Gant Sends Braves His Best Two-Homer Day Lifts Cards To 3-2 Win

There was a time when Tom Glavine and the Atlanta Braves loved to see Ron Gant hit home runs.

A few more like the two he launched Saturday, however, and the Braves will be watching the World Series from home.

Gant connected twice against the team that abruptly dumped him two years ago because of a broken leg, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Braves 3-2 for a surprising 2-1 lead in the N.L. championship series.

“It’s a great feeling,” Gant said. “I had a lot of things happen to me in my career with Atlanta, a lot of good and a lot of bad. There’s a lot of emotion going through me when I play them.

“Yeah, it is sweet because it’s against Atlanta, but if it was against the Dodgers, it would be just as sweet.”

Before this round of playoffs began, Gant insisted over and over that he viewed the heavily favored Braves as merely another opponent. No one really believed it, though.

“This guy probably wants to beat up the Braves more than anybody in the clubhouse,” teammate Brian Jordan said.

Gant hit a two-run homer into the Cardinals bullpen in the first inning, then sent a solo shot off Glavine into the shrubs in center field in the sixth.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ronnie,” Glavine said. “I always wanted to see him play well - just not against us.”

Braves manager Bobby Cox was one of Gant’s biggest boosters, too, and hated to see him get released.

“I was there that day when the decision was made and it was very emotional,” Cox said. “It was tough because Ronnie is the kind of kid you love.”

Helped by the homers, outstanding pitching from winner Donovan Osborne and the bullpen and the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in the state of Missouri, the Cardinals were able to beat Atlanta at Busch Stadium for the first time in seven games this year.

The Cardinals also won their team-record eighth straight postseason game at home, a string that began in 1987.

The loss left the Braves in an unfamiliar position - trailing in October. The defending World Series champions waltzed through their previous five postseason series, but fell victim to another strong pitching performance by St. Louis and Gant’s home runs.

Game 4 is tonight, with Andy Benes starting for St. Louis and Denny Neagle for Atlanta. The Braves traded for the former All-Star in late August, but he has pitched only one inning in the postseason.

Osborne, whose bizarre year included a car crash, a brief stay in jail and an odd incident in which he cut his finger on a champagne bottle during a clinching celebration, put something positive on his resume - seven strong innings and a big-game win.

“The Braves have had great pitching for five years, but we’ve got pretty good pitching, too,” Osborne said. “Our staff has been underrated the whole year.”

Mark Petkovsek relieved with runners on first and second and no outs in the eighth with St. Louis leading 3-1. Javy Lopez had an infield single that loaded the bases and Jermaine Dye, just 2 for 22 in the postseason, lifted a sacrifice fly to sore-armed center fielder Ray Lankford.

But Petkovsek limited the damage, retiring pinch-hitter Terry Pendleton on a soft liner and striking out Jeff Blauser, leaving the No. 8 hitter in a 2-for-21 rut in the postseason.

Rick Honeycutt took over to start the ninth and threw only one pitch, getting pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko on a grounder.

Dennis Eckersley then relieved and got the last two outs for a save, setting off a celebration among the red-clad crowd of 56,769.

It seemed fitting that Gant and Osborne were teammates in victory. They both missed the entire 1994 season because of injuries, Gant with his broken leg and Osborne with shoulder trouble.

Gant broke his right leg in a dirt-bike accident after the 1993 season, and the Braves cut him the next year in spring training. Doctors advised Atlanta that Gant probably would not be able to play all season - a correct diagnosis - and the team did not want to pay his non-guaranteed $5.5 million salary, the richest one-year deal in baseball history when he signed it.

Gant, one of the reasons the Braves made it to the World Series in 1991 and 1992 and reached the N.L. playoffs in 1993, had averaged almost 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in the four seasons before he was cut.

The All-Star outfielder admitted he was stung by his release.

“If I said no, I’d be a liar,” Gant said. “Yes, I did have hard feelings.”

Notes

The last time Atlanta trailed in the postseason was 1993, when Philadelphia won the N.L. playoffs 4-2… . Glavine, who did not hit a batter this season, hit John Mabry in the back in the first inning… . Andruw Jones, 19, started in left field in place of Klesko, who was benched with a lefty pitching. The youngest player ever to start a postseason game was 18-year-old Fred Lindstrom for the New York Giants in the 1924 World Series.

Cardinals 3, Braves 2

Atlanta St. Louis ab r h bi ab r h bi Grssom cf 5 1 2 0 Clayton ss 4 1 2 0 Lemke 2b 4 0 1 0 Lnkfrd cf 4 0 0 0 CpJnes 3b 3 1 1 1 Hnyctt p 0 0 0 0 McGrff 1b 3 0 1 0 Eckrsly p 0 0 0 0 JLopez c 4 0 3 0 Gant lf 4 2 2 3 Dye rf 3 0 0 1 BJrdn rf 4 0 0 0 AJones lf 2 0 0 0 Gaetti 3b 3 0 2 0 Pndlton ph 1 0 0 0 Mabry 1b 2 0 1 0 McMcl p 0 0 0 0 Pgnozzi c 3 0 0 0 Blauser ss 4 0 0 0 Gallego 2b 3 0 0 0 Glavine p 2 0 0 0 Osbrne p 3 0 0 0 Mrdcai ph 1 0 0 0 Ptkvsk p 0 0 0 0 Belecki p 0 0 0 0 McGee cf 0 0 0 0 Klesko lf 1 0 0 0 Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 30 3 7 3 Atlanta 100 000 010 - 2 St. Louis 200 001 00x - 3 E-Blauser (1). DP-Atlanta 1. LOBAtlanta 9, St. Louis 4. 2B-JLopez (1). HR-Gant 2 (2). SF-CpJones, Dye.

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO Glavine L,0-1 6 7 3 3 0 5 Bielecki 1 0 0 0 0 1 McMichael 1 0 0 0 0 2 St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO Osborne W,1-0 7 7 2 2 3 6 Petkovsek 1 1 0 0 0 1 Honeycutt 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 Eckersley S,2/3 1 0 0 0 0 1 Osborne pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.

HBPby Glavine (Mabry). WP-Osborne.

T-2:46. A-56,769 (57,078).