WORLD SERIES : ATLANTA BRAVES vs. CLEVELAND INDIANS : Hershiser Trumps Braves’ Ace : Game 5: Indians avoid elimination with 5-4 victory and send the Series back to Atlanta, as Maddux is outpitched by former Dodger.

A local radio station previewing the pitching matchup for Game 5 of the World Series referred to Greg Maddux as “the God of Pitching,” but the Cleveland Indians reduced the Atlanta Brave right-hander to a mere mortal Thursday night.

And with Orel Hershiser providing another heavenly postseason performance and Cleveland putting a few scuff marks on Maddux’s spit-shined reputation, the Indians, facing elimination, swiped a 5-4 victory from the Braves before 43,595 in Jacobs Field.

The Braves still lead the series, three games to two, but the Indians stashed a few extra bags of momentum in the overhead bins on their flight to Atlanta for Game 6, which will pit Cleveland right-hander Dennis Martinez against Brave left-hander Tom Glavine on Saturday night.

“I think the pressure is on the Braves,” said Hershiser, who gave up two runs and five hits and struck out six in eight innings. “They’re the ones who have lost two World Series. They’re the ones with the lead to lose.”

And they’re the ones who will go home knowing they lost a chance to wrap up Atlanta’s first major professional sports championship with their ace, their three-time Cy Young Award winner, who will now be available for an inning or two of relief, at most, for the remainder of the series.

“We knew we wouldn’t be a shoo-in, especially against a team like this,” Atlanta second baseman Mark Lemke said. “No one has given us anything before and no one will now. They didn’t get here by laying down and dying. They got here by beating good pitchers, and we’re going to have to do the same.”

Cleveland third baseman Jim Thome, whose RBI single snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth and whose eighth-inning homer provided the eventual winning run, felt confident about the Indians’ chances, even though only six teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Series.

“If we win the next game we’re going to win it all,” Thome said. “This next game is the biggest of all our careers. If we win, it will give us that much more momentum going into Game 7.”

Thome blasted a full-count pitch off reliever Brad Clontz well over the center-field wall for a bases-empty home run in the bottom of the eighth, and as he stood at the plate admiring his shot, flung the bat away and began his trot, it seemed like an exclamation point on the victory.

The homer gave Cleveland a 5-2 lead at the time, but when Atlanta designated hitter Ryan Klesko crushed a Jose Mesa pitch for a two-run home run in the top of the ninth, Thome’s homer proved to be the difference.

There were two other key moments for the Indians--Hershiser turning Marquis Grissom’s liner back to the box into a double play in the top of the eighth, and shortstop Omar Vizquel turning one of the hardest hit balls of the game into a bases-loaded double play, which preserved a 2-2 tie in the fifth.

“I hit that ball better than the home run,” said Brave left fielder Luis Polonia, who homered in the fourth inning. “But in this game you need luck, and I didn’t get it that time. If I would have got a hit there, it would have changed the whole game.”

The Indians made subtle changes in their approach against Maddux, and those helped hand him his first road loss since July 2, 1994, a span covering 18 decisions.

Cleveland didn’t exactly bomb Maddux, but compared to Maddux’s Game 1 piece of art, a two-hit gem in a 3-2 Atlanta victory Saturday, this was a sloppy finger-painting.

Maddux, who had the best strikeouts-to-walks ratio (181-23) of any pitcher in history with at least 200 innings pitched, issued two walks and a homer to Albert Belle in the first inning, the first time he had done that since July 14, 1990.

He gave up four earned runs and seven hits, walked three and struck out four in seven innings. The Indians’ strategy of crowding the plate and swinging at pitches early in the count--as opposed to their Game 1 ploy of waiting Maddux out--worked well.

“The little hitters moved closer to the plate, so we could change his mentality on the mound, and the big hitters went the other way,” Vizquel said. “He wasn’t getting all his pitches over for strikes, and we could see the frustration on his face.

“Everyone says he’s the best, but he’s just another pitcher. He has an arm, we have bats. He’s really smart, and he’s a good pitcher, but we showed tonight that we could beat anyone.”

Maddux could sense the Indians were a little more keyed up than usual. “I’m sure it gives guys more incentive when they’re facing a pitcher or player who’s supposed to be larger than life,” he said. “My stuff tonight was as good as it was in Game 1, but they just hit better.”

They pitched better too. Hershiser, who pulled himself from Game 1 in the seventh inning because he “lost the release point” on his pitches, had no such problems Thursday night.

He gave up the homer to Polonia in the fourth, and his throwing error aided Atlanta’s run-scoring rally in the fifth, which was capped by Grissom’s RBI infield single, but he stayed ahead of hitters and away from trouble for most of the evening.

Maddux, meanwhile, veered into danger early. Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the first when Vizquel walked and Belle homered to right. Maddux backed Eddie Murray off the plate with a high fastball, and both benches emptied as the two exchanged words. But no punches were thrown, and order was quickly restored.

Atlanta scored in the fourth and fifth to tie the game, but the Indians took the lead for good with a two-run sixth inning that featured RBI singles by Thome and Manny Ramirez.

“I’ve said for four years this team has a lot of character, and they showed it again tonight,” said Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove, who celebrated his 49th birthday Thursday. “We’re still in the hole, but this club has never quit. We’ve faced much more difficult circumstances than we’re facing now.”

* CHIN MUSIC TO THEIR EARS

When Greg Maddux brushed back Eddie Murray after Albert Belle’s home run in the first inning, the Indians used it to their advantage. C6

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World Series at a Glance

* Game 1: Atlanta 3, Cleveland 2

* Game 2: Atlanta 4, Cleveland 3

* Game 3: Cleveland 7, Atlanta 6 (11)

* Game 4: Atlanta 5, Cleveland 2

* Game 5: Cleveland 5, Atlanta 4

* Saturday: Cleveland (Martinez) at

Atlanta (Glavine), Channel 4, 4:20 p.m.

* Sunday: Cleveland at Atlanta, 4:20 p.m.*

* if necessary