Braves Return to Atlanta Pride Intact

The 19-day road trip enabled Atlanta Braves’ relief ace Mark Wohlers to make a discovery about himself.

“I don’t have as much clothes as I thought I had,” Wohlers said after buttoning up Atlanta’s 6-4 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday.

Wohlers struck out Wayne Kirby, Delino DeShields and Greg Gagne in the ninth inning after letting a ninth-inning lead to escape Saturday, which the Braves ultimately won in 18 innings, 5-3.

Thus, evicted by the Olympics, the Braves displayed gold medal fiber by wrapping up their own marathon in style.

They won two of three in San Diego and two of three in Los Angeles to complete a five-city, 17-game, 5,600 mile trip with a 9-8 record, leaving a calling card against two potential playoff rivals.

“We’re all excited about going home, so it would have been easy to pack it in today, but that’s not what this team is all about,” Atlanta starter Tom Glavine said.

“We dug down and found the energy. We showed our character. I think we deserve credit for turning what wasn’t a very good trip into a decent trip.

“What we did against two tough teams in San Diego and L.A. was pretty big.”

The Braves returned to Atlanta with a seven-game lead over the Montreal Expos in the National League East. They left with a nine-game lead.

The Expos have hung tough, but the Braves now play 15 of their next 19 at home.

On a day when Glavine battled his control, devoid of his best stuff and calling 116 pitches in 5 2/3 innings a “game of survival,” the generous Dodgers contributed to the equivalent of a homecoming gift for the Braves.

They stranded 12 runners in an ongoing offensive struggle and made three ninth-inning errors, helping Atlanta score the decisive runs.

As center fielder Chad Curtis battles the adjustment to a new team and league, the Dodgers continue to come up short at third base, and may soon do something about it.

They had two scouts in Philadelphia on Sunday, looking at Todd Zeile, who could become available Tuesday, if he clears waivers.

In the meantime, Wohlers said the Braves were heading home just in time.

“I miss my wife and dogs,” he said, putting his priorities in the right order. “I couldn’t have spent another night in a hotel room, listening to the clock ticking.”

However, broadcaster Don Sutton viewed the trip from a different perspective.

“Now I’ve got to go home and pay the bills and do the wash,” he said.

“I’ve been on a 19-day working vacation. I had great room service, played a great golf course almost every day, and I would tell you that Morton’s [the restaurant chain] has a better wine cellar than I do.

“Of course, I had friends with me on the first half of the trip and my wife on the second.”

The Braves provided players’ wives with first-class, round-trip air tickets to any of the West Coast cities--San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.

The players also receive $60.50 per day in meal money, which is more than sufficient, one player noted, unless you’re “popping for three a day with the wife.”

In any case, home cooking sounded good.

“I think everybody’s brain is fried,” Manager Bobby Cox said. “We’re beat up and beat down, mentally and physically. It’ll be great to get home.

“We had an extremely tough series here, but I think it says a lot about these guys to come back and win twice after losing [2-1] Friday night when [John Smoltz] pitched so well. I mean, we’ve always been a good road team and I generally wouldn’t be satisfied with a 9-8 trip, but under the circumstances I’ll take it.”

Now 30-24 on the road, the Braves averaged only 3.8 runs on the trip, but characteristically pitched well enough, Cox said, to win every game except the three started by rookie Brad Woodall--replacing injured Jason Schmidt as the No. 5 starter.

A sleeping giant, Fred McGriff, may have awakened with four hits Sunday.

In gauging the trip, Cox also said the temperature gauge was critical.

“We missed the heat in Houston because of the dome,” he said. “We hit an unusual cold wave in St. Louis, and we had beautiful weather on the coast. To me, the weather was going to be a big part of a trip this long, but we had no problem with the heat.

“The itinerary worked in our favor. It’s a good thing I’m as close to the league president as I am.”

Cox said that while writing out a $1,000 check to the National League office for a recent ejection from a game with the Florida Marlins.

He will be fined again for his ejection from Saturday’s game with the Dodgers, but money didn’t matter Sunday. It couldn’t buy his and the Braves happiness at finally returning to Atlanta, or as Wohlers said, “I hope I have a clean shirt left.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

At Road’s End

The Atlanta Braves concluded a 17-game road trip Sunday. A look:

* Before trip: 59-34 (9-game lead over Montreal)

* Record on trip: 9-8

* After trip: 68-42 (7-game lead over Montreal)

* Miles traveled: 8,543

* Cost: Approximately $330,000