October 14 in Cleveland Indians history: Ken Hill dominates the Mariners

October 14

1995 ALCS Game 4, Jacobs Field: Indians 7, Mariners 0

With the knowledge the series was headed back to Seattle, Mike Hargrove sent out mid-season acquisition Ken Hill to even up the series against Andy Benes. The Mariners went in order in the top of the first, which allowed the Tribe to draw first blood. Kenny Lofton singled to left and stole second, heading to third on Dan Wilson's throwing error. Omar Vizquel walked and Carlos Baerga hit a run scoring ground ball to second, Omar taking second. Eddie Murray hit one to deep left-center and just like that the score was 3-0 Indians.

Hill allowed a leadoff single to Edgar Martinez and a one out walk to Jay Buhner, but struck out Mike Blowers and got Luis Sojo to pop up. In the bottom of the second, Tony Pena led off with a single and aggressively took third on a Wayne Kirby ground out to third, deep in the shortstop hole. Lofton's liner to right was deep enough and the lead inched up to 4-0.

The Mariners threatened in the third. Vince Coleman took second on a Joey Cora grounder after a one out walk. Ken Griffey Jr. also worked Hill for a walk and they both moved up on a double steal. But Edgar grounded to second to end the inning. Baerga hit an infield single to third and scored on Jim Thome's smash to deep left down the line. Another single by Manny Ramirez had Lou Pinella go to the pen for Bob Wells who didn't allow any more runners in the third.

Hill tempted fate again in the fourth with a Tino Martinez single and Buhner double. But both were stranded as Hill struck out Blowers and Sojo and getting Dan Wilson to ground to short. The Indians went in order in the bottom of the fourth, as did the Mariners in the top of the fifth. The Tribe left the bases loaded in the fifth after a Baerga single, Murray walk and two out walk by Paul Sorrento.

Hill allowed two more hits, one to Buhner in the sixth and one to Sojo in the seventh. The Indians plated their final run in the sixth. Wayne Kirby singled to left and stole second after Bobby Ayala relieved Wells. He scored easily on Omar's double. Jim Poole pitched a perfect eighth, getting both Martinez's to strike out. Chad Ogea started the ninth by giving up a single to Buhner but struck out Blowers. With Rich Amaral pinch hitting, Buhner took second on a wild pitch. After Amaral struck out, Hargrove brought in Alan Embree to face pinch hitter Doug Strange. But Pinella countered with phenom Alex Rodriguez, who struck out to end game four. The Tribe had evened the series with a 7-0 victory.

2001 ALDS Game 4, Jacobs Field: Mariners 6, Indians 2

With the Mariners' proverbial backs against the wall, they turned to ace Freddy Garcia again. Bartolo Colon also pitched in a rematch of game one. And like game one, there was a lack of scoring. Through six innings, the lone run came from a Juan Gonzalez blast leading off the second. Other than Gonzalez, Garcia allowed a single to Marty Cordova in the third, a walk to Jim Thome in the fifth, and a single to Omar Vizquel in the sixth.

Colon was not quite as efficient as Garcia, but had put up the zeroes. Edgar Martinez double in the first, Stan Javier walked in the second, John Olerud singled in the fourth, and Ichiro singled and Martinez walked in the sixth. Colon hadn't even reached 80 pitches, so Charlie Manuel didn't think twice about sending him back out for the seventh, needing just nine outs to clinch the series. Olreud led off with a walk and went to second on Javier's single. Colon picked off Olerud, but his throw got away and Olerud went to third. Mike Cameron walked to load the bases. Al Martin pinch hit and forced Olerud at home. David Bell tied it up with a fly ball to left and Ichiro and Mark McLemore both had RBI singles.

Given a 3-1 lead, Garcia also came back out for the seventh. Gonzalez doubled and Thome moved him over on a grounder. Jeff Nelson struck out Burks, but Burks was safe on a passed ball by Tom Lampkin. Fryman scored the runner with a force of Burks, and the lead was just one, 3-2. In the eighth, Danys Baez gave it right back on an Olerud single and Cameron double. The Mariners got two more insurance runs in the ninth on a homer by Edgar Martinez off Paul Shuey. And just like that, series tied and headed back to Seattle for an all or nothing game five.