Rocker came running out of the Atlanta bullpen Saturday night in the eighth inning, anxious to finish a sweep of the New York Mets and clinch the National League pennant for the Braves.

	John Rocker dejectedly walks off the field after blowing the save in Game 4.

"I made the pitch I wanted, low and away," Rocker said. "He hit a well-placed three-hopper. It was one of the cheaper hits off me my entire year. An infield hit cost us two runs. It wasn't like he hit a double off the wall."

Rocker arrived with runners at first and second and two outs and the Braves leading 2-1 and four outs away from the World Series. Olerud had homered earlier against John Smoltz for the lone Mets run, but the Braves played the percentages, putting in their power pitcher, a left-hander to face the lefty hitter. Olerud was 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against Rocker, so the move was obvious.

With Shea Stadium rocking, water bottles flying out of the stands as the reliever ran to the mound, Rocker savored the moment.

"Didn't bother me at all," said the reliever, who celebrates his 25th birthday Sunday. "They think they're in my head. They're not. I pitched as well the last two days as I have all year."

BEFORE THE GAME ...

John Rocker was still talking trash before Game 4 -- much to the annoyance of manager Bobby Cox. The left-hander made a point to stop on the top step of the dugout after batting practice, even though New York fans were shouting obscenities at him. Rocker pointed his glove at one man and said, "You can't ... beat me." Then, as he walked up the ramp toward the clubhouse, a reporter asked if he planned to tone down his antics. "Why? It's working, ain't it," said Rocker, who had two saves in the series. "The only thing I'm changing is my clothes after I get champagne all over them tonight." Rocker stirred up angry feelings in New York by saying he hates the Mets and calling their fans "stupid." Cox met with Rocker before Game 3, but the pitcher was his usually demonstrative self after working a scoreless ninth to preserve a 1-0 victory. "Apparently, it didn't do much good," Cox said of their conversation. "We'll meet again."

All week, he has been Public Enemy No. 1 in New York after leveling a string of insults at the city and its fans. Rocker saved Game 3 for the Braves on Friday night and delighted in the moment. Now he was in position to finish the matter.

Standing on the mound, he paid no attention to the runners -- Roger Cedeno on second and Melvin Mora on first.

"I wasn't thinking of the runners at all," he said. "I was solely focused on the hitter. I couldn't tell you who was on first. Mora, I think. I've got a terrible pickoff move. What am I gonna do?"

Manager Bobby Cox excused the lapse.

"I think he was intent on getting the hitter out," he said.

Rocker tried a curveball and the runners took off on a double steal. Suddenly, the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position.

"I knew they were going to double steal there," Cox said. "That was an automatic. It was a curveball down and away and we couldn't get rid of the ball. We had a plan where to throw it. It was such a slow pitch."

Now it was up to Olerud. Atlanta's defense shaded him to the left, figuring he could not pull Rocker.

"We never play him to pull," shortstop Ozzie Guillen said.

Rocker went back to work on Olerud and made the pitch he wanted. Olerud slapped it up the middle. Guillen lunged for it. "I touched it," he said. "I catch it, he's out because he's a slow runner."

But the ball squirted through.

"If Ozzie's one step to the left, the play gets made," Rocker said. "If the play's made, we're three outs away from the World Series."

Instead, the ball bounced by and the runners scored. On the Mets bench, there was elation, not only because they had taken the lead but because it had come against Rocker, who had tormented them. Reliever Turk Wendell noted that Olerud was due. "Rocker had dominated long enough," he said.

So was the victory sweeter because of the victim?

Wendell paused.

"No," he said. Then he added, "It was beautiful."