Braves Defeat Cubs to Tie Series
With Wrigley Field fans on edge and the streets of Chicago rocking in anticipation of the Cubs winning their first postseason series since 1908, the Braves sent this NL playoff back to Atlanta for a decisive Game 5.
Chipper Jones ended his postseason slump with a two-run homer from each side of the plate, and Russ Ortiz pitched well on three days’ rest as the Braves defeated the Cubs 6-4 Saturday.
“It was kind of a feeling of desperation in the clubhouse before the game,” Jones said. “It was basically win this game or take a vacation – a long one. We staved it off for another day.”
But it went down to the final swing. With a run already in and a runner on second, Sosa came up with two outs for a tense matchup against star closer John Smoltz.
On a full-count pitch, Sosa took a hopeful hop as his bid for a tying, two-run homer left the bat.
“Wouldn’t the roof come off this place if Sammy had hit a two-run homer off Smoltzie?” Jones said.
But center fielder Andruw Jones calmly caught the ball on the edge of the warning track for the last out.
Smoltz, who appeared to be grimacing in pain during the at-bat, bent over and put his hands on his knees after holding on for a save.
“That was a great matchup,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “He almost tied the game. That was a great at-bat.”
Chipper Jones, who was 1-for-11 coming into the game, went 2-for-3 with two walks. Eric Karros hit two homers for the Cubs, but both were solo shots.
So the series now goes back to Atlanta on Sunday night. Mike Hampton will try to duplicate Ortiz’s effort, facing Kerry Wood on three days’ rest.
The winner will host Florida in the opener of the NLCS on Tuesday.
“Now we’ve got to solve the riddle that is Kerry Wood,” Chipper Jones said.
The Braves led the NL in every major hitting category this season: batting average (.284), homers (a franchise-record 235) and runs (907, another club mark). But those big bats were nowhere to be found once the postseason began.
Atlanta hit just .191 in the first three games of the series, and had only three extra-base hits. The struggles of the Joneses and Gary Sheffield were the most glaring, with the 3-4-5 hitters combining for three hits through the first three games.
“Anybody who thinks we’re going to go out and throw up 10, 15 hits against this pitching staff is crazy,” Chipper Jones said.
But with Sheffield on the bench – his left hand was still sore and swollen from being hit by Mark Prior’s pitch Friday night – and the Braves on the verge of yet another postseason disappointment, Chipper Jones came through when they needed him most.
With the game tied at 1 in the fifth inning, Chipper Jones – batting left-handed in his favorite No. 3 spot – sent a 1-0 pitch from Matt Clement arching toward left-center for a 3-1 lead.
The crowd of 39,983 knew the ball was gone even before it landed in the seats, falling so silent a goat could have been heard bleating.
And Chipper Jones wasn’t done. Batting right-handed in the eighth inning against Mark Guthrie, he put a 3-2 pitch into almost the same spot in left-center.
The rest of the offense fed off Chipper Jones. Every Atlanta starter reached base at least once, and Andruw Jones and Darren Bragg were the only ones without hits. But Bragg, starting in place of Sheffield, had a broken-bat fielder’s choice in the fifth to score Atlanta’s first run and tie it at 1.
Even 40-something Julio Franco, who started for a struggling Robert Fick, was an offensive juggernaut. Franco went 3-for-4 with a walk and scored a run.
The Cubs, meanwhile, left eight on base, including a runner in scoring position in each of the first five innings. And in a play that’s sure to add some spice to Game 5, Fick hit Karros’ raised arm with a forearm worthy of all-star wrestling, knocking the ball and Karros’ glove free.
Karros grimaced in pain as plate umpire Larry Young came up the line to call Fick out.
“Whenever the first baseman is extended like that, that’s a very dangerous position,” Baker said. “That wasn’t a very clean play. That was poor judgment on Fick’s part.”
But Cox said Fick didn’t mean any harm.
“I think he tried to grab the ball out of Eric’s glove, which is a violation of the rules,” Cox said. “I know there was no intent to hurt Eric.”
Karros stayed in the game and homered in the eighth inning. But reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who slipped and hit the grass as he fielded the grounder, jammed his kneecap into his knee joint and had to leave the game. It’s not certain if he’ll be available Sunday.
It all added up to disappointment for Cubs fans, who were giddy at the prospect of their beloved team finally ending their frustration. Chicago hasn’t won a postseason series since the 1908 World Series, going 0-for-10 since.
But with a 2-1 lead going into Saturday’s game, Cubs fans were ready. Someone even brought a goat onto the field before the game.
According to local legend, the owner of a Chicago bar put a curse on the Cubs when he and his goat were turned away from a 1945 World Series game between the Cubs and Detroit Tigers. The Cubs have endured more than 50 years of futility since.
But give Ortiz some credit for spoiling the fun, too. The 21-game winner struggled in his Game 1 loss last Tuesday, giving up four runs and three walks in 5 2-3 innings. Though Cox considered starting rookie Horacio Ramirez, he decided instead to go with Ortiz on three days’ rest for the second time in his career.
The gamble worked.
Ortiz wasn’t dazzling, giving up two runs, seven hits and four walks in five innings. But he was efficient, getting outs when he needed them.
“When this series started … deep in my heart – I didn’t want to admit it, but I thought it was going to go five games,” Baker said. “So we’ve just got to go get it done in Atlanta.”
Notes:@ Bernie Williams was the first player to homer from both sides in a postseason game, doing it for the Yankees in 1995 against Seattle. … Karros tied the Cubs record for most homers in a postseason game. Gary Matthews also had two in 1984 against San Diego. … Hall of Famer Billy Williams threw out the first pitch.