Sunday, October 17, 1999
NLCS: Mets 3, Braves 2
Olerud bests Rocker in 8th
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnnati Enquirer
NEW YORK — The Atlanta Braves remain much closer to World Series nirvana than the New York Mets. But for one Saturday night, the Mets and their bellowing, bellicose fans at Shea Stadium got everything they wanted.
John Olerud, who homered earlier in the game, delivered a two-out, two-run single off New York nemesis John Rocker in the eighth inning that erased a 2-1 deficit and gave the Mets a thrilling 3-2 victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
“To get the lead, lose it late in the game and get a couple of runs off Rocker, who we haven't done much against — I think it's a really big win for us,” said Olerud, who had been 0-for-9 with five strikeouts lifetime against Rocker, including a pair of strikeouts in his two at-bats against the left-hander in this series.
The Mets staved off elimination, leaving the 1995 Reds (who were beaten by the Braves) as the only NL team to suffer a four-game sweep since the LCS went to a best-of-seven format in
1985.
“You get long odds on a sweep,” said Braves manager Bobby Cox, acknowledging the difficulty of the task. “But we were four outs away from doing it.”
Said New York manager Bobby Valentine, “I didn't think we had to win four games today. I thought we had to do the thing we did 100 times before tonight, and that was win one game.”
New York still trails the series, 3-1, and must use Masato Yoshii, a right-hander of ordinary skill, against Atlanta's peerless Greg Maddux in today's Game 5.
Then again, a low-scoring affair might unfold no matter who pitches. The Braves are hitting .198 in the series (23-for-116) while scoring just 11 runs. New York is batting .180 (23-for-128) with eight runs.
“It's amazing how good the pitching has been on both sides,” Cox said.
The combatants have entered the sixth inning of each game in this series either tied or separated by just one run. When that juncture arrived this time, a scoreless deadlock transfixed the sellout crowd of 55,872.
The Mets soon gave them something to celebrate, as Olerud's one-out homer in the sixth inning shattered the tie. Given the dominance of Mets starter Rick Reed, who allowed just one hit while facing the minimum 21 batters through seven innings, it appeared that Olerud's blast off John Smoltz might be enough to prevent a sweep.
Then, in a three-pitch span christening the eighth inning, the Braves reasserted themselves with back-to-back homers, the sixth time in NLCS history that had occurred.
Brian Jordan clobbered Reed's first pitch off a United States Postal Service sign in left-center field before Ryan Klesko lined a 1-0 pitch over the right-field barrier.
But the Mets rallied in their half of eighth. Roger Cedeno led off with his third single in a row off Smoltz, but waited on first base as Rey Ordonez popped up a bunt attempt.
With left-handed pinch hitter Matt Franco due up, left-hander Mike Remlinger relieved Smoltz. Valentine countered with right-handed Benny Agbayani, who struck out.
But after Remlinger walked Melvin Mora, in came Rocker, who saved Games 1 and 3 and had a scoreless eighth-inning stint in Game 2.
With a 1-1 count on Olerud, Cedeno and Mora executed a double-steal, a mildly risky move. Explained Valentine, “With Mora and Roger on the bases, I think they can succeed if they get a jump. So I'm going to allow them to do that.”
Olerud then chopped a 2-2 fastball over the mound. Ozzie Guillen, who entered the game with Rocker as part of a double-switch, got only a piece of his glove on the ball, which trickled away as Cedeno and Mora pranced home.
Cox doubted that Walt Weiss, Atlanta's best defensive shortstop, would have caught the ball. “I don't think any of our shortstops could have got ten it,” Cox said. “We were shaded too much the other way.”
Said Olerud, “When I saw it was going up the middle, I wasn't sure if it was going to get through. I was definitely rooting for it, I'll tell you that.”
“It's not like a double off the wall. It's a three-hop grounder,” Rocker said. “Two inches to the left, and we are three outs away from getting into the World Series.”
The Mets endured an anxious moment in the ninth when Guillen, leading off against relief ace Armando Benitez, launched a drive that curled barely outside the right-field foul pole. “I didn't get up to look,” Valentine said. “I just watched the look on (Mets coach) Bruce Benedict's face.”
After Benitez retired Guillen and the next two hitters, the Mets were all smiles.
“You get long odds for a sweep,” Cox said. “It's hard. But we were four outs from doing it.”
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