National LeagueIt took 43 years, but the Houston Astros are finally postseason winners.
Carlos Beltran hit two more homers and drove in five runs, while Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell chipped in during a five-run seventh inning that carried the Astros to a 12-3 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Monday night in the deciding Game 5 of their first-round National League playoff series.
PHOTO: AP
The Astros snapped an 0-for-7 record of futility in the playoffs against their longtime nemesis. The Braves eliminated Houston in 1997, 1999 and 2001, but they couldn't escape their own postseason demons this time.
"This is what you can do when you've got special guys," said Roger Clemens, who came out of retirement to pitch for his hometown club. "Every championship team has guys who are special like this. I'm so happy. This is what I came here for."
The Astros matched the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers for most series losses before getting their first win. The Dodgers won the World Series on their eighth try.
"When I got here, they told me they had always had problems getting to the next step," said Beltran, who was acquired from Kansas City in June. "I knew it was going to be tough."
Atlanta has lost Game 5 of the division series three years in a row -- all at Turner Field. The second-largest crowd in franchise history, 54,068, saw another familiar ending.
Beltran homered four times in the series, breaking the Houston record for a postseason series. In a poignant note, the record was formerly held by Ken Caminiti, who hit three in an opening-round loss to the Braves in 1999.
Caminiti, who spent 10 seasons with the Astros, died on Sunday of an apparent heart attack at age 41.
The news hit Caminiti's former teammates -- Biggio and Bagwell -- especially hard.
"I'm not going to lie to you. It was tough," Biggio said. "I think I felt his spirit out there."
"I think Cammy would be proud," Bagwell added.
Next up for the wild-card Astros is a matchup against Central Division rival St. Louis in the NL championship series starting tonight at Busch Stadium.
Atlanta proudly displays 13 straight division titles but still has only one World Series to show for it. This marked the fifth straight year that the Braves' season ended at the Ted. This one was especially dismal, equaling the worst postseason loss in franchise history.
"Looking back at this team over the whole season, I'm pretty proud of the way we played," Chipper Jones said.
Game 5 wasn't a shining moment, though.
Houston jumped ahead 3-0 on Braves starter Jaret Wright, scoring two in the second and adding to their lead when Beltran homered into the Atlanta bullpen in the third.
The Braves had the big crowd roaring in the fifth. Rafael Furcal led off with a homer against Roy Oswalt, and Johnny Estrada hit another into the seats with two outs, pulling Atlanta to 3-2.
But Beltran, acquired from Kansas City in June, quickly turned the tide back in Houston's favor. He started the sixth with a towering drive off Wright that just cleared the right-field wall.
The Astros were back in control. The Braves were done.
Oswalt, pitching on three days' rest for only the second time this season, made it through five innings. He threw 111 pitches and the Braves stranded runners in every inning, seven in all against the Houston starter.
Houston poured it on in the seventh after Atlanta summoned Chris Reitsma from the bullpen. With two outs, Biggio lined an RBI single to right and wound at third when the throw home skipped away from Estrada. Beltran followed with another single, driving in his third run of the game, before Bagwell launched a mammoth drive to left-center for a two-run homer.
Before the seventh was done, Jeff Kent also drove in a run off Tom Martin, giving the Astros a 9-2 lead.
The Astros underachieved much of the season. Phil Garner took over as manager at the All-Star break, and Houston had to win 36 of its last 46 games just to get the wild card.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two