| | ATLANTA -- The World Series may seem like a letdown for the
Atlanta Braves.
Andruw Jones walked with the bases loaded in the 11th inning,
giving the Braves a stunning 10-9 victory over the New York Mets in
Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night.
"I'm happy as hell I'm not pitching tomorrow," said Tom
Glavine, whose scheduled appearance in Game 7 became a moot point
when the Braves won the best-of-7 series 4-2. "I'm thankful to be
going to the World Series -- especially after that series. It was
gut-wrenching."
Atlanta did its best to squander a 3-0 lead in the series and a
5-0 lead in the final game. In the end, they showed the resiliency
of a champion, just as they had all year.
When cleanup hitter Andres Galarraga was lost for the season
because of cancer, the Braves found a way to survive. When Kerry
Ligtenberg, Javy Lopez, Odalis Perez and Rudy Seanez succumbed to
season-ending injuries, the Braves came up with players to plug the
holes.
"Guys like Eddie Perez made this team go," said Braves manager Bobby
Cox, referring to the catcher who took over for Lopez and wound up
as MVP of the NLCS. "Part-timers who got a chance to get in there
and play."
It seemed Atlanta would finally be able to do things the easy
way in Game 6, scoring five runs in the first inning to knock out
Mets starter Al Leiter.
Not so fast.
The Mets, as was their custom all season, fought back in
dramatic fashion to tie the game at 7-7, then take leads of 8-7 and
9-8. Both times, the Braves bounced back themselves when everything
seemed to be going New York's way.
Perez, who was 10-for-20 with two homers and five RBIs in the
series, got his final hit in the eighth, a one-out single. He left
the game for pinch-runner Otis Nixon, who stole second, went to
third on a throwing error and came home with the run that evened
the score at 8-8.
When the Mets went ahead again in the 10th, third-string
shortstop Ozzie Guillen answered with a pinch-hit single to right.
Finally, the Braves won the game with two more unlikely people
playing key parts.
Russ Springer, thrust into a prominent role out of the bullpen,
pitched a scoreless 11th and Gerald Williams, a full-time player
for the first time, led off the bottom half with a double into the
left-field corner against Kenny Rogers.
"There are situations where people put labels on you," said
Williams, who mainly played a platoon role until this year. "But
you have to have the opportunity to play. I'm just thankful Mr. Cox
saw fit to put me in the lineup."
After Williams was bunted to third by Bret Boone, the Mets
walked the next two hitters, Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan. That
brought up Andruw Jones, the outfielder who hit two World Series
homers at Yankee Stadium while still a teen-ager back in 1996.
He didn't have to do anything so dramatic this time. Now a
patient 22-year-old, Jones kept watching pitches until Rogers
delivered a fastball high and outside with a 3-2 count. Williams
danced across home and Jones pounced on him before
being engulfed by his teammates.
"It's just exhilarating, exhilarating," said Atlanta general manager
John Schuerholz, whose team is making its fifth World Series
appearance of the decade but first since 1996. "What a year! What
a game!"
Finally, the Braves had secured one last chance at their second
World Series title of the 1990s. Game 1 against the AL champion New York Yankees
is Saturday at Turner Field.
Maybe by then, the Braves will have recovered from this one.
| |
ALSO SEE
Mets vs. Braves series page
Dramatic victory sends Braves to World Series
Mets finally run out of miracles
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