ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250090
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Too bad the New York Yankees can't play the rest of the World Series at this park.
Andy Pettitte outpitched John Smoltz in a classic duel, and the Yankees moved within one win of the championship Thursday night by hanging on for a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5.
In the last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Yankees finished this postseason 8-0 on the road. They won for the third straight night, taking a 3-2 Series lead by working around a leadoff double in the ninth by Chipper Jones.
Pettitte got one out and John Wetteland got the last two, the final one a fly ball that gimpy right fielder Paul O'Neill caught on the move with runners at first and third.
Now, they'll return to Yankee Stadium - where they're just 2-4 this October - with a chance to clinch their record 23rd title and dethrone the defending champions.
``I've been telling everyone I don't know if we get too pumped up playing at home,'' Pettitte said. ``We may need to bring it down a notch and just play our game.''
Game 6 will be Saturday night, with Jimmy Key pitching for New York against Greg Maddux.
The final game at this stadium turned out to be anything except the kind of slugfest that earned its reputation as The Launching Pad.
Instead, the House that Hank Built - Hank Aaron that is - went out with a whimper, with a total of only nine hits and the lone run scoring in the fourth inning on an error and Cecil Fielder's double.
``It's a game of inches,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``The breaks have not gone our way.''
Yankees manager Joe Torre was glad to take it, though. He hit the first regular-season home run at the stadium in 1966 and was back for his greatest win in the majors.
``I really was very nervous tonight,'' Torre said. ``I had a feeling from about the fourth inning that one run was going to have to be enough.''
Pettitte shut out the Braves on four hits through the first eight innings, and also helped himself by throwing to third for a forceout in a key spot in the sixth. It was a far cry from his effort in the 12-1 Game 1 loss when he allowed seven runs in 21/3 innings.
``I was telling everybody I didn't learn anything,'' he said. ``I wasn't out there long enough.''
Pettitte put a towel over his head in the dugout when he was pulled in the ninth, too anxious to watch. Moments later, he was in the middle of the celebration.
Smoltz fell to 9-2 lifetime in the postseason despite not giving up an earned run. A miscommunication in the outfield caused a two-base error on center fielder Marquis Grissom in the fourth and led to Fielder's double.
Smoltz struck out 10 in eight innings and permitted four hits, three by Fielder.
``There's not a guy in here who doesn't think we can't win it,'' Smoltz said. ``We're still the defending champs.''
Jones opened the ninth inning with a double and moved to third when Fred McGriff grounded out to the right side. Wetteland relieved and Javier Lopez grounded out to drawn-in third baseman Charlie Hayes, keeping Jones at third. After pinch hitter Ryan Klesko was walked intentionally , pinch hitter Luis Polonia pulled a fly ball that O'Neill caught in the alley with his glove extended.
``In batting practice, I caught a ball like that over my head and I thought, `That would be a funny way to end a game,''' O'Neill said.
Wetteland earned a save for the third straight day and sent Atlanta to its first 1-0 loss at home this season.
This was the 23rd 1-0 game in World Series history, with the Braves winning the previous one last October in Game 6 to clinch Atlanta's first World Series title over Cleveland.
The road team has won all five games in the Series. The only other time that happened was 1906 when the Cubs and White Sox played in Chicago.
Hayes opened the fourth with a fly ball into the alley in right-center. Grissom, showing the range that won him his fourth Gold Glove earlier this month, was on the run and calling for it when Jermaine Dye drifted over from right.
Dye cut a few feet in front of Grissom and clearly distracted him, and the ball popped out of Grissom's impromptu try at a basket catch and fell to the ground.
Hayes reached second on the misplay, moved up on Bernie Williams' grounder and scored on Fielder's hard double into the left-field corner.
Pettitte held the Braves hitless until Andruw Jones - who homered off him in Game 1 - singled to start the fifth. But Pettitte, who led the majors in pickoffs this season with 11, detected that the rookie was ready to run and trapped him off first.
The Braves threatened in the sixth when Smoltz, a .218 hitter this season, and Grissom began the inning by grounding singles to left field. Mark Lemke, who popped up a bunt attempt in a similar situation in Game 3, tried to sacrifice again.
Pettitte, however, helped himself by springing off the mound, bare-handing the ball and throwing to third for a forceout. Pettitte handled the next ball, too, starting an inning-ending double play on Chipper Jones' comebacker that ended the threat and got the Yankees out of another potential jam.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte handcuffed the Atlantaby CNBBraves on five hits in New York's 1-0 victory Thursday night. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL