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 Stunned in San Diego Padres outpitch Braves again, grab 3-0 NLCS lead
Posted: Saturday October 10, 1998 10:35 PM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Padres are on the verge of throwing a shocking shutout. By once again outpitching the team that was built on pitching, the Padres are a win away from their first World Series in 14 years. A gritty effort by left-hander Sterling Hitchcock and clutch two-out RBI hits by Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti off Greg Maddux gave the Padres a 4-1 victory Saturday over the Atlanta Braves and a 3-0 lead in the National League championship series. "We're here in this situation because of our pitching staff," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Atlanta's done a great job but our guys have just gone out and battled." No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the history of postseason play. Three teams have taken a 3-0 lead since the league championship series went to best-of-7 in 1985, and all three swept. They were Oakland in 1988 and '90, and Atlanta in 1995. The Padres, backed by a raucous crowd of 62,779 under a cloudless sky, will also be host to Game 4 Sunday afternoon and if necessary, Game 5 on Monday night. "Whether or not you thought you'd be in this situation isn't important. We are," said Tony Gwynn, the only player left from San Diego's lone World Series team in 1984. "Of course you want to try to finish it off at home. But that's a quality club over there and it's not going to be easy."
Braves manager Bobby Cox said he "absolutely" thinks the Braves could come back. "It would be interesting if we win two here and go back to our place and win two," said Cox, who has led the Braves to four World Series this decade, winning one. San Diego won the first two games at Atlanta's Turner Field, getting a strong effort from Andy Ashby in Game 1 and a brilliant three-hit shutout by ace Kevin Brown in the second. San Diego's team ERA against the Braves is 0.96, and in seven playoff games is 1.42. The left-handed Hitchcock started the first NLCS game to be played in San Diego since 1984, and beat Maddux on the same field where he beat Randy Johnson six days earlier to clinch the division series against Houston. "Obviously it wasn't as good as my last game, but I had just enough," said Hitchcock, who struck out 11 Astros on Sunday. "The team made some big plays behind me to help and gave me a lift. "The Braves are a tough team who aren't hitting, but you still have to make quality pitches to them." Hitchcock allowed one run and three hits in five-plus innings, struck out six and walked five. Maddux allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, his shortest postseason outing since lasting just 3 1-3 innings with the Cubs in 1989. He struck out three and walked two. Maddux, a four-time Cy Young winner, has lost three straight NLCS starts and four of five.
"I hope I get a chance to pitch again," Maddux said. "You have to give their pitchers credit. They've thrown well against us." Hitchcock was strong for two innings, struggled the next two but retired the side in order in the fifth. Bochy left him in to bat, and he started San Diego's winning rally with a one-out single off Maddux. Four relievers followed Hitchcock, pitching four innings of shutout ball. Accompanied by the ominous strains of AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" blasting from the scoreboard speakers, Trevor Hoffman came on with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth and struck out pinch-hitter Javy Lopez on three pitches. Hoffman, the best closer in baseball with 53 saves this year, blew the save in Game 1 in Atlanta but got the win. Hoffman allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, then retired the side for his third save this postseason. "You go out and earn your respect," Hoffman said. "We still have one big game left to go." The Game 4 scheduled starters are Atlanta left-hander Denny Neagle, who hasn't pitched since winning in relief in the second-last game of the regular season, and San Diego's Joey Hamilton, a Georgia native who made two relief appearances in the division series.
Cox shook up his lineup, but it did little good. Braves batters were 0-for-5 with the bases loaded, including one-out situations in both the sixth and eighth innings. In all, they left the bases loaded in three innings. With the Padres trailing 1-0 and one out in the fifth, Hitchcock poked Maddux's first pitch just beyond the reach of diving shortstop Walt Weiss. With two outs, Finley doubled into the left-center gap to score Hitchcock. After Gwynn was intentionally walked, Caminiti singled up the middle to score Finley with the go-ahead run. Caminiti's 10th-inning home run on Wednesday night gave San Diego a 3-2 win in Game 1. "My hits have been timely," said Caminiti, who's hitting just .200 in three games. San Diego survived a tense bases-loaded situation in the sixth. Hitchcock walked Andres Galarraga and was relieved by Donne Wall. Andruw Jones singled, Maddux sacrificed and pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko was intentionally walked. Wall then struck out pinch-hitters Michael Tucker and Greg Colbrunn, hitting for Maddux. The top of Atlanta's order finally produced a run when Weiss singled to center to score Tony Graffanino from second with one out in the third for a 1-0 lead. Finley gloved Weiss' single on one hop in shallow center, but his poor throw took three hops and was too late to get Graffanino. Weiss tried to score on Chipper Jones' single to left, but John Vander Wal, starting for injured Greg Vaughn, made a perfect throw to Leyritz, who held on as Weiss knocked him over. The Padres added two runs with two outs in the eighth. Wally Joyner walked and scored when left fielder Klesko booted Carlos Hernandez's double, allowing Hernandez to take third. He then scored on Lopez's passed ball. Notes: Gwynn made a basket catch of Danny Bautista's foul ball along the stands to end the second and got a pat on the back from a fan. ... The Braves had won 10 straight games entering this series. ... Cox moved Andruw Jones up to the fifth spot, sitting Klesko in favor of Bautista and right fielder Tucker in place of Gerald Williams. ... Galarraga committed his third error of the series when Caminiti's hard-hit ball hit his glove and went through his legs in the first.
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