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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Wild card or division title, it didn't
seem to matter a bit to the Seattle Mariners amid their
champagne-spraying frenzy in the club house.
|  | | Seattle's Mike Cameron, right, celebrates with Mark McLemore after they scored on Raul Ibanez's double on Sunday. |
The Mariners clinched the AL wild card and eliminated Cleveland
from the playoffs Sunday, getting home runs from Alex Rodriguez and David Bell to beat Anaheim 5-2.
"It's been a long time, and all the emotion broke loose," said
Seattle manager Lou Piniella, whose Mariners last were in the
playoffs in 1997.
"To go down to the last day, the last pitch of the last game,
makes it especially rewarding," added Piniella, who at times
looked as if he were standing under a waterfall as players
gleefully dumped champagne, beer, and the contents of several ice
chests on him.
"It's awesome," Seattle's Jay Buhner said. "We definitely
made it interesting. But at the same time, any time you can get to
the postseason, that's what it's all about."
Rodriguez, expected to become baseball's most expensive free
agent after the season, also was relieved the Mariners were headed
to the playoffs.
"It's been a stressful situation the last 10 days because we've
been in a position where we had to do a little scoreboard watching,
and in the position where we had to win," the Seattle shortstop
said.
"I take my hat off to Cleveland and Oakland. The A's deserve to
have won the division, and Cleveland really made it hard for us.
We're very blessed to be in this position."
Victories by the Mariners and Athletics, who beat Texas 3-0,
avoided any ties and several complex scenarios that could have
involved one-game playoffs by any of the three contending teams.
Also, the Athletics did not have to play a makeup game Monday at
Tampa Bay because they already held the tiebreaker over the
Mariners, going 9-4 against them.
The Mariners, who hadn't been out of first place in the AL West
since June 28 until they fell one-half game back of Oakland last
Friday, open the best-of-5 first round at the Chicago White Sox on
Tuesday.
The Mariners saw on the Anaheim scoreboard before their game
started that Cleveland had won, then late in the game against the
Angels that Oakland also had won.
"Before the first pitch, we knew Cleveland had won, so that was
kind of a stressful situation for us going against a great Anaheim
team," said Rodriguez, whose solo homer in the fourth was his 41st
of the year.
Bell hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh and the
Mariners got strong pitching from starter Aaron Sele, reliever
Arthur Rhodes (5-8) and Kazuhiro Sasaki.
Sasaki got his 37th save, breaking the major league record for a
rookie set by Todd Worrell with St. Louis in 1986.
Seattle's Raul Ibanez, who entered the game for defensive
purposes with two out in the sixth inning, chipped in with a
two-run double during a three-run seventh inning as the Mariners
snapped a 2-2 tie.
Bell led off with his 11th homer, hitting reliever Shigetoshi
Hasegawa's first pitch over the fence in left.
Hasegawa (10-6) then gave up consecutive singles to Mark
McLemore and Mike Cameron with one out before Ibanez's double.
The Angels finished 82-80 under rookie manager Mike Scioscia, a
12-game improvement over 1999.
Anaheim's Mo Vaughn could hear the celebration in the visitors'
clubhouse.
"We have to look at them with envy. That's where we want to be
this time next year," he said. "To lose this game is
demoralizing, but we've played well all year."
Rodriguez led off the fourth with his 41st homer, driving Mark
Petkovsek's breaking ball over the wall in left, a 422-foot shot
that pulled the Mariners within 2-1.
Petkovsek, a reliever making only his second AL start, filled in
for Scott Schoeneweis, who was a late scratch because of stiffness
in his lower back.
Mike Cameron tied it at 2 with an RBI double in the Seattle
sixth.
Sele got off to a shaky start, giving up in the first inning but
settled down afterward.
Rhodes pitched out of a bases-loaded jam after taking over for
Sele with two out and two on in the sixth. A fielding error by
Rodriguez on Adam Kennedy's grounder left the bases loaded, but
Rhodes struck out Benji Gil to end that threat.
Game
notes
Before the Mariners took the field Sunday, the television
in Piniella's office was tuned into the Cleveland-Toronto game. But
the TV in the players' section of the clubhouse had the New York
Giants-Tennessee NFL game on. ... Seattle's Edgar Martinez finished
with an AL-leading 145 RBI, just two shy of major league leader
Todd Helton of Colorado. The only other player in the Mariners'
24-year history to lead the AL in RBI was Ken Griffey Jr., with
147 in 1997. ... Despite the numerous individual and teams records
the Angels have set offensively this season, their final attendance
total was only 2,066,977 -- their lowest figure in three seasons
since the ballpark was reduced from 65,158 capacity to 45,050. ...
Then Angels' Darin Erstad got one hit to total 240 for the year,
the most in the majors since Wade Boggs also hit 240 in 1985.
George Sisler tops the all-time list with 257 in 1920.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 11
Toronto 4
Detroit 12
Minnesota 11
Tampa Bay 3
Boston 2
Baltimore 7
NY Yankees 3
Kansas City 6
Chi. White Sox 2
Seattle 5
Anaheim 2
Oakland 3
Texas 0
Colorado 10
Atlanta 5
NY Mets 3
Montreal 2
St. Louis 6
Cincinnati 2
Florida 7
Philadelphia 5
Chicago Cubs 10
Pittsburgh 9
San Diego 4
Los Angeles 0
San Francisco 11
Arizona 4
Houston 6
Milwaukee 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Manager Lou Piniella was proud of his team's effort all season.
wav: 98 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Alex Rodriguez felt these final games had a certain playoff atmosphere.
wav: 111 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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