 Then in September, California went into a second 9-game skid from September 13 – 23, allowing Seattle to take first place on September 22 in the middle of their own 7-game winning streak. California sank to 3 games out of first place with 5 games left in the season, but won those last 5 games — including a 4-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics — while Seattle lost 3 of their last 5 games, forcing the tiebreaker.
