Braves favored to win division series
Atlanta expects its strong pitching staff to
help it dominate in its seventh-straight
National League Championship Series
By Paul Newberry
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The surest bet in sports? It might be
the Atlanta Braves in the division series.
While the Braves have struggled in the World Se
ries, winning only once in four tries this decade,
they’ve owned the best-of-5 round that was added
in 1995.
Atlanta finished off its third straight sweep with
a 6-2 victory Saturday over the Chicago Cubs. Over
all, the Braves are 4-for-4 in the first round, losing
only once in 13 games.
The Braves move on to play in their seventh
straight NLCS, a feat that’s even more remarkable
considering the extra round of playoffs they’ve had
to get through the last four years.
After beating Colorado 3-1 in 1995, Atlanta swept
Los Angeles, Houston and now the Cubs. During the
last three years, the Braves have given up only 14
runs in nine first-round games.
Atlanta, 4-2 in the championship series since
1991, will meet San Diego.
In a champagne-soaked clubhouse, the Braves
were in no mood for reflection. As usual, the season
won’t be considered a success unless they win an
other World Series title, so there’s eight more victo
ries to go.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Cox said. "The orga
nization has had tremendous success. We have had
great teams for a long time, and to be able to (play in
the NLCS seven straight times) is really something,
trying to keep it all together, keeping your players as
healthy as you can, things like that.”
As long as the Braves keep their magnificent pitch
ing staff together, they will always be a contender.
Just ask the Cubs, who averaged more than five runs a
game during the season but managed only four in
three games against the Braves, hitting a minuscule
.181 as a team.
‘‘I’ve always thought that good pitching beats
good hitting,” Maddux said. “We pitched them
good and came away with the win.”
He’ll get no argument from the
0 Cubs — especially Sammy Sosa. After
hitting 66 homers in his memorable
duel with Mark McGwire, he went 2
for-11 in the division series with no
homers or RBIs.
"They’ve got a better team,” Sosa said. "They’ve
got better pitching.”
The Atlanta starters were masterful. John Smoltz
went 7 2-3 innings in Game 1, surrendering five hits
and a run. Tom Glavine gave up only three hits and
a run in Game 2. Then Maddux finished it off by al
lowing seven hits and two runs in Game 3.
Still, the difference was in the bullpen. While
Chicago’s relievers surrendered nine runs in 6 1-3
innings, their no-name Atlanta counterparts — Ker
ry Ligtenberg, John Rocker, Rudy Seanez and Odalis
Perez — pitched 6 1-3 scoreless innings, giving up
just two hits.
Atlanta didn’t even need its other two starters, 17
game winner Kevin Millwood and 16-game winner
Denny Neagle.
The Braves expressed no preference about their
opponent in the next round.
“I’m just glad we’re going,” Maddux said.
Cleveland leaves Yankees motivated
Some players feel the team
worked harder after last
year’s five-game loss to the
Indians in the playoffs
By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Thank you,
Cleveland.
Some Yankees think the Indi
ans are responsible for New York's
record-breaking season. The five
game loss in the first round of last
year’s playoffs motivated the Yan
kees to work extra hard in the
weight rooms last winter.
And that extra urge for revenge
figures to be a factor when New
York opens the AL championship
series against the Indians at Yan
kee Stadium on Tuesday night.
“We’re a year removed from los
ing to them in the playoffs last
year, but I think it’s fresh in peo
ple’s minds,” David Cone said af
ter a two-hour workout in a driz
zle Sunday. “If we had gotten by
Cleveland, maybe we could have
gotten to the World Series and
we’d be thinking about three in a
row.”
And believe this: This is not a
team that takes a slapping lightly.
The Yankees were four outs away
from advancing before Sandy Alo
mar Jr. homered off Mariano
Rivera in the eighth inning of
Game 4 at Jacobs Field.
“It's hard to forget they beat us
last year,” Paul O’Neill said. “It’s a
different year, a different team.
There’s a lot more at stake. Last
year was the first round. This
year’s a ticket to the World Se
ries.”
New York manager Joe Torre is
shaking up his rotation slightly,
choosing David
Wells to open,
Cone to pitch
Game 2, Andy
Pettitte to start
Game 3 in Cleve
land and Orlan
do Hernandez to
pitch Game 4. If the series extends,
Wells would pitch the fifth game,
followed by Cone in Game 6 and
Pettitte in Game 7.
‘‘Hopefully it won't go seven.”
said Pettitte, who pitched the sec
ond game in the opening sweep of
Texas, ‘‘Hopefully, we can take
care of business and get out of
there.”
New York won seven of 11 from
Cleveland during the regular sea
son and broke the AL record for
wins set by the Indians team that
went 111-43 in 1954. With the
three-game sweep of Texas in the
first round, the Yankees moved
within a game of the record for
wins in one year — regular and
postseason — in one year, set by
the 1906 Chicago Cubs (118).
“I don’t think there’s a feeling of
revenge,” Tino Martinez said.
"We just want to do our job. Be
cause they beat us last year? That’s
history.”
Yankees manager Joe Torre de
cided to move up Cone from Game
3 for two reasons: Cone made only
85 pitches in the rain-shortened
clincher Friday night, and Torre
wanted Cone to pitch at Yankee
Stadium. Since arm surgery in
1996 and 1997, Cone has lost
some feeling in his fingers in cold
weather, and Torre thinks it will
be colder in Cleveland than in
New York.
Cone wants revenge more than
most Yankees. He started the 1997
postseason opener against the In
dians and was pounded for six
earned runs and seven hits in 3 1 -3
innings in a game New York won
8-6.
“But you can’t get caught up in
last year,” Torre said. “You can’t
try any harder than you tried. ’ ’
Notes: Torre has to decide who
will take Darryl Strawberry’s spot
on the active roster. If Scott Bro
sius shows no sign of being
slowed by his sprained left ankle,
outfielder Ricky Ledee will be the
replacement. If Torre is worried
about Brosius, third baseman
Mike Lowell would be added to
the roster. Brosius tripped over
first base when Texas catcher
Ivan Rodriguez picked him off
Friday night.
Strawberry stable after surgery for cancer
By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Hearing the
good news secondhand wasn’t
good enough, so half a dozen New
York Yankees visited Darryl
Strawberry on Sunday, a day after
a cancerous tumor was removed
from the outfielder’s colon.
Pitcher David Cone intended to
bring one of the Yankees’ caps,
which now have Strawberry’s
number 39 stitched in white on
the back.
“We just want to show him how
much we care — and we got the
job done he wanted us to do,”
Cone said before joining team
mates Chili Davis, Joe Girardi,
Derek Jeter and Tim Raines on the
trip to Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center.
Strawberry was on the Yankees’
minds as they prepared for Tues
day's start of the AL champi
onship series against Cleveland.
Dr. Stuart Hershon, the Yankees’
team physician, held a clubhouse
meeting and gave an update on
Strawberry’s condition.
Hershon told them doctors be
lieve the cancer had not spread,
but they won’t know for sure until
tests come back in about 10 days.
Doctors removed a 16-inch por
tion of Strawberry’s large intestine
to get rid of a tumor almost 2 1/2
inches long.
“I think we felt a lot better be
cause everything came out well,”
Tino Martinez said. “There’s a lot
of relief around here. ”
Strawberry remained in stable
condition Sunday. He is expected
to remain in the hospital for a week.
“He’s doing well. His family is
with him,” Columbia-Presbyter
ian spokeswoman Szuping Di
said.
Strawberry also got a visit from
George Steinbrenner.
“I was with him all day,” Stein
brenner said at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees were shaken when
they learned last Thursday that
Strawberry had a cancerous tu
mor.
New York manager Joe Torre,
who also visited the 36-year-old
outfielder, predicted Strawber
ry’s illness will increase the
awareness of colon cancer among
the Yankees.
©regon#<£tnfr<!lt]
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OF
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