Seattle Mariners Played Among Most Embarrassing Games in Team History on Aug. 5, 2001
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The 2001 Seattle Mariners were the greatest regular season team in American League history, going a whopping 116-46.
With a great rotation led by Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia, a bullpen led by Kazuhiro Sasaki and Jeff Nelson, and a lineup anchored by Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez, Seattle barreled through the American League West en route to the American League Championship Series.
However, as historically good as the season was for Seattle, it also featured one of the worst games in Mariners history.
It was on this date (Aug. 5) in 2001 that the Mariners blew two separate 12-run leads against the-then Cleveland Indians, losing 15-14 on ESPN's 'Sunday Night Baseball.' Had the Mariners won that game, they could have (in theory) set the all-time major league wins record of 117.
THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN MLB HISTORY 😱
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) August 5, 2025
24 years ago today, Cleveland trailed by 12 runs TWICE ... and still won the game.
The Mariners finished ONE WIN shy of breaking the all-time record (116) 😅#GuardsBall | #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/q2KL2dDFMc
Here's how it happened:
Mariners get up big early
Seattle got up 4-0 in the top of the second on a double by Mike Cameron, a double by Tom Lampkin and a single by Ichiro.
Seattle added eight more runs in the top of the third on a double by Cameron, a single by Carlos Guillen, a sac fly by Ichiro, an error and a single by John Olerud.
Cleveland scores first runs
In the bottom of the fourth, Cleveland picked up two runs to make it 12-2 as Jim Thome connected on a two-run homer.
Seattle scores again
The Mariners made it 14-2 on a single by Ed Sprague and a groundout by Al Martin. The Mariners had replaced some starters at this point, with Sprague replacing Olerud.
Cleveland comes back
Russell Branyan hit a solo home run in the seventh to make it 14-3 before Jolbert Cabrera singled in two runs to make it 14-5.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cleveland picked up four more, with Thome and Marty Cordova homering, and Omar Vizquel bringing in a run on a single.
The Mariners still led 14-9 in the bottom of the ninth. There were two outs in the ninth when Einer Diaz singled in two runs to make it 14-11. The Mariners went to closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who gave up a single and a triple, making it 14-14.
Extra innings
The Mariners went quietly in the 10th and the 11th before Cabrera singled off Jose Paniagua to win the game 15-14.
ONE FOR THE AGES!
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 29, 2020
Jolbert Cabrera walks us off as we overcome a 12-run deficit to beat the Mariners!
WOW!#OurTribe | #TribeReplays pic.twitter.com/XIVqci3wWT
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW
- The loss dropped the Mariners to a still absurd 80-31 on the season.
- The Mariners and Cleveland would meet in the ALDS that season, with the Mariners winning in five games
- The Mariners had 17 hits compared to Cleveland's 23 and the game took four hours and 11 minutes
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