1995 American League West Tie-breaker Game

The 1995 American League West tie-breaker game was a one-game playoff for Major League Baseball's AL West division championship, played on October 2, 1995 between the California Angels and Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome in Seattle. The game was necessitated due to both teams finishing the strike-shortened 144 game season with identical records of 78–66. Seattle won the game by a score of 9–1, securing its first playoff berth in franchise history.

The game matched two highly unlikely teams: The Angels had not been to the postseason since 1986, and had not finished above third place in the American League West since. On the other hand, the Mariners had never been to the postseason, and before 1995 only had two seasons with a winning percentage above .500. With less than two months left in the 1995 regular season, the Angels held a comfortable lead in the AL West standings, 11 games ahead of the second-place Texas Rangers and 13 games ahead of the third-place Mariners. However, the Mariners mounted a late-season comeback, coupled with a late-season collapse by the Angels, to force the tie-breaker.

After winning the tie-breaker, the Mariners went on to play the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. They won the series in 5 games on an 11th-inning double by Edgar Martínez in Game 5, but lost the American League Championship Series to the Cleveland Indians in 6 games. The Angels, meanwhile, did not earn a trip to the postseason until 2002.

Read more about 1995 American League West Tie-breaker Game:  Line Score and Summary, Impact

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