Cincinnati Puts On No-Show Atlanta Wins In 11th Inning, 2-1 Before 13,620 Empty Seats At Riverfront

After coming up as empty as the Riverfront Stadium seats for most of the night, the Atlanta Braves knew their time had come.

The Braves pulled off their third comeback victory of the N.L. playoffs Tuesday night by turning five double plays and turning to another unlikely hero. Mike Devereaux’s 11th-inning single gave them a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of the National League Championship Series.

“I don’t think you can be surprised by anything this team does anymore,” starter Tom Glavine said. “We certainly don’t seem to do anything easy. Certainly as bad as we may look at times, there’s just something about the eighth and ninth that brings out the best in our team.”

John Smoltz, who has beaten the Reds three times this season, will oppose John Smiley, who has never won a playoff game, in Game 2 tonight at Riverfront Stadium.

There were more than 10,000 empty seats when the first pitch was thrown Tuesday on a clear, 69-degree evening, a sign that baseball still has a long way to go to win back fans. The Reds sold only 40,382 tickets and had 3,620 no-shows.

And the Braves left them filing out silently by pulling off their third comeback of the playoffs.

David Justice tied it in the ninth with an RBI forceout, and Fred McGriff drew a leadoff walk in the 11th off Mike Jackson. Luis Polonia sacrificed, and Devereaux - a late-inning defensive replacement - lined a single up the middle.

Devereaux, obtained from the Chicago White Sox last August to improve the Braves’ bench, added his name to their list of postseason heroes.

“It was a great moment for me, since I haven’t been involved in postseason play,” Devereaux said. “The only thing I thought about was being in a situation where the game is on the line. After it happened today, I just can’t wait for the next time.”

It was the game’s biggest hit, but not the last moment of drama.

Brad Clontz gave up a leadoff double to Thomas Howard in the bottom of the 11th, and Steve Avery - demoted to the bullpen for the playoffs - came in and walked pinch-hitter Mariano Duncan. Greg McMichael then got Reggie Sanders to ground to shortstop, starting a game-ending double play.

“We could have won that game. We SHOULD have won that game,” Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said. “We blew opportunity after opportunity, especially when you hit into five double plays.”

The two starting pitchers gave the stunningly small crowd little to cheer. Glavine allowed just one run on Ron Gant’s infield single in the fourth, and Pete Schourek took a four-hit shutout into the ninth before Atlanta pulled off its third late-inning comeback of the playoffs.

Reds manager Davey Johnson let Schourek try for only his second career shutout, but it quickly backfired. Chipper Jones opened with a single - only the fifth hit off the left-hander - and took third on McGriff’s single.

Justice then hit a grounder to second baseman Bret Boone, who was able only to get the force at second. Johnson pulled Schourek after he bounced a breaking ball for a wild pitch on his 102nd pitch, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position.

Cincinnati’s defense, which helped Schourek all night, then saved reliever Jeff Brantley. Darren Lewis, a defensive replacement in center field in the ninth, went to his knees to steal a hit away on Javy Lopez’s sinking liner.

Brantley got pinch-hitter Dwight Smith to fly out with the bases loaded, ending the ninth-inning rally.

“No question about it, Pete pitched a heck of a game,” Johnson said. “He had a low pitch count going into the ninth, and really the guys coming up there that you wanted him to face. It was just a matter of inches (on McGriff’s single) or it’s a double play. That’s baseball.”

Atlanta’s formidable starting rotation was the talk of the series coming in, but Schourek showed the Braves don’t have a monopoly on pitching.

The night’s loudest cheers went to Schourek, who spent most of his career getting booed. The lowly New York Mets simply gave up on him last season, shipping him out on waivers.