WORLD SERIES / ATLANTA BRAVES vs. MINNESOTA TWINS : Twins Put the Braves on Notice : Game 1: Gagne, who has felt neglected as Minnesota’s shortstop, hits a three-run home run to help beat the Braves’ Leibrandt, 5-2.

Greg Gagne repeated the question, parted his lips as if to answer, then paused. The silence grew to three seconds, five, then 10, far longer than it had taken his three-run home run to clear the left-field fence in the fifth inning and propel the Twins to a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the World Series opener.

“Do I want people to notice me?” Gagne said, reflecting on his recent declaration that he is not appreciated enough for the job he does as Minnesota’s shortstop.

“Well,” he said, “I ain’t going to really lose any sleep over the fact of whether people notice me or not. I don’t really thrive on that. It’s not going to make much difference.”

Gagne, the ninth hitter in the Twins’ lineup, made the Braves notice him Saturday. His home run gave the 55,108 fans at the Metrodome a reason to wave their Homer Hankies and sent Atlanta left-hander Charlie Leibrandt to the Braves’ dugout to ponder Atlanta’s first loss in a crucial game in a long time.

“He’s a legitimate threat. I’m not embarrassed that he homered off me,” said Leibrandt, who had given up a run in the third inning to end the Atlanta pitchers’ streak of 24 scoreless innings in postseason play.

“I wish things had turned out different, but he’s got some power. It’s no shame to have him hit a homer.”

Minnesota starter Jack Morris, who cheerfully acknowledged that he had far from his best stuff, pitched into the eighth inning before yielding to Mark Guthrie after walking Lonnie Smith and Jeff Treadway. Morris, who grew up across the Mississippi River in St. Paul, departed to a boisterous ovation that inspired him to doff his cap, although he wasn’t sure he deserved it.

“It wasn’t the kind of game I envisioned maybe happening,” Morris said, “but heck, we won and we had fun, and maybe tomorrow we’ll win again and we’ll be closer to winning the World Series.”

Kent Hrbek, who struggled during most of the Twins’ American League playoff victory over the Blue Jays, added a bases-empty home run in the sixth inning to help give the Twins their eighth victory in their last nine home postseason games.

Twin second baseman Chuck Knoblauch became the first rookie to get a Series RBI since the Cardinals’ Jim Lindeman in Game 4 of the 1987 Series when he singled in the third inning after Dan Gladden walked and stole second base. Knoblauch also singled in the seventh, becoming the first rookie to get three hits in a World Series game since the Yankees’ Brian Doyle had three against the Dodgers on Oct. 17, 1978.

“He did an excellent job of hitting. He doesn’t look like a rookie,” Leibrandt said of Knoblauch.

“He looks like a guy who’s going to be around for a long time.”

Gagne has been around for seven seasons, playing a quiet but efficient shortstop for the Twins and compiling a .250 career average. Overshadowed in Minnesota’s power-laden lineup, he nonetheless has earned his teammates’ appreciation.

“As far as I’m concerned, as a pitcher, I don’t care if my shortstop gets a hit all year. With his glove, he’s going to save more runs than he’s going to drive in anyway,” said Rick Aguilera, who pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his fourth postseason save.

“Next to (Cal) Ripken, there’s probably not a better shortstop in this league than Gags.”

Gagne, who come up to face Leibrandt after Hrbek had doubled and Scott Leius had singled, said he wasn’t thinking about hitting a home run on Leibrandt’s 0-and-1 pitch.

“My first time up (in the third inning) he made me look sick. He got me with a high fastball,” said Gagne, who hit a homer in the Twins’ 1987 World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and had hit eight this season.

“I was determined to get a ball down that I could drive. All I was trying to do was hit a ball in the hole between first and second. I got a fastball. My hands were in the right place, and I just drove it out of the park.”

As he circled the bases, he pointed to his wife and his father in the stands. But the satisfaction belonged mostly to Gagne.

“I was real excited,” he said. “It got me pumped up and got the fans into it.”

Morris held off the Braves until the sixth inning, when they put together three singles and scored on Ron Gant’s single to left.

Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly was tempted to take Morris out after the seventh inning, but Morris insisted he felt fine. But he soon realized he had little strength left and was ready to leave after walking Smith and Treadway.

Guthrie came in to face Terry Pendleton, who grounded into a double play that moved Smith to third base. Guthrie walked David Justice and left in favor of Aguilera, who gave up a run-scoring single to Gant before retiring Sid Bream on a fly to center.

“I wasn’t sharp, but I got the job done,” Aguilera said.

Morris applied the same assessment to his own performance. “These guys here made me a hero,” Morris said, gesturing to ward Gagne and Hrbek.

“In all honesty, it’s nice to know you can win without your best stuff. I hit the wall in the eighth and got tired and started walking guys. I hate walking guys, and I was pretty disgusted with myself. But I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The Braves weren’t daunted by the defeat.

“We were down, 1-0, to Pittsburgh (in the NL playoffs) and won the series. We haven’t lost our confidence,” Justice said.

“It usually takes one game to adjust to a new ballpark. We’ve had that one game, and we’ll just go out there and play our game tomorrow.”

* SOUNDING BOARD: The famed noise of the Metrodome, combined with first-game jitters, took its toll on the Braves. C10

* BASEBALL REPORT: C10

* ROSS NEWHAN: C11