Atlanta rallies, forces Game 5
HOUSTON – As soon as Roger Clemens was gone, the Atlanta Braves pounced on the Houston Astros’ bullpen and avoided another quick exit from the playoffs.
Adam LaRoche hit a tying, three-run homer in the sixth inning and J.D. Drew singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth for a 6-5 victory Sunday that tied the best-of-5 N.L. series at two games apiece.
“We get to go back home and the plane ride’s a lot easier,” Atlanta’s John Smoltz said. “We worked very hard to get home-field advantage and we need to take care of it. I feel like we got a break today.”
Jaret Wright, the Game 1 loser, starts for the Braves on Monday at Turner Field against 20-game winner Roy Oswalt, who didn’t get a decision in Game 2.
Pitching on only three days’ rest, Clemens left after five innings with a 5-2 lead, but the Braves rallied to snap Houston’s 19-game home winning streak. It was another agonizing loss in October for the Astros, still looking to win a postseason series for the first time.
“Streaks are streaks, they’ve got to come to an end some time,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Houston tried to mount its own comeback in the bottom of the ninth, when Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman singled off Smoltz with one out to put runners at the corners. Smoltz then got his record 14th postseason win when Jeff Kent grounded into a game-ending double play.
On the verge of its third consecutive first-round loss, Atlanta made its move right after Chad Qualls replaced Clemens. Chipper Jones singled, Andruw Jones doubled with one out and LaRoche homered into the Astros’ bullpen in right.
The winning rally began when Russ Springer, who relieved Brad Lidge to start the ninth, hit Rafael Furcal with a pitch with two outs and Furcal stole second.
Drew, hitless in three previous at-bats Sunday and 2 for 15 in the series to that point, singled to right-center, with Furcal scoring easily.
Houston fell apart when Clemens left, and the sellout crowd of 43,335 got eerily quiet.
“He was at the end of his road,” Astros manager Phil Garner said. “As a matter of fact, he was on pure fumes. He got us through it. We had some momentum, we had the lead. We let it slip away.”
Chipper Jones had a different take on the Braves’ comeback: “We overcame a fluke five-run rally,” he said. “You’re just thinking to yourself right there that there is no way we’re going to end our season on that note.”