Gallego Not Short on Key Play

The beginning of the big inning Thursday night came when the little UCLA alumnus, Mike Gallego, nearly decapped pitcher Greg Maddux with a line drive. Gallego legged out an infield single, a five-run seventh inning knocked Maddux out of the box, and the St. Louis Cardinals took Game 2 of the National League championship series from the Atlanta Braves, 8-3.

“You almost took Maddux’s head off,” someone said to Gallego later.

“Aw, with that?” the 5-foot-8 infielder replied. “Come on. I don’t hit ‘em hard enough to puff his lip.”

Gary Gaetti’s grand slam was the blow that won this game, but it was actually Gallego who scored the game-winner. Playing for the first time in this series, the Cardinal second baseman broke a 3-3 tie by leading off the inning with a liner that went straight for the “A” on Maddux’s cap. Only the great reflexes of the seven-time Gold Glove pitcher enabled him to duck in time.

“Man, 99% of the pitchers in this game,” Gallego said, with a grin, “I’m going to get me some skin.”

As it was, Gallego’s short legs really had to churn. Atlanta shortstop Jeff Blauser retrieved the ball that Maddux slightly deflected with his glove, fired it to first and just missed nailing Gallego, who needs more steps to cover the 90 feet from the batter’s box than anybody since Freddie Patek.

The rally was on. Mark Sweeney popped a pinch-bunt, which Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones couldn’t field cleanly or throw cleanly. The runners took second and third, Royce Clayton walked and Ray Lankford’s sacrifice fly to center brought Gallego scampering home with the go-ahead run.

All this happened before Gaetti even got to bat.

With five-run innings off Maddux about as rare as a Pepsi-Cola plant in Atlanta, the Cardinals were feeling pretty good about themselves. They reminded everyone, themselves included, that Atlanta’s excellent pitchers weren’t invincible, and that they even had 24-game winner John Smoltz on the ropes in Game 1.

“Maybe you rattled Maddux a little,” it was suggested to Clayton, the St. Louis shortstop.

“No, I didn’t see the guy rattled,” Clayton said. “We just put some good at-bats on him.”

A definite factor, though, was that Clayton, who was the Cardinal leadoff man after Ozzie Smith had assumed that role the night before, got on base three times. Ron Gant executed a textbook hit-and-run with Clayton on base, leading to the game’s first run, and Clayton stole second later on, during a two-run Cardinal third.

He might not have rattled Maddux, but he made him think.

Eight runs off the guy, well, as St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan said, “I’m sure that hasn’t happened very often, and it won’t happen very often in the future, believe me.”

Half of the Cardinal runs came on one swing.

Maddux could have pitched to Brian Jordan in the seventh with two out, but instead walked him intentionally. Jordan wasn’t the least bit offended, he said immodestly, because: “I’ve hurt the Braves here in Atlanta my whole career.”

This loaded the bases for Gaetti, who hit the ball so far and so hard, no 12-year-old fan in the outfield stands would have dared catch it, even wearing a glove. That thing was smoked.

“I had a funny feeling Gary was going to jump on one,” Jordan said.

Todd Stottlemyre, the winning pitcher, was asked whether he had had a similar feeling.

Watching from the bench, Stottlemyre replied, “Mmmm, as soon as he hit it, I said, ‘I think he got it!’ ”

Mmmm, maybe, but that ball left the park before Todd could have gotten those words out of his mouth.

Stottlemyre said of Gaetti: “He’s had huge hits for us, huge. The guy’s been through the wars. He’s a great hitter and he’s dangerous.”

Gaetti said of himself: “I just swing hard, in case I hit it.”

The partnership of Gallego and Gaetti began the big inning and ended it. They took the field with an 8-3 lead, and must have felt pretty comfortable at that point that they were about to knot this series at one victory apiece.

“Are you kidding?” Gallego asked. “Even with a five-run lead on those guys, you better step on their necks.”