Michael Tucker and the Atlanta Braves did what they had to do to stay alive in the NL Championship Series, staging a stunning comeback against no less than Kevin Brown.
With the Padres just five outs away from reaching the World Series for the first time in 14 years, manager Bruce Bochy's strategy to bring on Braves-killer Brown blew up when Tucker hit a go-ahead, three-run homer that sent Atlanta to a 7-6 victory last night in Game 5.
Game 6 is tomorrow afternoon in Atlanta. The Padres still lead the series, 3-2.
Bochy's move looked good in the seventh, when Brown came on with a 4-2 lead, a runner on and no outs and retired the side. But now, after Brown faltered in just the third relief appearance of his career, the strategy will be heavily questioned.
Tucker's homer highlighted a five-run rally in the eighth that made it 7-4. Tucker drove in Atlanta's first five runs.
``It's a tough one, no question about it,'' Bochy said. ``We said before the game if we had a two-run lead, we'd use Brownie. He had three days' rest.
``We had our best out there, but it didn't work out. Now we just have to go back to Atlanta.''
Pinch-hitter Greg Myers hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Braves reliever Kerry Ligtenberg, and then Atlanta manager Bobby Cox made his own unusual move - bringing in four-time Cy Young winner Greg Maddux from the bullpen.
Maddux, who had not relieved since 1987, got three outs for the first save of his big league career.
Maddux struck out pinch-hitter Greg Vaughn, playing for the first time since straining his left quadriceps in Game 1, and retired Quilvio Veras on a grounder. After Steve Finley drew a rare walk from Maddux, the Atlanta ace got Tony Gwynn on a game-ending grounder.
Brown, who had been 6-0 with a 1.85 ERA in his past eight starts against Atlanta, was the loser. John Rocker won in relief.
The Braves still might have to beat Brown, who pitched a shutout in Game 2, one more time in this series. He had been scheduled to pitch Game 6 tomorrow against Tom Glavine, but Bochy said he probably will use Sterling Hitchcock instead. Brown would be ready for Game 7 against Maddux, if necessary.
Either way, Atlanta already has made history. No team that trailed a seven-game series 3-0 had ever come back to win two games.
Brown didn't look nearly as sharp as he did when he won 3-0 on a three-hitter Thursday night in Atlanta. He walked Ryan Klesko leading off the eighth and Javy Lopez reached on an infield single. With one out, Tucker lined a 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence to give Atlanta a 5-4 lead.
With the crowd of 58,988 sitting stunned, Tucker, who finished with five RBIs, pumped his fist as he rounded first and looked at the spot where the ball landed, as if amazed he really did it against Brown.
``It was a tough one,'' Tucker said. ``I got a couple of tough strikes, fouled a couple off. Then I remembered something my father told me: `You can't swing hard and hope to hit it hard.' I just got it nice and easy and got it out of the ballpark.''
The Braves added two more runs off reliever Donne Wall, keyed by Tony Graffanino's double.
Tucker was booed when he came to bat in the ninth.
The Padres were nine outs from clinching the pennant Sunday night when Atlanta rallied for six runs, capped by Andres Galarraga's grand slam in the seventh, to win 8-3.
Ken Caminiti and John Vander Wal hit clutch two-out, two-run homers off John Smoltz, whose 11 postseason wins are the most ever. Caminiti's homer came in the first inning for a 2-0 lead and Vander Wal's in the sixth for a 4-2 lead.
Smoltz came in 3-0 with two no-decisions in five postseason starts when Atlanta faced elimination this decade. He beat Chicago in the division series for his 11th postseason victory, the most ever.
Vander Wal, acquired late in the season mainly because he hits Braves pitchers so well, broke a 2-2 tie when he homered to left on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the sixth.
Vander Wal, hitting .438 lifetime against Smoltz, made his second start in place of Vaughn, San Diego's 50-homer man.
Tucker singled in the Braves' first two runs, in the fourth and sixth innings, both off starter Andy Ashby.
Ashby allowed four straight one-out singles in the fourth, including Tucker's to cut San Diego's lead to 2-1. With runners on first and third and Smoltz bunting, the Padres pitched out on a squeeze play and got Andruw Jones in a rundown, with Ashby tagging him out at the plate.
Smoltz hit a dribbler down the third-base line that Ashby and Caminiti let roll, hoping it would go foul, but it hit the chalk line and rolled back fair, putting runners on the corners. Ozzie Guillen ended the threat when he flied out to center.
