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 Two words: Leyritz, Brown Braves favored, but Padres have secret weapons
Posted: Tuesday October 06, 1998 12:42 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- They're a couple of guys who rekindle bad memories for the Atlanta Braves. Jim Leyritz turned the 1996 World Series with a three-run homer, and the New York Yankees went on to beat the Braves in six games. "Some guys always seem to rise to the occasion," Denny Neagle said. "He's one of them." A year ago, it was Kevin Brown's turn to break Atlanta's heart. He had two wins for the Florida Marlins in the NL championship series, including a Game 6 triumph that ended the Braves' season. "Facing him is not one of the more enviable tasks in the National League," Chipper Jones said. "He's nasty and dominating and as tough a competitor as anybody there is." Now, Brown and Leyritz are teammates for the San Diego Padres, who will meet Atlanta in the NLCS that begins Wednesday night at Turner Field. If the Braves are the favorite based on their 106 regular-season wins and seven straight postseason appearances, the combined karma of Brown and Leyritz might be enough to even things up for the Padres. Neagle was the starting pitcher on that night two years ago when the Braves seemed poised to win their second straight World Series. Leading two games to one, Atlanta built a 6-0 lead in Game 4. The Yankees cut the margin in half before Leyritz tied it up with a three-run homer in the eighth against Mark Wohlers. New York won 8-6 in 10 innings and took the next two games as well to capture the championship. "Obviously, he's been a thorn in the side around here, probably more so than anywhere else," Neagle said. "Well, I take that back. I'm sure he's ringing in the ears of a lot of Houston Astros fans right now. He's been unbelievable." Leyritz added to his postseason lore in the division series victory over Houston, homering three times in four games. Among his victims: Randy Johnson and Billy Wagner. "Wohlers is in some pretty good company," said John Smoltz, who'll start Game 1 for the Braves, followed by Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. Andruw Jones might have been remembered as the star of the 1996 World Series, homering in his first two at-bats at Yankee Stadium as a teen-ager. But Leyritz stole the spotlight. "I don't have bad memories about that," Jones said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's over with. It's in the past." The Braves had expected Brown to pitch Game 1 on three days' rest, setting him up to pitch three times should the series go to the seven-game distance. Even though the Padres planned to start Andy Ashby in the first game instead of Brown, the focus didn't change. "I think this whole series hinges on whether we beat Kevin Brown or not," said Chipper Jones, taking solace that the Braves hit well against the right-hander in last year's NLCS -- 16 hits and seven runs in 15 innings -- even though he won twice. This season, Brown won his only start against Atlanta, allowing no runs in 6 1-3 innings with nine strikeouts. Despite the impending arrival of Brown and Leyritz, the Braves were in a relaxed mood Monday before a one-hour workout. They munched on doughnuts and sat around the clubhouse watching "Judge Judy" dispense televised justice. Manager Bobby Cox will use a four-man rotation against the Padres, going with 16-game winner Neagle in Game 4. The left-hander was bothered by bursitis in the final weeks of the season and didn't pitch at all in the division series. "Obviously, I've had enough rest," said Neagle, who hasn't pitched since a relief stint on September 26, the next-to-last day of the regular season. "I don't feel I'm the type of pitcher who should be rusty after not pitching for 10 days. In this situation, the shoulder needed the rest anyway." Cox doesn't plan any changes to his 25-man roster. Forty-three-year-old Dennis Martinez and 20-year-old rookie Odalis Perez will remain in the bullpen, and Marty Malloy will be carried as a spare infielder because of lingering concerns about the health of second baseman Keith Lockhart and shortstop Walt Weiss. The Braves failed to sell out one of their first-round games against the Cubs and, as of Monday, more than 5,000 tickets remained for all NLCS games at Turner Field. After watching some 65,000 people turn out for both division series games in San Diego, Smoltz hopes the fans of Atlanta will take notice. "I hope they understand how hard it's going to be," he said. "I hope they understand how important they can be."
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