmer.

Switch-hitting slugger Ruben Sierra took Benes deep to tie the score. He was followed at the plate by Yankee captain Don Mattingly. "Donnie Baseball," as he was affectionately known, had been one of the few bright spots in the lean years since the Bombers' last playoff appearance. Once considered one of the best players in the game, a back injury had limited Mattingly's power in recent seasons. But the Captain, playing in his first postseason ever, showed a flash of his former self by cracking a follow-up home run to bring the stadium crowd to its feet and give the Yanks a 3-2 lead.

The Mariners quickly bounced back from that emotional moment by scoring two runs in the seventh. But again, their lead didn't last long as right fielder Paul O'Neill launched a home run in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 4-4. A series of relievers took over, and both teams failed to score any more runs by the time nine innings had been played.

In the twelfth inning, Seattle center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. came to bat against Yankee closer John Wetteland. Griffey had struggled through an injury-plagued season in which he only hit 17 home runs, but in the 1995 ALDS he exploded. He had slugged two home runs in the Game 1 loss, and now silenced the Stadium crowd with another blast to put the Mariners up in extra innings. The Yankee faithful had packed the Stadium to see Mattingly lead the troops to victory, but they were also witnessing Griffey blossom into a genuine superstar before their very eyes.

Needing to score to stay alive, the Yankees rallied in the bottom of the inning. Pinch-runner Jorge Posada was on second and Bernie Williams was on first when Sierra strode to the plate to face Tim Belcher. He tattooed a pitch that narrowly missed being the game-winning home run by a couple of feet, but drove in Posada with the tying run. But the relay throw gunned the fleet Williams down at the plate, and the game continued into the 13th.

With electric rookie Mariano Rivera and Belcher trading scoreless innings from that point on, the game entered the 15th frame with a light rain falling, and the score still tied at 5-5. In the bottom of the inning, part-time catcher and first baseman Jim Leyritz came to bat with a runner on first. He ran the count to 3-1, then launched an opposite-field home run that brought the house down. (The blast also proved to be the first in string of clutch postseason home runs for Leyritz in seasons to come.) The Yankee fans sent their team off with huge 2-0 lead in a short five game series, and felt confident they would see their Captain in pinstripes again in the ALCS. Alas, it was not to be.

In the end, this victory proved to be the last hurrah for the '95 Yankees, as the Mariners stormed back to win the three straight games at the Kingdome and take the Series. For Yankee fans, it turned out to be the last time they would see Donnie Baseball put on a uniform and trot out to his familiar first base position. But it was also the beginning of a new era, when players like O'Neill and Rivera and Williams would lead them back to the promised land of World Championships. It was an exciting time in baseball history, one that was perfectly punctuated by a riveting playoff series between these two teams.

Copyright 1995 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball