CAMINITI'S HR IS A PERFECT 10 : SAN DIEGO 3, ATLANTA 2.

Byline: Associated Press 

Ken Caminiti closed the game for the San Diego Padres - to Trevor Hoffman's relief.

Caminiti hit a solo home run in the 10th inning and the Padres overcame a rare lapse by baseball's best reliever to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Wednesday night in a rain-delayed Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.

On an evening when daring running - and a blown save by Hoffman - sent the game into extra innings, Caminiti trotted around the bases after connecting with one out in the 10th off Kerry Ligtenberg.

``I was seeing the ball good. My timing was back. And I felt good,'' Caminiti said. ``It was big.''

It was the fourth postseason homer of Caminiti's career, and helped him atone for failing to come up with a key throw that let the Braves tie it.

Ruben Rivera, subbing for injured Greg Vaughn, doubled and dashed home on Jim Leyritz's dribbler to give the Padres a 2-1 lead in the eighth. But in the ninth, Hoffman, who converted 53 of 54 save chances this season, could not protect the edge and gave up Andruw Jones' tying sacrifice fly.

``A loss is a loss,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``We came back against their best reliever. We had him in trouble every inning.''

In fact, Hoffman could not even close out the game. With two outs in the 10th, he walked pitcher Tom Glavine - pinch-hitting because Cox ran out of position players - and Donne Wall relieved.

Wall, who had only one save this season, walked Chipper Jones before retiring Andres Galarraga on a long fly to center field.

Hoffman pitched two innings and wound up with the victory. The game ended at 1:43 a.m. EDT, pushed back by a 2 hour, 1 minute rain delay at the start.

``I'm not out here to get saves; I'm out here to win ballgames,'' Hoffman said.

The win was a good omen for the underdog Padres. The last five teams to win the opener of the NLCS have gone on to the World Series.

San Diego sustained a loss, however, when 50-homer man Vaughn limped off in the fifth inning because of a strained left quadriceps. Rivera replaced him.

``Not real good news on that. He could be out 3-4 days, that's the early prognosis,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.

Game 2 will be tonight, with Braves nemesis Kevin Brown pitching against Glavine. Last fall, Brown beat Atlanta twice at Turner Field in the NLCS for Florida.

Steady rain, lightning and thunder threatened to cause the first rainout in the two-year history of Turner Field.

The bad weather might have helped hold the crowd down to 42,117 - about 9,000 short of a sellout and the smallest in Atlanta postseason history. But even before the storm came, the game was not expected to be sold out.

In the Atlanta ninth, Ryan Klesko walked with one out and surprisingly tried to take third on Javy Lopez's single to left. Rivera's throw beat him, but Caminiti did not catch the throw and Klesko - his nose bloodied from colliding with Caminiti's shoulder - was safe.

``It was a very aggressive play on his part,'' Caminiti said. ``I just tried to put a good tag and went too quick.''

Andruw Jones, whose home run gave Atlanta an early 1-0 lead, swung away on a 3-0 pitch and hit a sacrifice fly.

Padres starter Andy Ashby and Atlanta ace John Smoltz dueled evenly into the seventh with the game tied at 1.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) San Diego's Ken Caminiti watches the flight of his game-winning home run in the 10th inning.

Eric Draper/Associated Press

(2) San Diego's Jon Vander Wal, left, and Mark Sweeney congratulate Ken Caminiti.

John Bazemore/Associated Press