Neagle Makes Most Of Rare Opportunity 20-Game Winner Blanks Marlins

All of a sudden, this great pitching matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins looks a little lopsided.

The Braves turned up another ace Saturday night, with Denny Neagle showing why he’s one of the best No. 4 starters in baseball history. His four-hitter led Atlanta over Florida 4-0, evening the N.L. Championship Series at 2-all.

Neagle topped the N.L. with 20 wins this year, but had made just one relief appearance in the postseason while waiting to take his turn behind Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

“I think what we saw tonight, basically, was the depth of their pitching staff,” said Marlins manager Jim Leyland, who managed Neagle for five seasons in Pittsburgh. “It showed up big time.”

The Marlins’ situation, though, is not so bright.

“A severe case of the pitching blues,” Leyland termed it before the game.

Game 5 today will match Maddux against Kevin Brown, pushed back a day because of a viral infection and replaced by Al Leiter.

Brown left Pro Player Stadium early because of his illness, but Leyland was still hoping he could pitch. If not, it will be up to rookie Livan Hernandez, who already was scheduled to start Game 6 in place of Alex Fernandez, diagnosed Thursday with a torn rotator cuff.

“Other than some viral infections, I think we are fine,” Leyland said. “Our pitching rotation has been drastically readjusted, but we are not looking for that.

“We know what we got left - Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz,” he said. “We have Brown, Hernandez and (Tony) Saunders. We’re OK.”

In his first start since Sept. 28, Neagle was as sharp as ever, striking out seven and walking one in the first NLCS shutout since 1991.

“I had confidence in myself,” Neagle said. “I didn’t think I was that much rusty tonight. I felt great from the get-go. Obviously, you don’t necessarily expect to go throw a four-hit shutout. But I really felt good going in.”

Fred McGriff doubled, singled and drove in two runs, Chipper Jones had three hits and Jeff Blauser homered for Atlanta. The win ensured the best-of-7 series would return to Atlanta’s Turner Field.

A day after the Marlins rallied past Smoltz for a 5-2 win, Neagle gave them nothing to hit, permitting just four singles and allowing no one past second base. The left-hander had the same results as he did in Game 1 Tuesday, when he pitched three scoreless innings in relief, although this came in a much bigger spot.

Featuring his off-speed stuff, Neagle retired the first nine batters - the third straight game an Atlanta starter had accomplished the feat - before Kurt Abbott bunted for a single to begin the fourth.

Neagle’s only trouble came in the sixth when pinch-hitter Alex Arias singled with one out and Edgar Renteria singled with two outs. Gary Sheffield hit a hard grounder up the middle that second baseman Tony Graffanino fielded for a forceout.

A quiet crowd of 54,890, a Marlins record attendance for the second straight night, saw Florida go quickly after that. Neagle allowed only an infield single to pinch-hitter John Cangelosi in the eighth in finishing up.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Braves 4, Marlins 0 Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Lofton cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .158 Blauser ss 3 2 1 1 2 1 .308 ChJones 3b 5 2 3 0 0 0 .438 McGriff 1b 3 0 2 2 1 1 .385 JLopez c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .077 AJones rf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .444 Bautista lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Graffanino 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .250 Neagle p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Totals 35 4 11 4 3 8

Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Abbott 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .375 Renteria ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .200 Sheffield rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .250 Bonilla 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .067 Conine 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Alou lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .125 CJohnson c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .167 DWhite cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .154 ALeiter p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 a-AArias ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.000 FHeredia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 — b-Cangelosi ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .200 Vosberg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Totals 31 0 4 0 1 7

Atlanta 101 020 000 4 Florida 000 000 000 0 a-singled for Leiter in the 6th. b-singled for Heredia in the 8th. LOB-Atlanta 8, Florida 5. 2B-ChJones (1), McGriff (1). HR- Blauser (1) off ALeiter. RBIs-Blauser (1), McGriff 2 (4), AJones (1). S-Neagle. GIDP-Lofton. Runners left in scoring position-Atlanta 5 (Lofton 2, ChJones, Bautista 2); Florida 1 (Sheffield). DP-Florida 1 (ALeiter, Renteria and Conine).

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Neagle W,1-0 9 4 0 0 1 7 107 0.00

Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA ALeiter L,0-1 6 10 4 4 2 5 119 4.32 FHeredia 2 0 0 0 0 2 21 5.40 Vosberg 1 1 0 0 1 1 24 0.00

T-2:48. A-54,890 (41,855).