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 Adios, Astros San Diego eliminates Houston 6-1, heads to NLCS
Posted: Monday October 05, 1998 12:22 AM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Champagne dripped off Jim Leyritz's shaved head, his reward for an astounding run of clutch home runs. Leyritz is a playoff hero once again, and the San Diego Padres are going back to the NL championship series after a 14-year absence, their tense division series against Randy Johnson and the Houston Astros secured with a 6-1 win Sunday night. "I'm numb right now," said Leyritz, who led the Padres to a 3-1 series win by homering in the final three games. "I can't believe all that's gone on. I don't even want to think about it. Let it just keep rolling, man!" Leyritz was one of the New York Yankees' heroes in 1996, hitting a dramatic three-run homer in the eighth inning of Game 4 at Atlanta, and now he's got the Padres headed for a showdown for the NL pennant with the Braves starting Wednesday night at Turner Field. He set the tone Sunday with a 422-foot drive to left center off Johnson leading off the second as twilight settled over Qualcomm Stadium. After he crossed the plate, Leyritz lightly bumped heads with Game 1 hero Kevin Brown.
"He's just got a history of being big in the postseason, and this series was no different," said winning pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, who used a devastating split-fingered fastball to strike out 11 in six innings. Johnson, the Big Unit, is not going to make it to the World Series as many thought. He lost his fifth straight decision in the postseason, tying a major league record. "I didn't have my best stuff, but you give up three earned runs in 14 innings [in two starts], you don't feel like you're going to lose too many ballgames," said Johnson, who left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh. "Everybody counted us out," Hitchcock said. "They said we couldn't beat Johnson twice in a five-game series. Well, we beat him twice in a four-game series. These guys never let up." This series was close and tense, with the first three games being decided by one run. This one was headed that way until reliever Jay Powell gave up pinch-hitter John Vander Wal's two-run triple and Wally Joyner's two-run homer in the eighth.
With the crowd of 64,898 roaring, Trevor Hoffman closed out the ninth for the Padres, who now face a Braves team that beat them five times in nine games this year. Houston's Ricky Gutierrez kneeled in the on-deck circle for a few minutes after the final out, which sent the Padres bursting out of the dugout and fireworks bursting overhead. Craig Biggio sat in the dugout, stunned, staring at the scene. Like they did the night they won the NL West, Padres players and their families partied on the field. This is the first time the Padres have been this far since 1984, when they beat the Chicago Cubs to win the pennant only to lose the World Series 4-1 to Detroit. Tony Gwynn, 38, is the only player left from that Padres team, although Bruce Bochy is the manager and Tim Flannery the third base coach. "Everyone knew coming into the playoffs that all roads lead to Atlanta," Gwynn said. "I'm excited."
The Astros, who led the NL in scoring this season but managed just eight runs in this series, go home frustrated for a second straight year, having been swept by Atlanta in the first round in 1997. Houston has been in five postseason series, and lost all of them. "It's just kind of hard for me to think about," Houston star Jeff Bagwell said. "It's just too devastating to even think about." Hitchcock and three relievers combined on a three-hitter Sunday. "I've seen it before," manager Larry Dierker said. "It happened here at a critical time." Johnson was brilliant after being traded from Seattle to Houston on July 31, going 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA. But the Padres beat him twice this series.
Leyritz had been just 4-for-37 (.108) with one home run lifetime off Johnson, but his second-inning homer was his sixth in 34 postseason at-bats. "This time of day, it's hard to see the ball," Leyritz said. "I just swung in the right place and, with his velocity, was able to hit it out. The Padres won Saturday night's game 2-1 thanks to Leyritz's solo homer to left with one out in the seventh. On Thursday, his pinch-hit, two-run shot with two out in the ninth off Billy Wagner sailed just inside the foul pole in right, tying the game at 4. The Astros came back and won it 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Leyritz is best known for his three-run, eighth-inning shot against Atlanta's Mark Wohlers that tied Game 4 of the '96 Series at 6-6. The Yankees went on to win in 10 innings and defeated the Braves in six games. Trailing 2-1, the Astros loaded the bases without a hit off Joey Hamilton in the seventh. Dan Miceli came on and retired the side on four pitches, striking out Brad Ausmus and getting Carl Everett -- pinch-hitting for Johnson -- to pop up to third. Miceli came on with the bases loaded and two out Saturday night and struck out Bill Spiers on three pitches. The Padres scratched out an unearned run in the sixth to go ahead 2-1. Greg Vaughn hit a high fly with two outs and left fielder Moises Alou had to run in. Alou tried to make a sliding catch and missed, giving Vaughn a double. Ken Caminiti followed with a chopper to third baseman Sean Berry and stumbled coming out of the box, but Berry made a bad throw that bounced past Bagwell at first base, allowing Vaughn to score. Notes: Doyle Alexander (1973-87) and Joe Bush (1914-23) also lost five straight postseason decisions. ... The Padres scored more than four runs for the first time in 17 games. ... San Diego's Ruben Rivera got the start in center field for Steve Finley because Bochy didn't want three lefties hitting against Johnson. The other two lefties in the lineup for San Diego were Gwynn and Joyner. ... The crowd was second-largest in San Diego baseball history only to Saturday night's 65,235.
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