"They could have had some type of communication problem," Braves Manager Bobby Cox said. "But the phone was working, absolutely, 100 percent. . . . Well, it doesn't make any difference now. We won the ballgame."
Once Cox turned his attention back to managing, he began being remarkably aggressive. With Lidge facing a 2-1 count against Giles, Cox put on the suicide squeeze play. With Furcal barreling down the third base line, Giles squared to bunt, but bunted the ball straight into the ground, foul. Furcal retreated to third base, and Lidge, with his next pitch, blew Giles away with a fastball for the second out of the inning.
Wilson Betemit is tagged out at home by Astros' Raul Chavez on a fly ball hit by Andruw Jones in the eighth inning.
(John Bazemore -- AP)
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| _____ From The Post _____
• Notebook: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera loses two relatives in a pool accident in Panama.
• 1996 NL MVP Ken Caminiti dies suddenly at the age of 41.
_____ On Our Site _____
• Post's Dave Sheinin took questions Wednesday. Read the transcript.
_____ NL Schedule, Results _____
St. Louis vs. Los Angeles
Game 1: Cardinals 8, Dodgers 3
Game 2: Cardinals 8, Dodgers 3
Game 3: Dodgers 4, Cardinals 0
Game 4: Cardinals 6, Dodgers 2
• Cardinals win series, 3-1 Atlanta vs. Houston
Game 1: Astros 9, Braves 3
Game 2: Braves 4, Astros 2 (11)
Game 3: Astros 8, Braves 5
Game 4: Braves 6, Astros 5
Game 5: Astros 12, Braves 3
• Astros win series, 3-2 * -- If necessary
All times Eastern Daylight Time
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Four pitches later, when Lidge bounced a breaking ball that got away from catcher Raul Chavez, Furcal attempted to score again, but was cut down easily at the plate, with Lidge taking Chavez flip-throw and applying the tag.
Both teams took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
There would be more heavy breathing an inning later. Lidge, a right-hander with a nasty assortment of pitches, set an all-time record for relievers with 157 strikeouts. He had not allowed a run in nearly four weeks. But in the eighth inning, the Braves tied the game with a walk and three hits against him, the last of which was an RBI double off the wall in left-center by Adam LaRoche.
Did the Astros ask too much of their closer? "He was well-rested," Garner said, when asked about the decision. "I felt good about it, and I'd do it again."
If Furcal's game-winning homer is the lasting image of this affair, the next-most-memorable must have been Smoltz -- the last remaining member of the 1991 Braves squad that started its unprecedented run of 13 straight playoff appearances -- being allowed to bat in the bottom of the ninth, having already pitched two innings, and promptly lining a first-pitch fastball to right for a single.
"This was a must-win game," Smoltz said. "Everyone had to be prepared to do whatever it took. . . . My adrenaline was pumping when I got that hit, more than on any pitch I've ever thrown."
