Judge Rules Furcal Can Keep Playing

The Atlanta Braves’ quest for their second World Series title in 10 years received a boost Wednesday when a judge ruled that shortstop Rafael Furcal could compete in the playoffs despite a recent probation violation on a drunken-driving charge.

Furcal was arrested Sept. 10 and charged with driving under the influence, a violation of his probation in Cobb County, Ga., for a June 2000 arrest on similar charges.

Judge David Darden sentenced Furcal to 21 days in jail to be followed by a 28-day in-patient treatment program, reflecting the 49 days remaining on Furcal’s probation. Furcal is scheduled to start serving his sentence the day after the Braves’ season ends.

“That’s a lot of days,” Furcal said before the Braves lost to the Houston Astros, 9-3, at Turner Field in Game 1 of the National League division series. “It’s bad for me. I’ve never been in jail that long.”

Darden also put several restrictions on Furcal through the remainder of the postseason. Furcal is to be confined to his home or hotel room when he is not at the stadium and must blow into a breath-testing machine when asked to do so by a monitoring service affiliated with the probation department. The machine, connected to a cellular phone and video camera, will transmit the test results to officials.

There will be no celebratory champagne for Furcal if the Braves come back to beat Houston in the series because Furcal has been ordered to refrain from drinking alcohol or participating in postgame festivities with his teammates.

Furcal, who went one for three with a triple and scored a run Wednesday, also cannot drive until he completes his sentence.

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The Braves acquired Russ Ortiz before the 2003 season to become their ace, and the right-hander responded with 36 victories in his first two seasons in Atlanta.

But a rough stretch in which Ortiz compiled a 7.71 earned-run average over his final five starts prompted Manager Bobby Cox to consider removing the right-hander from his playoff rotation.

Nonetheless, Cox said he would probably go with four starters against the Astros, meaning Ortiz would start Game 4 on Sunday in Houston if the series goes that far.

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Even though Andy Pettitte won’t pitch for Houston this postseason after tearing a tendon in his left elbow in August, the Astros expect the veteran left-hander to make a contribution with his clubhouse presence.

“I’m glad Andy is here,” said Roger Clemens, who Wednesday wore a right-hander’s glove mistakenly sent to Pettitte as a tribute to the player who persuaded him to come out of retirement and join his hometown Astros. “He carries four [World Series] rings with him too, which is very impressive. Just to have him here, have his voice here, is nice.”

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Houston shortstop Adam Everett, expected to spend the duration of the series in the Instructional League rehabilitating his broken wrist, entered as a defensive replacement for Jose Vizcaino in the ninth after receiving clearance to play.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.