Not surprisingly, the 42-year-old Clemens got off to a rough start.
He gave up three straight singles to begin the second, with Andruw Jones driving in Chipper Jones. LaRoche followed by grounding into a double play that scored Johnny Estrada to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.
| _____ 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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Clemens got the Astros' offense going in the second with his first postseason RBI, a sacrifice fly that scored Kent.
The inning appeared to end on Craig Biggio's popup that hit the rafters and was caught by Atlanta starter Russ Ortiz. But the ball was ruled foul, and Biggio followed with a three-run homer that sailed over the left field fence and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Carlos Beltran followed with a double and Bagwell singled him in to give the Astros a 5-2 lead.
Shortly after that, the JumboTron began showing an animated skit in which swarms of killer bees buzz over the Braves' tomahawk. The skit ended with a single word emblazoned across the Astros' shooting star logo: Believe.
Not just yet. Houston fell apart when Clemens left, and the sellout crowd of 43,336 got eerily quiet.
"I don't know what else to tell you except I went up there and gave it everything I had," Clemens said.
Astros Manager Phil Garner vigorously defended his decision to remove Clemens, who retired his final five batters.
"He was at the end of his road," Garner said. "As a matter of fact, he was on pure fumes. He got us through it. We had some momentum, we had the lead. We let it slip away."
