Relive Leyritz's '95 ALDS G2 walk-off vs. M's

It took more than five hours to decide Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series, which featured the Mariners and Yankees in a delicious battle before a packed house at the original Yankee Stadium. Jim Leyritz sent the customers home happy, blasting a home run through the raindrops to end the epic affair in the 15th inning.

Leyritz’s opposite-field blast off right-hander Tim Belcher set off a raucous celebration at home plate and gave the Yanks what appeared to be a commanding 2-0 ALDS lead, just one snapshot of a memorable set that was eventually won by Seattle in five games.

"In the heat of the moment, everybody thinks it's gone," Leyritz said then. "I knew that I hit it far and I was just hoping it had enough to make it over. It was a great feeling."

In a series that was celebrated for Don Mattingly’s long-awaited postseason debut, Andy Pettitte started for New York. The Mariners struck first against the 23-year-old lefty, with Vince Coleman cracking a third-inning homer. The Yankees answered against Andy Benes in the fifth, as Wade Boggs worked a two-out walk and scored on Bernie Williams’ double to deep left-center field.

Seattle reclaimed the advantage in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Pettitte’s future teammate, Tino Martinez, but the Yankees responded in the home half of the sixth as Ruben Sierra and Mattingly slammed back-to-back homers to chase Benes.

The Mariners charged back in the seventh, as Pettitte surrendered a run-scoring hit to Luis Sojo and saw the go-ahead run score on a Ken Griffey Jr. sacrifice fly. Paul O’Neill evened things again with a seventh-inning homer off Norm Charlton, a tie that held until the 12th inning, when Griffey homered off John Wetteland and Sierra responded with a run-scoring double off Belcher.

"After a while," remarked Mattingly at the time, "you just said, 'Oh, man, what a game.'”

With eventual winning pitcher Mariano Rivera firing 3 2/3 innings of stellar relief, the deadlock continued until the 15th, when Pat Kelly worked a one-out walk and Belcher fell behind Leyritz on a 3-1 count. “The King” was challenged with a fastball, which he powered over the wall in right-center field, sparking a throaty serenade of Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” from the fans who remained in attendance.

"It was a special game," said Buck Showalter, the Yankees’ manager at the time. "You put on a uniform to play in games like this. I can't remember another with so many twists and turns and ebbs and flows."