TEAMS WITH BETTER REGULAR+SEASON RECORDS HOLD FIRM AS. . . : Cream Stays on Top

The Florida Marlins have played two postseason games, many fewer than the San Francisco Giants.

But experience isn’t all that matters.

Making this stuff up as they go along, the Marlins on Wednesday won their second consecutive one-run playoff game in the bottom of the ninth inning when Gary Sheffield scored from second base on Moises Alou’s single to give them a 7-6 victory over San Francisco in this National League division series.

The Marlins won Game 1 on Tuesday, 2-1, on Edgar Renteria’s two-out, bases-loaded single in their final at-bat. They have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, and the new kids on the block are showing the Giants how things are done at this time of the year. Game 3 is in San Francisco on Friday, and the Giants realize what they’re facing.

“We have to sweep at our place now, and we all know that,” Manager Dusty Baker said. “We’ve had a couple of gut-wrenching losses here, and we’re obviously in a tough spot. We’ve played two tough games, we’re just playing a very good team and we already knew that.”

As they did in the series opener, the Marlins scored the winning run against Giant reliever Roberto Hernandez. Sheffield, who also hit a solo home run and had three hits in four at-bats, led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left against Hernandez and stole second.

After Bobby Bonilla walked, Alou hit a single to center. Sheffield said he decided to go home the moment he saw the ball drop in front of center fielder Dante Powell. Powell’s throw appeared on target, but the ball hit the mound and bounced high in the air as Sheffield--who kept looking back at center as he ran--tumbled on the plate.

And celebrations began again in the Marlin dugout and in the stands.

“This is what I have been waiting for, this is what makes everything that happened this season worth it,” said Sheffield, who hit .250 with 21 homers and 71 runs batted in but admittedly had a subpar season.

“I struggled a lot this season and I let it get to me. I had a lot of down moments and I showed it, but this erases all of that.”

Alou’s timing was pretty good as well. The ninth-inning hit was his only one in five at-bats Wednesday.

“It felt great to deliver at the right time,” Alou said. “I didn’t have anything to lose and I had a lot to gain. This was pretty big.”

Facing Marlin closer Robb Nen in the top of the ninth, the Giants rallied to tie the score, 6-6, when Darryl Hamilton scored from second on a throwing error by second baseman Craig Counsell. Nen, tied for sixth in the NL with 35 saves, had a lot of bad luck in the inning.

An error by first baseman Jeff Conine allowed Hamilton, who led off the inning, to reach base. Then Nen broke Stan Javier’s bat with a pitch but the ball landed in play down the left-field line.

Nen struck out Jose Vizcaino and got Barry Bonds to hit a grounder to Renteria at short that could have ended the game on a double play, but Counsell threw wildly to first and Conine couldn’t come up with the ball. But after walking Jeff Kent, Nen (1-0) got out of the jam when Mark Lewis popped out.

“The great thing about this team is that we all pick each other up,” said Bonilla, who had three hits and three RBIs. “We’d like to stay out of those hair-raising situations if we can, but the important thing is that we can overcome things.”

Talented left-handers Shawn Estes of the Giants and Al Leiter of the Marlins started the game. However, neither was on the mound after the fourth, each a victim of control problems.

Sheffield’s first postseason home run, a towering solo shot to left in the sixth inning, pushed the Marlins’ lead to 6-4. They had gone ahead in the fourth by scoring two runs on only one hit and with the help of five walks. Back-to-back doubles by Vizcaino and Bonds in the seventh cut the lead to 6-5.

“We knew they could come right back at us because they’re a team that’s capable of winning anywhere,” Marlin Manager Jim Leyland said. “But even after the top of the ninth, we stayed focused. We’ve handled everything well so far, but we know Dusty won’t let them let down.”

If the Marlins keep this up, it won’t matter.

Safe at Home

Home teams have won the firs five games of the 1997 playoffs, well above the winning percentage for home teams in the postseason in the ‘90s:

*--*

YEAR RECORD 1990 7-7 1991 10-9 1992 11-8 1993 7-11 1994 No postseason 1995 19-12 1996 15-17 Total 69-64 (.519)

*--*