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Posted: Wednesday October 20, 1999 02:25 AM
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The New York Mets nearly came all the way back. But the Atlanta Braves are going back to the World Series.
The Braves survived another improbable comeback by the Mets before staging a pair of their own, reaching their fifth World Series of the 1990s with a 10-9 victory in 11 innings in another playoff classic.
A bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones in the bottom of the 11th allowed Atlanta to finally close out the National League Championship Series in six games. It was an empty end to a series that saw the last five games decided by one run, with dramatic emotional swings and fantastic finishes.
The Braves scored five runs in the first inning and still led by four runs in the seventh. They found themselves five outs from becoming the first team to blow a 3-0 series lead before forcing extra innings on Brian Hunter's RBI single in the eighth.
The Mets again appeared on the verge of forcing a Game Seven when Todd Pratt lifted a sacrifice fly off New York villain John Rocker, who was involved in a high-speed car crash earlier in the day. Again the Braves rallied, tying it 9-9 on Ozzie Guillen's pinch RBI single off closer Armando Benitez.
"We had chances to die, too, and we didn't," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Russ Springer (1-0), Atlanta's sixth pitcher, worked a 1-2-3 11th to set up the bottom half. Gerald Williams opened with a double off Kenny Rogers (0-3), New York's eighth pitcher whose postseason nightmare continued.
Bret Boone sacrificed and Rogers intentionally walked Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan to load the bases. The lefthander went to 3-1 on Andruw Jones, got a strike and threw one high and outside, ending a remarkable late-season run by the Mets.
"I had to get the ball over the plate to Andruw and I didn't," Rogers said. "It's hard to get a ground ball that way."
After losing five of six to the Braves late in the season, the Mets were left for dead. They swept a season-ending series from Pittsburgh to force a one-game playoff for the wild card berth, then beat Cincinnati for their first postseason visit in 11 years.
New York ambushed Arizona in the Division Series before losing the first three games to Atlanta. Four outs from elimination, the Mets rallied to win Game Four. Two outs from an exit, they won Game Five. Tonight, they did it again but just could not hold on.
"You have to give them credit," Williams said. "They kept scrapping, hitting the ball well."
"We gave everything we had," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "There's a lot left out on the field, I'll tell you that."
The Mets were just the second team in history to force a sixth game after losing the first three. They joined the Braves, who did it last year against San Diego.
"There's no disappointment, no disappointment at all," Mets catcher Todd Pratt said. "We played our hearts out."
Game Five, a 15-inning 4-3 victory by the Mets, lasted nearly six hours and featured 44 players and 15 pitchers. Tonight's contest also featured 44 players but had much more hitting and lead changes.
Atlanta set up a World Series showdown with the New York Yankees that will determine the team of the decade. The Braves have won eight division titles but just one World Series, beating the Cleveland Indians in 1995.
The Braves derailed the "Subway Series" and get another shot at the defending world champions beginning Saturday night. In 1996, the Yankees beat the Braves in six games, winning the last four.
Braves catcher Eddie Perez was named NLCS Most Valuable Player.
He had a two-run single in the five-run first that chased Mets starter Al Leiter after just 25 pitches and hit .500 (10-for-20) with two homers and five RBI in the series.
The Mets knocked out Braves starter Kevin Millwood in the sixth with three runs, highlighted by Darryl Hamilton's third hit, a two-run single that cut the deficit to 5-3. But they looked done when Atlanta responded in the bottom half with Jose Hernandez's two-run pinch single off Dennis Cook.
However, the Mets came roaring back against John Smoltz, who saved Game Two and started Game Four. Pinch-hitter Matt Franco and Rickey Henderson doubled for a run and Edgardo Alfonzo hit a long flyout to right. John Olerud singled in a run and Mike Piazza homered, completing the comeback with a 7-7 tie.
"They had to be thinking, 'What do we have to do to beat those guys?'" Mets catcher Todd Pratt said.
One inning later, the Mets were ahead as pinch-hitter Melvin Mora singled home Benny Agbayani. But they could not hold it.
With one out, Perez singled off John Franco and pinch-runner Otis Nixon stole second, took third as Piazza's throw skipped into center field and scored on Hunter's single.
Agbayani started things again in the 10th with a walk. He was picked off but reached second when first baseman Hunter's throw to second hit him in the back. Mora singled and Pratt lifted a sacrifice fly, putting Rocker on the hook.
But Andruw Jones opened the 10th with a single, pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko drew a one-out walk and Guillen slapped the tying single. On the play, Mora made a great throw from right field to nail Klesko at third.
"(Jones') last two at-bats were very calculated and patient at-bats," Valentine said.
The first inning was a disaster for Leiter, who had won a handful of crucial games down the stretch but was working on three days rest.
He hit two batters, walked one and threw to the wrong base on Andruw Jones' tapper, setting up Perez's two-run single. Hunter followed with a sacrifice fly to cap the five-run outburst.
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