Astros Finally Get Off Launch Pad

The Houston Astros’ recent postseason pattern has been especially traumatic for them and their fans.

The Astros were pummeled during their previous two National League division series appearances, and facing the division series-dominant Atlanta Braves seemingly wouldn’t help their psyche.

But the Astros felt good for at least a game, defeating Greg Maddux and the Braves, 6-1, Tuesday in the opener before 39,119 at Turner Field.

The Astros received several timely performances in ending the Braves’ division series winning streak at 10 games.

Starter Shane Reynolds, who struggled during the second half of the regular season, pitched six solid innings. He worked out of bases-loaded jam in the fifth to preserve a 1-1 tie.

Left fielder Daryle Ward led off the sixth with a solo home run against Maddux to give the Astros the lead for good, and Ken Caminiti broke the game open with a three-run homer in a four-run ninth against reliever Mike Remlinger.

The rest was up to the Houston bullpen, which is second to none in the league. Trevor Miller, Doug Henry and closer Billy Wagner combined to pitch three perfect innings to complete the Astros’ first Game 1 victory in three trips to the division series.

The Astros pitched around third baseman Chipper Jones, preferring to take their chances with someone other than the leading MVP candidate. That worked too in helping the Astros improve to 2-6 under this playoff format.

It was only one small step, but one the Astros needed to take.

“The thing is that we haven’t played well in the postseason, each time we’ve lost the first game and each time we struggled and lost the series,” Houston Manager Larry Dierker said. “With us winning the first game today, it put the shoe on the other foot.”

The Braves are unfamiliar with that shoe.

They were 12-1 in their four previous division series. They had not lost since dropping Game 3 against the Colorado Rockies in 1995, and Maddux was 4-0 with a 2.43 earned-run average during his first five starts in these series.

So much for history.

“Obviously, we would rather have won the first game, but somebody had to lose,” said Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox, whose team went 6-1 against Houston during the regular season. “I mean, teams have lost the first game before and won the series.

“We can reel off a bunch ourselves. We’re not exactly running mincemeat out there, you know.”

Neither are the Astros.

Maddux was good (big surprise), giving up only two runs in seven innings, though the Astros got 10 hits against him.

He induced double-play grounders in the fifth and sixth to work out of jams, keeping the Braves in the game. Maddux would have been pleased with his outing except for Tony Eusebio’s run-scoring single in the second and Ward’s 400-foot blast to left-center on his first pitch of the sixth, which gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.

Reynolds was simply a little bit better than his more-celebrated counterpart. He gave up seven hits, including Gerald Williams’ two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth that tied the score at 1-1 and set the stage for a game-turning moment.

Bret Boone singled off Reynolds’ glove to put runners on first and second with Jones on deck. The switch-hitter had a monster season with a career-high 45 homers, and Reynolds was determined not to let Jones beat him.

Jones, hitless in four plate appearances with two walks, walked on four pitches to load the bases for cleanup batter Ryan Klesko.

Reynolds had only one strikeout Tuesday--against Klesko swinging in the fifth.

“In that situation, a guy like that, yeah, that was a key part of the game,” Reynolds said. “I mean, he swung the bat well and he has a lot of power. It could have been a situation where the game could have been blown up right there.

“I thought I made some real good pitches at a crucial time, but it was nothing special. It was just a situation where I was able to get one by him. It just happened to work out for me and, yeah, it makes you feel good.”

The Astros were all feeling good.