Jones Puts One Down for Braves

The St. Louis Cardinals can recite every last detail on every scouting report ever produced on the Atlanta Braves’ Cy Young pitching staff.

They can tell you all about the power of Fred McGriff, the speed of Marquis Grissom and the clutch hitting of Javy Lopez.

No one ever briefed them about this:

Who in their right mind would believe that with the game on the line, and their best hitter at the plate, they would pull off the bunt heard ‘round the South?

“I don’t think I even believe it,” Brave third baseman Chipper Jones said, “and I was the one who did it.”

It was this mere bunt that enabled the Atlanta Braves to pull past St. Louis, 4-2, in Game 1 of the National League championship series in front of 48,686 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

“I think we just showed how we can beat you in a lot of ways,” Jones said. “I’m sure they never expected that. Heck, I didn’t either.”

When a player has never bunted for a hit in 1,200 at-bats in his career, and already was three for three in the game, who would expect Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox to ask Jones to bunt?

“I was surprised I got the signal right,” Jones said. “I mean, I only bunt once a day [in batting practice]. That’s it, one bunt. My bunting prowess has a lot to be desired.”

Yet it was this bunt that helped make the Braves’ two-run, eighth inning possible, creating a hero again out of Lopez, Atlanta’s catcher.

It transpired in the eighth with the game tied, 2-2. Atlanta second baseman Mark Lemke, who hit a two-run single in the fifth, drew a leadoff walk from Mark Petkovsek. That brought up Jones, who had three singles in his first three at-bats.

Jones looked down at third-base Coach Jimy Williams. Blinked. And looked again to make sure he saw it right. Yep, same sign.

Jones shrugged his shoulders, stepped back into the batter’s box, and tried to lay down a bunt. He fouled it back for strike 1. He was given the go-ahead sign to swing away at the next pitch. Ball 1. Then again came the bunt sign. This time Jones squared away and bunted the ball off the plate, high into the air.

Petkovsek started back and stumbled. First baseman John Mabry started toward the ball. So did second baseman Luis Alicea. Yet Petkovsek recovered in time to field the ball, but when he looked toward first there was one little problem.

Nobody was there.

He threw anyway, and Alicea, who was covering late, caught the ball and then dropped it trying to tag Jones as he crossed the bag. The ball rolled away, Lemke scampered to third and Jones wound up at second.

Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa, realizing he was in trouble, summoned left-hander Tony Fossas to face Fred McGriff. Fossas fell behind 3-and-0, but then induced a fly ball to shallow left from McGriff for the first out. Fossas then intentionally walked pinch-hitter Terry Pendleton, loading the bases for Lopez, who hit the game-winning home run in Game 1 of the division series against the Dodgers. La Russa called for right-hander T.J. Mathews.

“To be honest, I was nervous, real nervous,” said Lopez, who hit .373 with runners in scoring position and less than two outs during the season. “All the attention was on me. All of the eyes in the stadium were on me.”

Mathews got ahead of him with two quick strikes and then tried to sneak a fastball past him. Lopez was ready. He swung, cracked his bat in half, but it still was enough to send the ball up the middle for the game-winning two-run single.

“Now, I’m not so nervous,” Lopez said.

Atlanta closer Mark Wohlers pitched a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning, preserving John Smoltz’s victory. It was Wohlers’ fifth save in the Braves’ last five playoff victories.

The Braves, defending World Series champions, have won 15 of 18 postseason games. Yet, if you ask the Cardinals, they blew the game themselves. They had only five hits, but still felt they should have won.

The Cardinals, trailing 2-1 in the seventh, opened the inning with three consecutive singles by Gary Gaetti, John Mabry and Tom Pagnozzi. Suddenly, the game was tied, 2-2, and the Cardinals had runners on first and second and no outs.

Luis Alicea, the No. 8 hitter, stepped to the plate and looked for the bunt sign. The Braves expected the bunt sign. Everyone in the stadium looked for the bunt sign.

It never happened.

La Russa permitted Alicea to swing away . . . and paid the price. Alicea swung at the first pitch and hit a lazy pop-up to shallow left field for the first out, preventing anyone from advancing.

La Russa summoned Willie McGee to pinch-hit for starter Andy Benes. McGee hit another fly ball to left fielder Ryan Klesko for the second out. Ozzie Smith stepped to the plate, and with the runners advancing to second and third on Smoltz’s wild pitch, needed only a hit to a be a hero. He instead hit a soft bouncer to shortstop Jeff Blauser, who threw him out by a step.

The Cardinals were finished, and within moments, La Russa was being second-guessed.

“I expected to bunt,” Alicea said, “that’s why I called time out. I asked if I was bunting. He [Coach Tommie Reynolds] said, ‘No, sir, you are swinging.’ ”

Said Jones: “Sure, I expected him to bunt. I think everyone expected him to bunt. I was delighted to see him swing, especially to see where he hit it.”

* NOTES, SCORECARD: C7

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THE PLAYOFFS WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

* AL: New York 5, Baltimore 4 (11)

* NL: Atlanta 4, St. Louis 2

TODAY’S GAMES

* AL: Baltimore (Wells 11-14) at New York (Cone, 7-2), noon, Channel 4

* NL: St. Louis (Stottlemyre, 14-11) at Atlanta (Maddux, 15-11),

5 p.m., Channel 11