Seattle advances to play Indians

The Associated Press

SEATTLE Ÿ Symbolically, the biggest victory in the Seattle Mariners' 19-year history ended with Ken Griffey Jr. sliding safely home.

Griffey started off one comeback, then capped another last night by scoring on Edgar Martinez's two-run double, rallying the Mariners past the New York Yankees 6-5 in 11 innings in the decisive Game 5 of their AL playoff.

''This was a phenomenal series, just great baseball every day,'' Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. ''Every game was up and down. It's just a shame that there had to be a losing team.''

The victory extended the Mariners' first-ever trip to the postseason. Much of their success was because of Griffey, the biggest star in team history.

When Griffey popped up with the winning run, he was mobbed by his teammates. The Kingdome crowd of 57,411 loudly cheered its approval.

''I was thinking score all the way,'' Griffey said. ''If I get thrown out at the plate, we still have a man in scoring position.''

''When I saw him round second, I knew he had a chance,'' Martinez said. ''I've never seen him run so fast.''

For the fourth time in seven days, the Seattle Mariners refused to let their season end. Once again, Randy Johnson was a key contributor; the Mariners ace won in a relief.

Seattle, which at one point was down 0-2 to the Yankees, begins the best-of-7 AL championship series against Cleveland tomorrow night at the Kingdome.

Read Next Article