The offseason proved very difficult for Ortiz, as on New Year's Day 2002, his mother died following a car accident. Gardenhire reached out and helped Ortiz deal with the death, and Ortiz prepared hard for the coming baseball season, both saddened his mother never saw him play at his best and determined to reach new heights. When the season began, Ortiz battled knee injuries. It was a tale of two seasons for Ortiz, as his .240 average with five homers and 33 RBI before the All-Star break was disappointing. But after the All-Star break, Ortiz quietly turned in one of the better second halves in baseball, batting .297 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI. On August 16, he hit a memorable home run off his friend Pedro Martínez at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, hitting an inside cut fastball into the upper deck. On September 25, he hit the first walk-off home run of his career, against the Cleveland Indians. He finished the 2002 season batting .272 with 20 home runs and 75 RBI. At this point in his career, the home run and RBI totals were both career bests. However, as he batted only .203 against left-handed pitching, Ortiz still was not always guaranteed to start if a tough lefty would be on the mound. His career year coincided with the Twins qualifying for the postseason, as the team won 94 games and upset the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series before falling in the 2002 American League Championship Series to the eventual World Series winning Anaheim Angels. Ortiz batted .276 in his first postseason, with 4 RBI. His 9th inning double in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series put the Twins ahead 5–1 in a game they would hold on to win 5–4. The series-winning RBI was the first of what would be many clutch postseason hits in Ortiz's career.