The 9 Times MLB Teams Came Back From 0-2 Deficits In Best-Of-5 Series
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Yankees are trying to become just the 10th team in Major League Baseball history to come back from an 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-five postseason series.
The Bronx Bombers, in fact, have been on both sides of such comebacks before, the victims in 1995 and the victors in 2001.
Here is a look at all nine times that teams pulled off the improbable feat:
1981 NLDS, Dodgers Over Astros
The Astros benefited from strong pitching performances by Nolan Ryan and Joe Niekro to win the first two games, but they didn't have the offense to keep it going, scoring just two runs over the final three games to a Dodgers team that featured Steve Garvey and rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.
1982 ALCS, Brewers Over Angels
Cecil Cooper's two-out, bases-loaded single in the seventh inning of Game 5 scored two runs, giving Milwaukee a 4-3 victory to complete the series comeback.
1984 NLCS, Padres Over Cubs
Not only did the Cubs, making their first postseason appearance since 1945, blow the 2-0 series lead, they held leads in each of the final three games. The biggest play of the series came in the ninth inning of Game 4, when Garvey hit a two-run, walk-off homer off of Lee Smith to win it 7-5.
1995 ALDS, Mariners Over Yankees
Game 5 at the Kingdome included six lead changes, but Edgar Martinez's two-out double in the 11th inning, scoring Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr., ended the Yankees' season in heartbreaking fashion. Griffey was a monster, hitting five homers in the series.
1999 ALDS, Red Sox Over Indians
The Red Sox scored just three runs in the first two games but then found their offense in a major way, winning 9-3, 23-7 and 12-8 in the final three contests. In Game 5, Troy O'Leary hit a grand slam in the third inning and a three-run homer in the seventh, which proved to be the fatal blow for Cleveland.
2001 ALDS, Yankees Over A's
This series is best remembered for Derek Jeter's flip play in Game 3. With the Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning, Oakland's Terrence Long doubled to right field, sending Jeremy Giambi sprinting from first to home. Yankees right fielder Shane Spencer rushed his throw, missing two cut-off men. But Jeter saved the day, running from his shortstop position to field the ball with his bare hand on a hop along the first-base line before quickly flipping it to catcher Jorge Posada, who tagged Giambi on the leg a split-second before he touched the plate. Some have credited that play for changing the momentum of the series, in which the A's had won the first two games. The Yankees followed up Game 3 with two more victories en route to reaching the World Series.
2003 ALDS, Red Sox Over A's
The Red Sox won games 3 and 4 on their final at-bats. Trot Nixon's two-run, 11th-inning homer in Game 3 gave Boston a 3-1 victory. The next night, the Red Sox won on David Ortiz's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth. In Game 5, Boston got home runs from Jarson Varitek and Marry Ramirez to win 4-3.
2012 NLDS, Giants Over Reds
The Reds outscored the Giants 14-2 over the first two games before San Francisco made a series of it. In Game 5, Buster Posey's grand slam lifted the Giants, who went on to win the World Series, to a 6-4 victory. It is the only 0-2 comeback in a best-of-five MLB series in which the road team won every game.
2015 ALDS, Blue Jays Over Rangers
This is a series baseball fans won't soon forget, and the seventh inning of Game 5 gave us the most memorable moments. The Rangers took a 3-2 lead when Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin's return throw to the pitcher hit Shin-Soo Choo's bat and ricocheted into foul territory, allowing Rougned Odor to score from third base. In the bottom of the inning, Jose Bautista hit a towering three-run homer before famously -- or perhaps infamously -- flipping his bat in celebration as the Rogers Centre crowd went crazy.
