BRAVES HANG ON TO HOPE; GALARRAGA BLAST TOPS PADRES : ATLANTA 8 SAN DIEGO 3.

Byline: Thomas Stinson Cox News Service

The Atlanta Braves remain deep in a cave, where it is very dark. But from somewhere Sunday night came a draft of fresh air.

Slump-ridden Andres Galarraga's grand slam off Dan Miceli juiced a six-run seventh inning as the Braves came from behind twice to beat San Diego 8-3 in their biggest outburst in 14 postseason games.

No club has ever come back to win a series after losing the first three games, but the Braves have given themselves a chance, closing what has been a disastrous NLCS to three games to one.

``We feel now it's a two-game series,'' manager Bobby Cox said, ``We need to win two, then get back home and see what happens there.''

John Smoltz faces Andy Ashby in tonight's Game 5, with the Braves in search of a four-game winning streak. Fourteen times this season, Atlanta has strung together four victories or more. If there was a more critical postseason performance than Sunday's, Cox can't remember it.

``Well, it's either win tonight or go home,'' Cox said. ``So it's darn big right now.''

Dennis Martinez, who retired a batter in the sixth, recorded the victory in relief of Denny Neagle, who came out after 5-2/3 and the Braves trailing 3-2.

The rally began with Javy Lopez, who had struck out in his previous three at-bats. He tied the game with a first-pitch homer off Joey Hamilton to open the seventh, making it 3-3. Andruw Jones then served an infield single over the mound, chasing Hamilton for left-hander Randy Myers.

Pinch-hitter Gerald Williams struck out, and after Jones took second on a wild pitch, Greg Colbrunn failed to advance him with a ground- ut. But Ozzie Guillen flicked a slider down and out of the strike zone into left, allowing Jones to score after left fielder Ruben Rivera bobbled the ball.

Myers then walked Chipper Jones, which forced manager Bruce Bochy to bring in right-hander Miceli to face Galarraga, who to that point was 4 for 24 in the postseason. He drove Miceli's second pitch over the wall, the sixth grand slam in NLCS history and the first since Gary Gaetti's blast off Greg Maddux in Game 2 of the 1996 Atlanta-St. Louis series.

That all this work came against the Padres' vaunted bullpen was almost as significant as the score.

``Well, it just didn't happen for us tonight,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. ``They've done a good job for us all year. We just couldn't get it done. That's going to happen sometime.''

The Padres hadn't been able to do anything dramatic this month unless Jim Leyritz is involved, and the first baseman obliged in the sixth, right after Neagle had baffled him with a changeup to leave the count 1-2. Leyritz enhanced his reputation for abusing the Braves by lining the next fastball over the right-field fence. It was his fourth homer in the postseason and gave the Padres a 3-2 lead.

Ryan Klesko, struggling through a miserable NLCS without a hit in his first seven at-bats, tied the game in the sixth, after Chipper Jones hit a two-out double and Galarraga walked. Klesko sent his first hit of the series into left, scoring Jones to tie it 2-2, although Galarraga cut the rally short when he was caught between second and third while Jones scored.

Keith Lockhart, one Atlanta constant this month who brought a .300 postseason average into the game, opened the fourth with a triple that just eluded Steve Finley at the wall in right-center. That marked Atlanta's first extra-base hit in 21 innings this series, the first since Lockhart's double in the fourth inning of Game 1.

Atlanta hitters had gone 2 for 20 to that point in the series with runners in scoring position, but Jones delivered a two-strike single to left to close the gap to 2-1. The run matched the production of the Braves' previous 22 innings.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, 2 Boxes

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) PADRES DENIED THE SWEEP (Fans)

AP Photo

(2--Color) After his grand slam, Atlanta's Andres Galarraga is greeted at home by Ozzie Guillen.

Eric Draper/Associated Press

Box: (1) POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

NLCS

WORLD SERIES

(2) BOX SCORE