'01 Mariners soar past '88 A's in Bracket 2
SEATTLE -- While the 2001 Mariners put together one of the best regular seasons in Major League Baseball history, their 116-win campaign ended in a disappointing loss in the ALCS. But things have been different so far in MLB’s Dream Bracket 2: Dream Seasons simulated tournament as Freddy Garcia and Seattle’s pitching staff shut down the 1988 A’s to roll to a 4-1 series victory on Wednesday.
• Box scores and game summaries
The 2001 Mariners have now knocked off the '15 World Series champion Royals and an A’s club that finished as World Series runners-up in 1988. The 64-team field has been whittled to 16 squads, and next up for Seattle is the 2011 Rangers, who lost the World Series in a memorable seven games to the Cardinals. The Rangers advanced in the simulated tournament with a four-game sweep of the '02 Angels.
• Full bracket and info | Complete Dream Bracket 2 rosters
Garcia beat the A’s twice as Seattle held the Bash Brothers -- Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco -- in check and used its own balanced lineup to win the best-of-seven series in a tidy five games.
The simulated competition, featuring many of the greatest teams in baseball history, is being produced by Out of the Park Baseball 21, MLB‘s most realistic strategy game (PC and Mac).
Here’s how the series with the 1988 A’s played out:
Game 1: Mariners 6, A’s 3
Garcia quickly established the tone for the series by throwing six scoreless innings and allowing just three hits as he beat Oakland ace Dave Stewart in the opening game in Seattle. Third baseman Mark McLemore continued his torrid postseason with a grand slam in the sixth to spark a six-run outburst as the Mariners finally got to Stewart and reliever Gene Nelson to break up a scoreless tie. McLemore also had a first-inning double in his 2-for-4 day.
Game 2: Mariners 5, A’s 0
Jamie Moyer blanked the A’s, scattering six hits and three strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings with no walks, and Ichiro Suzuki supplied all the offense needed with a leadoff homer in the first off Oakland’s Bob Welch. Ichiro also tripled in his 2-for-4 day, Edgar Martinez hit a solo homer in the eighth and shortstop Carlos Guillen went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Game 3: A’s 5, Mariners 4
A three-run homer by Dave Henderson off Seattle reliever Jeff Nelson in the seventh inning helped the A's get back into the series as play shifted to the Oakland Coliseum. Bret Boone’s own three-run home run had given the Mariners a 3-2 lead in the sixth, but Hendu answered with a 417-foot shot after Nelson replaced starter Aaron Sele. John Olerud narrowed the final gap with a solo shot in the ninth off Dennis Eckersley and had two of Seattle’s four hits on the day.
Game 4: Mariners 7, A’s 2
Ichiro laced a pair of doubles and scored twice and Martinez went 1-for-2 with three walks and a two-run double in the ninth as Seattle took control of the series. Olerud went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and Guillen also had a pair of base knocks. Rookie starter Joel Pineiro scattered six hits over 4 1/3 innings, with Paul Abbott credited with the victory in long relief as he pitched 2 2/3 innings with one run allowed.
Game 5: Mariners 4, A’s 3
Seattle’s balanced attack loomed large in the clinching game as all nine starters had at least one hit and five relievers held the lead for Garcia after the Mariners’ ace allowed two runs over five-plus frames. Dan Wilson hit an RBI double in the sixth and then scored on a single by Ichiro to stake Seattle to a 4-1 lead. Norm Charlton, Jeff Nelson, Ryan Franklin, Jose Paniagua and Kazuhiro Sasaki then backed up Garcia in succession after a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, and the five relievers shut the door on the A’s comeback bid. Sasaki gave up a leadoff walk and one-out single in the ninth, but he earned the save by striking out Henderson and Canseco.
Series summary
Garcia improved to 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts in Seattle’s first two series as the Mariners pitching continued to shine. Canseco, the 1988 AL MVP after hitting .307 with 42 homers and 124 RBIs, wound up batting .294 (5-for-17) with one homer and one RBI in the five-game series. McGwire also was held in check as he went 4-for-16 with no extra-base hits and one RBI. As a team, the A’s batted just .220 with three homers and 13 runs in the five games.
After hitting just one homer in six games in their opening round win over the 2015 Royals, five different Mariners went deep against the A’s. Ichiro hit .286 (6-for-21) with a homer, triple and two doubles, while Olerud batted .389 (7-for-18) with a homer and double. Guillen batted .438 (7-for-16), while Martinez hit just .188 (3-for-16) but walked eight times and led the club with five RBIs.