Saturday, October 5 - Alone at the top

Alone at the top

Another win, L.A. loss would clinch title for Braves

By Jeff Schultz, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday, October 5, 1991

         

The Atlanta Braves are one game up with two to play, the National League West title within their grasp. After the Braves put away the Houston Astros 5-2 Friday evening, San Francisco beat Los Angles 4-1 to dump the Dodgers out of a first place tie. Now one more Braves victory clinches a tie for the pennant. One more Braves victory and one more Dodgers loss and the Miracle on Capital Avenue is enshrined in the record book.

         They opened their final regular season series with second baseman Mark Lemke letting Steve Finley's grounder bounce through his legs for an error. But that was the Braves' lone flashback to the horrors of '90. With 6 2/3 innings of no-hit pitching from Steve Avery, Atlanta put down the Astros easily. "I'm sure we put pressure on them," said Braves catcher Greg Olsen. "but the bottom line is, it doesn't matter what they do. If we win these three games, the worst that happens is a playoff Monday. If we don't lose, they can't stop us from going to the playoffs."

         A sellout crowd of 45,815 chop-till-you-drop fans were on there feet for the final out, saluting the Braves with Tomahawk Chops and chanting, "Beat L.A." Many stayed at their seats long after the field emptied to watch a fireworks show - as if that was going to top the main event.

         Even catcher Craig Biggio of the last-place Astros marveled at the reaction of the Braves' fans as he watched the post-game ovation from the top of the dugout steps. "We lost 96 games now this season, and I noticed they lost 97 last year," he said. "I was just wondering what it would be like to be on the receiving end of something like this."

         Perhaps only rain can delay Atlanta's quest. There is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms in the area for today's game, which already has been moved up to 3 p.m. to appease CBS program directors. If the game is rained out, ticket-holders are out of luck. The game would be made up as part of a double header Sunday and, since no tickets are available for that day, Saturday's ticket-holders' only option is to exchange their seats for a game in 1992.

         There is still the likelihood that this race will not be decided before Sunday, when the Braves and the Dodgers close out their respective series. Nonetheless, Elizabeth Taylor has decided to go on with her eighth wedding on that day anyway.

         As has been the case at most Braves games since the All-Star break, this event had a series of off-field sideshows: a dozen fans greeted the Astros' team bus with Tomahawk Chops; two FM radio stations set up erecto-stations side-by-side, each trying to outblast the other's rock 'n' roll; and drums were set up to give fans a chance to practice their war beat (we suppose). "The fans have been great - I think we're getting spoiled," manager Bobby Cox said. "If we're not in first place, this is football season."

         It's somewhat of a reward in this final week that the Braves are finishing with the Astros. While the Braves (93-67) are 26 games over .500 for the first time in Atlanta history, Houston is 64-96 and has dropped 12 of 16 to the Braves, including nine straight. Friday's performance by Houston included as many errors as hits - four each. Errors led for most of the game. And speaking of errors, there was this from Lemke after the game: "That play bothered me momentarily, but then I put it out of my mind. You can't dwell on something like that when you're in a pennant race."

Houston Recap:
Steve Finley, cf   0 for 3  with1 so
Craig Biggio, c   0 for 4 with 1 rbi
Jeff Bagwell, 1b   0 for 4
Ken Caminiti, 3b   1 for 3 with 1 rbi, 1 bb, 1 so
Javier Ortiz, rf   1 for 3 with 1 bb, 1 so
Luis Gonzalez, lf   1 for 4
Andujar Cedeno, ss   0 for 4 with 1 so
Casey Candaele, 2b   1 for 4 with 1 r
Jeff Juden, p   0 for 1 with 1 so   
Gary Cooper, ph   0 for 1 
Mike Simms, ph   0 for 0 with 1 bb

Batting
2B: L Gonzalez (28, off S Avery)
HR: K Caminiti (13, off S Avery, 9th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to deep L-CF)
TB: K Caminiti 4; L Gonzalez 2; C Candaele; J Ortiz
RBI: K Caminiti (80); C Biggio (46)
Team LOB: 6
With RISP: 0 for 5

Fielding: 
DP: 1, Cedeno-Candaele-Bagwell
E: J Juden (3); A Cedeno 3 (15)

Baserunning:
SB: C Biggio (19, 2nd base off S Avery/G Olsen)

Pitching:
Jeff Juden, L (0-2), 5 ip, 4 h, 4 r, 3 er, 3 bb, 2 so, 1 hr, 87 pit with 48 str
Xavier Hernandez, 2 ip, 2 h, 0 br, 0 er, 0 bb, 2 so, 17 pit with 14 str
Jim Corsi, 1 ip, 2 h, 1 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 2 so, 23 pit with 13 str

Atlanta Recap:
Lonnie Smith, lf   1 for 4 with 1 h and 1 rbi
Mark Lemke, 2b   0 for 3 with 1 bb
Terry Pendleton, 3b   1 for 4 with 1 r, 1 rbi and 2 so
David Justice, rf   0 for 3 with 1 r, 1 bb and 2 so
Ron Gant, cf   2 for 3 with 2 r, 1 rbi and 1 bb
Sid Bream, 1b   1 for 4
Greg Olsen, c    1 for 3 with 1 rbi
Rafael Belliard, ss   2 for 4 with 1 r and 1 rbi
Steve Avery, p   0 for 4 with 2 so;  
Alejandro Pena, p 

Batting:
2B: R Gant (35, off J Juden)
HR: T Pendleton (22, off J Juden, 5th inn, 0 on, 1 out to deep RF)
SF: G Olsen (4, off J Juden)
TB: T Pendleton 4; R Gant 3; R Beliard 2; G Olsen; S Bream; L Smith
GIDP: G Olsen (12)
RBI: R Gant (103); L Smith (43); R Belliard (27); G Olsen (44); T Pendleton (85)
2-out RBI: R Belliard; L Smith
Team LOB: 7
With RISP: 4 for 10

Fielding:
E: M Lemke

Baserunning:
SB: R Gant (34, 2nd base off J Juden/C Biggia)
CS: R Gant (15, 2nd base by J Juden/C Biggio)
Pickoffs: D Justice (1st base by J Juden)

Pitching:
Steve Avery, W (18-8), 8 ip, 3 h, 2 r, 2 er, 3 bb, 5 so, 1 hr, 119 pit with 75 str
Alejandro Pena, S (15), 1 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 0 so, 21 pit with 16 str

Astros    000 000 011   2r 4h 4e
Braves   021 010 01X   5r 8h 1e


Attendance: 45,815
Time: 2:38