The Yankees and Mariners’ rivalry through the late ‘90s and into the 2000s was as intense as any in baseball. While it was never fully Yankees/Red Sox level, it was a consistent battle between two of the best teams in the American League, with plenty of heated moments over the years — just ask Paul O’Neill.

The two squads began a four-game series following the Yankees’ series win against the Royals, and this would turn out to be an ALCS preview. The Bombers came out hot, winning the first game over the AL West leaders by a score of 13-6, but the second game of the series was a much closer affair and a familiar old foe ended up striking the decisive blow.

August 5: Yankees 5, Mariners 6 (box score)

Record: 59-46, .561 (3.5 GA in the AL East)

The struggling David Cone took the mound for New York and worked through the first inning without any issues on the scoreboard, despite a double from future Yankee Alex Rodriguez. The Bombers didn’t miss in their shot against Mariners starter Aaron Sele, even though he was an All-Star in 2000. Sele got the first two outs, but O’Neill singled and Bernie Williams followed with a double. Key Trade Deadline acquisition David Justice cashed in the scoring opportunity, taking an 0-1 pitch to right and making it 2-0, Yankees.

Cone wriggled out of trouble caused by back-to-back hits to begin the second, thanks to a ground-ball double play turned on Carlos Guillén. But he found no such luck in a similar jam in the third. Mark McLemore earned a leadoff walk and stole second base with Rickey Henderson up to hit. The Hall of Famer flew out, but Al Martin then smacked a single to right, scoring McLemore to cut the Yankees’ deficit in half. And, as it had for Cone all season, it was usually a sequence of runs that came about.

Once again, A-Rod punished a pitch from Cone, and this one wouldn’t stay in the yard. His opposite-field shot sailed into the short porch for his second hit of the game, putting the Mariners ahead, 3-2.

The offenses for both clubs were scoreless after that two-run jack by Rodriguez, up until the bottom of the seventh. Cone ended up recording a decent outing (by his 2000 standards anyway), holding Seattle to the three runs despite a dozen baserunners. He fanned six, including Mike Cameron for his 2,500th career strikeout.

At the time, Coney was one of just 22 pitchers in MLB history to record that many K’s.

Cone’s former teammate in Queens, Dwight Gooden, relieved him in the seventh, as he had moved out of the rotation upon Orlando Hernández’s return from injury. Doc did the job in his first inning, retiring Martin, A-Rod, and legendary DH Edgar Martinez in order.

In the bottom half of the inning, catcher Jorge Posada only saw one pitch from Mariners reliever Brent Tomko, his first pitch of the game as well. No. 20 sent it over the wall in right field to tie the game at 3-3.

Gooden and Tomko then tossed scoreless innings to send this one to the ninth in a dead heat. Veteran Stan Javier singled and was bunted over to second by McLemore before moving to third on a hard-hit single from Rickey. In came Mariano Rivera to preserve the tie in a tight situation.

Alas, it wasn’t the usual shutdown inning from the Sandman. Rickey stole second base (continuing to defy Father Time at age-41) before the top of the Mariners’ order came through again. Martin’s groundball single scored Javier for the lead, and A-Rod lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Henderson as well. Finally, Mo’s longtime nemesis Edgar proved why he finished with a lifetime .579 average against the iconic closer (8-for-10 at the time), scoring the third run of the ninth to put the visitors up comfortably.

The Yankees did get a response in the bottom of the ninth, but it was just barely enough to fall short. Following a Tino Martinez single to right, Posada took eventual AL Rookie of the Year Kazuhiro Sasaki yard for his second home run of the day, bringing the game within a run. However, Scott Brosius, Glenallen Hall, and Luis Polonia all went down to end the game.

There was a vague hope for a stay of execution of sorts, as the Yankees had elected to play the game under protest after what they thought was a missed call in the sixth inning. A-Rod had caught a low drive from O’Neill that ricocheted off Sele’s foot to the shortstop position. The umpiring crew reversed their initial call that it hit the ground and O’Neill beat the throw to first, instead saying that Rodriguez indeed caught it for the out. The league ultimately disallowed the protest, so the result stood.