ATLANTA BURNED; JOHNSON'S BIG HIT IS A WINNER.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. All the odds were against Charles Johnson Charles Johnson may refer to:
Johnson delivered a tiebreaking, bases-loaded double in the sixth inning as the Marlins rallied once again, beating Atlanta 5-2 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the NL Championship Series. The three-run drive off John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967 in Warren, Michigan) is a Major League Baseball player currently playing with the Atlanta Braves. He is predominantly known as a starter and former Cy Young Award winner. erased any need for NL president Len Coleman to hear Marlins manager Jim Leyland's protest of an earlier play and delighted a baseball-record crowd of 53,857 at Pro Player Stadium. ``Those days back in June when you're playing, you play for days like this,'' Johnson said. ``Especially when you win a game like this.'' Johnson's hit was remarkable for two reasons. No player in the majors batted more often this season with the bases loaded (13) without getting a hit. In addition, Johnson was 0 for 12 lifetime with eight strikeouts against Smoltz - including his two previous at-bats in the game - when he stepped to the plate. ``I knew it was something bad,'' Johnson said of Smoltz. ``He's one of the best pitchers in the game. He showed it today. He got me my first two at-bats.'' But Johnson, whose rare error in Game 2 sent the Braves toward a 7-1 win, hung in against Smoltz, whose 10 postseason wins tie him with Whitey Ford  Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (born October 21, 1928) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. and Dave Stewart Dave Stewart is the name of several famous people:
``What a time for him to get his first career hit off me,'' Smoltz said. In the Marlins sixth, Edgar Renteria doubled with one out and Gary Sheffield walked. With two outs, Darren Daulton hit an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double that made it 2-2 and an intentional walk to Devon White brought up Johnson. Johnson fouled off a 2-2 pitch, then hit a liner that barely escaped left fielder Ryan Klesko's dive, landed on the cinder cin·der n. 1. a. A burned or partly burned substance, such as coal, that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion. b. A partly charred substance that can burn further but without flame. warning track and one-hopped off the wall. The Marlins spilled out of the dugout to greet the runners that scored. Leading the cheers was pitcher Alex Fernandez, diagnosed a day earlier with a torn rotator cuff rotator cuff n. A set of muscles and tendons that secures the arm to the shoulder joint and permits rotation of the arm. Also called musculotendinous cuff. . Johnson's hit capped a four-run inning, kept alive when Daulton's two-out liner froze right fielder Andruw Jones and sailed over his head for an RBI double. ``It took off and went up in the air like a Frisbee,'' Jones said. Livan Hernandez, scheduled to pitch Game 6 in place of Fernandez, worked 1-2/3 scoreless innings for the win and Robb Nen got his second save of the series. The Marlins' 47th come-from-behind win this season left Smoltz as the loser. Game 4 is tonight. Kevin Brown, the winner of Game 1, was scheduled to start against 20-game winner Denny Neagle of the Braves. After the game, Leyland said he would start Al Leiter instead and give Brown, who was bothered by a viral infection viral infection, n an infection by a pathogenic virus. A virus acts on the cell nucleus, taking over the genetic material within the nucleus and replicating itself. on Friday, the Game 5 assignment. Pitching dominated the early innings. Smoltz did not allow a hit until Sheffield's home run in the fourth tied it at 1. Smoltz struck out six in the first three innings and fanned nine in six innings. Rookie Tony Saunders, 3-0 with a 1.65 ERA in four starts against Atlanta this year, permitted just one hit through three innnings. Then came the controversial fourth. Kenny Lofton led off with a single and was running on a 3-2 pitch to Jeff Blauser. It was ball four, low and away, but Lofton slid head-first and was called out by second base umpire Eric Gregg. Lofton got up, shaking his head and walked off the bag. Alertly, second baseman Craig Counsell tagged Lofton again, and Gregg signaled out. But a moment later, Lofton was allowed to stay at second. Leyland came out to argue his point with several umpires, and eventually crew chief Bruce Froemming huddled with Coleman, seated in a first-row box with Marlins president Don Smiley. The umpires decided to let Lofton remain, saying it was umpire error that caused the confusion. Leyland put the game under protest, which became moot once the Marlins won. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--color) Atlanta's Keith Lockhart complains after umpire Eric Gregg called him out at second base. (2) Starting pitcher John Smoltz will have to try again for his 11th career postseason win. Associated Press |
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