When the Atlanta Braves were a more feared team in the playoffs, in the 1990s, John Smoltz was a dominating starter and postseason anchor. His chronic elbow problems shoved him into the bullpen after the 1999 season, and he yearned for five years to return to the national stage of baseball's playoffs as a starting pitcher.
He returned Thursday night like the Smoltz of old and not only outpitched Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros, but also helped the Braves tie the best-of-five National League division series with the Astros. Atlanta defeated Houston, 7-1, before a crowd of 46,181 at a damp and misty Turner Field.
Smoltz gave up one run in seven innings, but he was not the only dramatic story of the game. Brian McCann, Atlanta's 21-year-old rookie catcher, who was born the year Clemens made his debut in the majors, clubbed a three-run homer off Clemens in the second inning to send the fans into a frenzy.
PHOTO: AP
"That won't sink in for a while; he's one of the greatest pitchers of all time," McCann said.
One night after Astros starter Andy Pettitte tied Smoltz for the most postseason victories in playoff history at 14, Smoltz took the lead right back with his 15th playoff triumph.
"I waited a long time to start a playoff game of this magnitude," Smoltz said. "When I got through the first inning, that was the biggest test."
Clemens, 43, pitched five innings and gave up six hits and five runs. His only serious mistake was the fastball McCann hit for the home run.
"It was fastball down and away that cut back over the zone; it's a very hittable pitch," Clemens said. "It definitely is a pitch you want back. Guys on this level, whether they are 21 or 41, are going to hit that pitch."
Game 3 is Saturday in Houston. The Astros' Roy Oswalt (20-12) faces Atlanta's Jorge Sosa (13-3), who has a 9-0 road record this season. The Braves, who have lost Game 1 in the last three division series, won Game 2 for the third consecutive time. They are 10-1 in Game 2s of the NL division series.
While Smoltz was in the bullpen, the Braves struggled in the postseason, and they were eliminated in the first round in four of the past five seasons. The club lacked a dominating starter to rally around, which was why Smoltz lobbied to get back into the starting rotation after three seasons as the closer.
Houston, however, did not want to give Smoltz any momentum in his first postseason start since the 1999 World Series, when Smoltz and the Braves lost to Clemens and the Yankees.
The Astros scored a run off Smoltz with three singles in the top of the first. But Smoltz avoided more serious trouble when he struck out Adam Everett to end the inning with the bases loaded.
"We had him early on the ropes a little bit," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "We didn't get a couple of big hits and make it maybe a little more difficult for him."
After throwing 25 pitches in the first, Smoltz threw 15 pitches in the second inning, 15 in the third, nine in the fourth, nine in the fifth and 10 in the sixth. He shut out the Astros from the second inning through the seventh.
Clemens, who ranks ninth in career victories with 341, found trouble in the second inning when his fastballs found the middle of the plate.
Andruw Jones, who had three hits for the Braves, singled to lead off the second. With one out, Jeff Francoeur worked a walk from Clemens. Francoeur, a rookie known for his aggressiveness at the plate, laid off two close pitches.
After Ryan Langerhans struck out, McCann belted his two-out, three-run homer, and the Braves led by 3-1.
Atlanta added two more runs in the third, also with two outs, when Adam LaRoche lined a double into the left-center gap just past the glove of a diving Orlando Palmeiro to make the score 5-1.
Smoltz's quick work through the middle innings made sure he stayed in the game and kept the Braves from having to tap their inconsistent bullpen too early.
And Chipper Jones, the Braves' third baseman, made sure Smoltz made it through the seventh. After Chris Burke doubled with two outs, Biggio hit a one-hop line drive to the left of Jones, who made a diving stop. Jones threw to first to nip Biggio, who was making a headfirst slide. That kept the score at 5-1.
CARDINALS 6, PADRES 2
A team with marquee hitters like Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker should not have to concern itself with manufacturing runs. Theoretically, all St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa needs to do is write a lineup, stand in the dugout with his sunglasses on and wait for his mashers to sock a homer, or two, or three.
But too often this season, injuries forced La Russa to put together lineups without one or more of his big names. Even now, the Cardinals are without third baseman Scott Rolen, done for the year after two operations on his left shoulder.
So runs have not always been easy to come by, and the Cardinals became adept at building them. While San Diego's starting pitcher, Pedro Astacio, baffled the big-name Cardinals early in Game 2 of this National League division series Thursday, the rest of the lineup capitalized on shaky Padres fielding to scratch out four early runs -- none scoring on a hit -- en route to a 6-2 victory.
Leading two games to none in this three-of-five series, the Cardinals can finish off the Padres on Saturday night, with Matt Morris (14-10) facing the former Cardinal Woody Williams (9-12) at San Diego's Petco Park.
"God knows I've been in this situation before and not won the series," said Game 2's winning pitcher, Mark Mulder, whose Oakland Athletics teams twice led division series by 2-0 only to lose 3-2. "But this team's a little different, man. It's going to be fun."
The Cardinals scored twice in the third to take a 2-0 lead after Mulder, who fouled off his first two bunt attempts, sacrificed on an 0-2 pitch to move runners to second and third, earning a standing ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd of 52,599. David Eckstein's fielder's choice grounder brought in the first run, and Pujols walked with the bases loaded to produce the second.
In the fourth, with one run already in on a fielder's choice, Eckstein drove in another with a suicide squeeze bunt -- the 14th successful squeeze by the Cardinals this season in 17 attempts. So Astacio, despite giving up only three hits in four innings, trailed 4-0 when he left for a pinch-hitter in the fifth.
A hit-and-run single by Pujols in the seventh inning led to two runs on Reggie Sanders' double, the only hit the Cardinals managed in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
"I think Tony just really looked at the way the game was going," said Sanders, who has eight runs batted in for the series. "Astacio was keeping the ball down, and I think in his mind Tony said, `We really need to create some situations to put pressure on the pitcher and the defense.'
"Sometimes you've got to play small ball. You're not going to hit home runs all the time. We have a team that can do both."
That proved handy after the way Astacio handled Edmonds, Pujols, Walker and Sanders, who went 0 for 7 against him with three strikeouts and two walks. Astacio's defense didn't help him either. Shortstop Khalil Greene mishandled a potential double-play grounder in the third for an error, and after Mulder's sacrifice, Abraham Nunez raced home from third ahead of first baseman Xavier Nady's throw after he dove to smother an Eckstein grounder. Astacio then walked Edmonds and Pujols on nine pitches to force in a run.
With late afternoon shadows creeping right to left across the field, Mark Grudzielanek outran another throw home by Nady in the fourth, after reaching third on Nunez's hit-and-run double.
"They were perfect in their execution," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said.
Mulder, who took a Joe Randa line drive off his upper left throwing arm in the second inning, held the Padres to one run on eight hits in six and two-thirds innings. He kept the ball down and benefited from four double plays, which tied a National League division series record. The Cardinals led the majors with 196 double plays in the regular season and have already turned seven in this series.
Eckstein said he thought Mulder's sinker grew sharper after Randa's line drive struck him. "It calmed him down," Eckstein said of Mulder, who recorded 17 of 20 outs on ground balls.
As in Game 1, the Padres had a chance to tie the game late, loading the bases in the eighth inning. Julian Tavarez hit Nady to force in a run, but the left-hander Randy Flores came on to strike out the lefty pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney, who represented the tying run.
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