ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610070154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEJA VU? NO, as Brian Jordan's two-run homer in the ninth inning makes sure there will be no Padres playoff rally this time.
The spirit of 1984 hardly was enough for the San Diego Padres to overcome the St. Louis Cardinals of 1996.
Brian Jordan hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Cardinals made sure there would be no repeat of San Diego's stirring playoff rally of 12 years ago, winning 7-5 on Saturday night to sweep the National League divisional series in three games.
Jordan made a diving catch of Jody Reed's slicing liner to right field with a runner on second, ending the eighth and keeping the score tied at 5.
Ken Caminiti hit two home runs for the Padres, including a solo shot that tied the score in the eighth.
Padres relief ace Trevor Hoffman took over to start the ninth and walked Ron Gant with one out. Jordan then drove a full-count pitch into one of the palm trees beyond the left-field fence, with Rickey Henderson making a futile jump at the ball.
The Cardinals, in the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, will face the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the NL championship series starting Wednesday night in Atlanta. The Braves, who won the East, went 9-4 against St.Louis during the regular season.
The teams also met in the 1982 NL championship series, with the Cardinals sweeping the Braves.
T.J. Mathews pitched one inning to pick up the victory Saturday night. Dennis Eckersley pitched the ninth to earn his third save of the series.
The Padres put a runner on second with one out in the ninth, but Eckersley retired seven-time NL batting champion Tony Gwynn on a lineout to shortstop and got Steve Finley on a fly ball to center.
Gwynn was a member of the 1984 Padres team that overcame a two-game deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-five NL playoffs. San Diego started that comeback by defeating Eckersley in Game 3 at Jack Murphy Stadium.
San Diego ended the regular season with a three-game sweep in Los Angeles to win the NL West. The Padres were hoping to end these playoffs with a three-game sweep.
Caminiti, the likely NL Most Valuable Player, hit his second homer of the game leading off the eighth, making it 5-all. His third homer in two games came on an 0-1 pitch from Rick Honeycutt and cleared the fence in right-center.
Caminiti also homered off left-hander Donovan Osborne with two out in the third to give San Diego a 3-1 lead.
The Padres made it 4-1 in the fourth, but the Cardinals came up with a three-run sixth to tie it.
Andy Ashby, making his first postseason start, served up a 1-0 pitch that Ron Gant drove 392 feet into the left-field seats. Jordan, a former NFL defensive back who attended the University of Richmond, singled to center and stole second.
With one out, Jordan scored on John Mabry's triple into the Cardinals' bullpen in right field that Gwynn had trouble handling.
Tim Worrell relieved and promptly gave up Tom Pagnozzi's single that scored Mabry with the tying run.
Worrell loaded the bases in the seventh, and Ray Lankford, seeing his first action of the series, scored the go-ahead run for the Cardinals as Gant hit into a double play. Lankford missed the first two games after tearing a rotator cuff Sept. 27.
The Cardinals also loaded the bases with two out in the eighth off Worrell and Fernando Valenzuela, but Royce Clayton grounded out.
The Cardinals won 3-1 on Tuesday and 5-4 on Thursday, both in St. Louis. Gant hit a three-run double in the fifth inning Thursday.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first, with Clayton scoring from second on Jordan's single to right-center.
San Diego took a 2-1 lead in the second inning, its first in the series.
Archi Cianfrocco, starting at first base because Wally Joyner has struggled against left-handers, singled off Osborne and took third on Brian Johnson's bad-hop single that got past shortstop Clayton. Chris Gomez hit a check-swing chopper to Osborne, who threw home even though catcher Pagnozzi motioned for him to throw to first.
Pagnozzi was too far in front of the plate to tag the sliding Cianfrocco, who made it 1-1.
Reed doubled to left to score Johnson, with the ball going over the glove of left fielder Gant, who tried to make a diving catch. Reed also hit an RBI single in the fourth.
Osborne was making his first start since Sept.24, when he cut his left thumb on a broken champagne bottle during the clubhouse celebration after the Cardinals clinched the NL Central.
Caminiti, the 1995 Gold Glove winner at third base, committed two errors, one fielding and one throwing. Neither led to runs. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP San Diego's Archi Cianfrocco slides in with theby CNBPadres' first run as Tom Pagnozzi is too late with the tag in the
second inning of the Cardinals' 7-5 victory Saturday night in San
Diego. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL