BASEBALL / PLAYOFF REPORT : NATIONAL LEAGUE : Drabek Not Quite Ready to Return

The Pirates’ chances were dealt another blow Sunday when they decided Doug Drabek, their Game 1 winner, cannot make his scheduled start today in Game 5 of the National League playoffs because of his strained left hamstring.

Jim Leyland the Pirates’ manager, said there is a “95%” chance that Drabek would start in Game 6 at Pittsburgh Wednesday.

“He is not quite ready, and we think the extra 48 hours will help him” Leyland said.

This forces the Pirates to use Zane Smith today on three days rest. It is only the second time this season that Smith will have started on three days rest.

In Smith’s other hastened start, the Dodgers racked him for two runs and seven hits in four innings in a 2-0 defeat June 29 at Dodger Stadium.

Smith, who allowed one run on a bad-hop double in seven innings in Game 2, said he was not told of the switch until Sunday. But he said he would not worry or complain about it.

“At this point of the year, it’s do-or-die time, and everybody has to do their part,” he said. “You will do anything you can to win, and I will do whatever they ask me.”

He said the lack of rest might even help calm his nerves.

“If anything, I’ll be more tired, which will be better for me,” he said.

Smith will have to pitch well to match Drabek’s Game 1 performance, in which he pitched six shutout innings in the Pirates’ 5-1 victory. Drabek has the third-lowest postseason earned-run average with more than 20 innings pitched in league championship history--1.21.

That start, however, proved costly when Drabek injured his hamstring attempting to stretch a second-inning double into a triple.

If Drabek starts Wednesday, he will not be doing much running.

“We’re still worried about him making moves off the mound, fielding bunts, things like that,’ Leyland said.

Though he had claimed reports about his tired arm are erroneous, Tom Glavine, today’s Atlanta Braves’ starter, said that he worked Friday on adjusting his pitching mechanics so he can function with less strength.

“When you are not strong, you try to make things happen with your body, and that hurts you,” Glavine said. “I want to fix those mechanics on the side so I don’t have to worry about them in a game.

About his allegedly tired arm, Glavine said, “Too much has been made of that. Honestly, I am not really tired. I don’t even think about being tired.”

However, Glavine admitted last week that his arm was tired. After pitching a career-high 246 2/3 innings with a league-leading nine complete games, he allowed four runs in six innings in losing Game 1.

Glavine has allowed 12 first-inning runs in his past seven starts.

Bobby Cox, the Braves’ manager, was asked about the biggest difference between managing now and managing the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1985 playoffs. “Only difference is, now I’m talking to a lot more millionaires,” he said. . . . Former President Jimmy Carter sprinted to the mound to make the ceremonial first pitch, then sprinted off the mound to a standing ovation. . . . Because the American League Championship Series ended quickly, Game 6 of the National League series in Pittsburgh will be moved from Wednesday afternoon to Wednesday night.