SAN DIEGO SURVIVES THE STORM; HOFFMAN FALTERS, BUT PADRES RECOVER TO WIN IN 10TH INNING : SAN DIEGO 3, ATLANTA 2.

Byline: Associated Press 

This time, the San Diego Padres saved Trevor Hoffman.

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

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

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's double and dash home on Jim Leyritz's dribbler gave 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.

In fact, Hoffman could not even close out the game. With two outs in the 10th, he walked pitcher Tom Glavine - pinch-hitting because the Braves 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.

Ryan Klesko walked with one out in the Atlanta ninth 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.

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

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

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 Greg Vaughn limped off in the fifth inning because of a strained left quadriceps. His status was day-to-day, and Rivera replaced him.

Game 2 will be Thursday night, 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. After a delay of 2 hours, 1 minute, the field was ready and the game began, though it started raining lightly in the last two innings.

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.

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

Gwynn picked on a familiar victim for an RBI single that made it 1-all in the fifth. A leadoff single by Carlos Hernandez, a sacrifice by Ashby and a costly two-out walk to Quilvio Veras brought up Gwynn, and the eight-time NL batting champion lined the first pitch to left field.

For Gwynn, it was his second hit of the night and he's now 30-for-65 (.455) lifetime against Smoltz.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Braves starter John Smoltz struggled with his control but pitched seven innings.

(2) Padres starter Andy Ashby dueled evenly with the Braves' John Smoltz and left with a 1-1 tie.

Pat Sullivan/Associated Press