Astros’ Killer Hit Belongs to Spiers

Tony Gwynn would say that he couldn’t remember a game “this tight or this dramatic.” It was a game the Houston Astros would win, 5-4, in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday on a single by Bill Spiers that came moments after Jim Leyritz hit a two-out, two-run homer in the top of that inning to tie it for the San Diego Padres.

A quick and painful twist, thought the reflective Gwynn.

“There was the emotional high of tying the game on Jim’s homer and the low of losing it in the bottom half,” he said.

“It’s disappointing, but we have to let go and regroup.”

The best-of-five series is tied at a game apiece and resumes in San Diego on Saturday night. The Padres got a split on the road, which was good, said Manager Bruce Bochy, but “it’s disheartening too. Jim got that big home run. We had a chance to win both.”

An Astrodome crowd of 45,550--there were several thousand empty seats--saw veteran third baseman Spiers contribute three big hits, including the game-winner. They also saw those beleaguered Killer Bs spark a victory that ended a six-game postseason losing streak dating to 1986.

“I can’t speak for the players, but it takes an awful lot of pressure off--at least for me,” Manager Larry Dierker said. “I think these things grow larger in the media than they really are, but you can’t ignore the media--if you live in North America. I mean, even if it wasn’t that big a deal, if you keep getting hammered with it, it becomes a big deal. Now it’s not.”

Now the Astros have a one-game win streak and the Killer Bs--two for 37 in the Atlanta sweep last year and 0 for 10 in Game 1--have established some postseason credibility: Craig Biggio singled, walked and scored after each of those first two at-bats; Jeff Bagwell had a two-run single in the third, and Derek Bell cracked a solo homer in the eighth.

“It was bound to happen,” Dierker said of the Bs’ contribution, “but this is not just just a team of Killer Bs. I mean, it’s a nice slogan, but there’s more to it than that.”

Spiers, for instance, doubled in the first and doubled in the third as the Astros built a 3-0 lead against Andy Ashby, then ultimately delivered the game-winning hit against Trevor Hoffman. The Astros also received seven strong innings from starter Shane Reynolds, who gave up four hits and two runs, before Jay Powell pitched a flawless eighth and Billy Wagner arrived with his mid-90s heater to work the ninth with a 4-2 lead.

There were two out with Ken Caminiti on second and a full count on Leyritz when Wagner threw his eighth straight fastball--it registered 98 mph on the Astrodome speed gun--and Leyritz, batting for Wally Joyner, sliced it just inside the right-field foul pole to tie the score, stun and silence the crowd and leave Wagner semi-laughing in disbelief.

Leyritz, then with the New York Yankees, had turned the 1996 World Series around with his Game 3 home run off Atlanta’s Mark Wohlers, and Wagner said that was on his mind when he opted to stay with his fastball rather than throw a slider, for instance, the pitch Wohlers had thrown.

“It wasn’t like he was catching up to [the fastball],” Wagner said. “I was staying away and going with my best pitch. I pretty much supplied all the power for that home run. You tip your cap and come back Saturday.”

Of his postseason dramatics, Leyritz dismissed it as a matter of being in the right place at the right time and “after playing in New York with that pressure, where every game is like a World Series, it’s nice to come in here and play under these [less severe] conditions.”

Dan Miceli was summoned to protect the tie in the bottom of the inning, but Ricky Gutierrez legged out a leadoff chopper to short and was bunted to second by Brad Ausmus on a full count after first baseman Leyritz had narrowly missed a diving attempt to catch his fouled attempt on 3 and 1.

“I overdove,” Leyritz said. “I should have caught it.”

With Gutierrez on second, the Padres brought in closer Hoffman, but on the first pitch, a changeup to Biggio, Gutierrez stole third without a throw, changing the course of the inning. The Padres then walked Biggio intentionally, brought the infield and outfield in, but were unable to prevent Gutierrez from loping home when Spiers singled to right on a two-strike changeup.

“He wouldn’t have scored from second on that hit,” said Hoffman, who referred to the steal as “the big play of the game.”

Hoffman said he had checked Gutierrez but used a big leg kick rather than a shorter one that he employs in certain steal situations.

“Hindsight is 20-20,” he said. “He made an aggressive decision and played the percentages, and it worked.”

Said Gutierrez: “It was the first thing on my mind when Brad bunted me over. I guess they were thinking I’d sit back and let Biggio hit, but once I got to second I was going on the first pitch.”

With the victory, Dierker said, he will stay with Mike Hampton as his Game 3 starter, hoping he can save Randy Johnson for Game 5 in the Astrodome or, in the best of worlds, Game 1 of the pennant series. The Padres, however, are thinking of bringing back Kevin Brown on three days’ rest Saturday night.

Ashby, handicapped by tendinitis over the final starts of his 17-win season, went only four innings Thursday, giving up six hits and three runs. The Padres then got three shutout innings from Joey Hamilton, but continue to struggle offensively.

A three-hit, two-run sixth was their only action until the ninth, when Wagner yielded a pair of singles after the Leyritz home run before striking out George Arias to end the inning.

Including the final days of a 9-15 September, they have now failed to score more than four runs in any of their last 15 games and have failed to get more than nine hits in any of their last 20. “The team capitalizing on its opportunities will win,” said Gwynn, but will the Padres even get those opportunities?