SAN FRANCISCO — Rick Ankiel has a postseason memory he can celebrate. His clutch hit gave the Atlanta Braves yet another comeback victory in a season full of them.
Ankiel splashed a home run into McCovey Cove in the 11th inning for his first postseason clout and Atlanta rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Friday night, tying their NL division series at one game apiece.
The Braves pulled this one out with manager Bobby Cox watching the final nine innings from the clubhouse after his third career postseason ejection. The skipper told his team a victory in Game 2 would swing the momentum to the Braves as they headed home to Turner Field.
"The biggest homer of my career by far," Ankiel said. "To be honest with you, I wanted to go from the batter's box to the dugout and be with the guys and not run the bases. What a cool thing to do and what a cool way to win."
Kyle Farnsworth pitched 1 2-3 shutout innings for the victory, relieving in the 10th after closer Billy Wagner got hurt. Farnsworth escaped a bases-loaded jam when Buster Posey grounded into an inning-ending double play that was started by third baseman Troy Glaus.
Before his home run, Ankiel had been best known in the playoffs for his meltdown against Atlanta in 2000 while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.
That year, Ankiel started Game 1 of the NL division series but had major control problems and wound up walking six with five wild pitches in 2 2-3 innings. In Game 2 of the NLCS, he didn't even make it out of the first inning, walking three and throwing two more wild pitches while retiring only two batters.
The issues with his command eventually persuaded the once-promising lefty to switch positions and become an outfielder. He struck out in his only two postseason at-bats last year for St. Louis.
"It's been a long, fun journey and I appreciate everything that's happened," Ankiel said.
Farnsworth and Ankiel came to the Braves at the trade deadline from Kansas City.
"The two guys we got in the trade won us the game tonight," catcher Brian McCann said. "This was the best win I've ever been a part of. You don't want to be down 0-2 in a best-of-five series. That was huge. I'm in awe of what we just did."
more
No comments:
Post a Comment