After Mariano Rivera made history in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners by breaking Whitey Ford’s record for consecutive scoreless postseason innings (and Andy
Pettitte posted a strong start on his own from the outset), the Yankees were two games away from moving on to their fourth World Series in five years, and third in a row.
Fans moved through turnstiles at Safeco Field to watch their Mariners and see them try to even up an already-tight series between two teams with a recent history of meaningful and entertaining rivalry games. However, after one of the best pitching performances of the entire postseason, the Seattle faithful would leave the ballpark disappointed. “The Rocket” took the mound at Safeco and made a statement that would prove foundational for the rest of the Yankees’ run.
October 14: Yankees 5, Mariners 0 (box score)
Playoffs: 3-1 lead in the ALCS
The Mariners sent Paul Abbott to the mound at home to face the Yankees’ lineup. The right-hander finished with a 4.22 ERA through the regular season and pitched Game 2 of Seattle’s ALDS sweep of the White Sox, earning the win while allowing only one earned run. He returned on nine days rest to try and even the series for the M’s, but faced a formidable foe in Roger Clemens.
The two pitchers would battle back and forth, not letting either offense get the upper hand before the fifth inning. In the top half, the Yankees struck first. Abbott allowed a two-out single to right field to Scott Brosius and a walk to Chuck Knoblauch before Derek Jeter smoked a three-run home run to put the Yankees up 3-0.
Abbott would not return to the mound following the fifth, but Clemens remained on a tear. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he pitched his fourth consecutive perfect frame. The Yankees threatened again in the sixth with Bernie Williams working his way into scoring position after a single and a stolen base on reliever Robert Ramsay. But the lefty bore down and got Jorge Posada and Paul O’Neill to both fly out to end the top of the sixth.
The Rocket kept blowing by Mariners hitters in the sixth, and he returned to the mound in the seventh with a no-hitter intact. That went by the wayside thanks to Seattle’s No. 2 hitter, Al Martin, as he lined a double that nicked off Tino Martinez’s outstretched glove at first for the first Mariners hit. Clemens responded by holding firm on his 3-0 lead, recording consecutive K’s before walking John Olerud and then fanning Mike Cameron to strike out the side.
Jeter stepped up to the plate again and walked to lead off the inning against reliever José Mesa, and then David Justice saw a strike before sending a pitch over the fence for the Yankees’ second home run of the day and a 5-0 lead.
That would conclude the Yankees’ scoring on the day, but it wouldn’t matter, as Clemens finished off his dominating performance. Over the final six outs in the game, Clemens struck out four of them, with the final out of the game being a groundout from Rodriguez.
Clemens finished the outing with a complete-game shutout and 15 strikeouts. Unlike in a lot of performances we see today from starting pitchers, Clemens wasn’t pulled after a specific pitch count, and instead threw 138 pitches with 87 of them for strikes. It was one of the best pitching performances that anyone had ever seen in October, and it served as a statement win to give the Yankees a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Their next W would secure a return to the World series.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.
