SEATTLE, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The Seattle Mariners advanced Monday to the American League Championship Series the way they rolled through the regular season as Jamie Moyer was brilliant over six innings, Kazuhiro Sasaki was dominant in the ninth and Ichiro Suzuki and Mark McLemore keyed the offense in a 3-1 triumph over the Cleveland Indians in Game Five of their Division Series.
Seattle won a major league record-tying 116 games in the regular season but trailed two games to one in the series and were losing in the seventh inning of Game Four on Sunday. But behind Suzuki, the Mariners rallied to win that game, and in Monday's decisive contest, baseball's best team took an early lead and was never headed.
Seattle advances to face the winner of the other ALDS between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. The Mariners will host Game One on Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. EDT.
Moyer (2-0) allowed a run and three hits en route to his second victory of the series. The 38-year-old lefthander continued his mastery of the Indians. In four outings against Cleveland this season, he was 4-0 with 1.03 ERA.
The Mariners' vaunted bullpen trio of Jeff Nelson, Arthur Rhodes and Sasaki combined to allow one single over the final three innings.
Seattle broke on top 2-0 in the second inning, highlighted by a two-out, two-run single by McLemore, who had just three hits in the series. The veteran utility player also filled in admirably for ailing shortstop Carlos Guillen in the series.
Suzuki went 3-for-4 with a run scored and was the dominant offensive force in the series. The Japanese rookie sensation tied a Division Series record with 12 hits and batted .600 over the five games.
Cleveland's Chuck Finley (0-2) pitched much better than he did in Game Two but suffered his second loss of the series. The veteran lefthander allowed two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
