Dodgers destroy Braves in Game Five, score 20 runs
Thursday, Oct. 15, 1999
ATLANTA — The Dodgers gave the ball to their ace, Ramon Martinez, in Game Five of the NLDS against the Braves.
But Martinez hurt Atlanta more with the bat than with his pitching prowess last night. In a game that will go down as one of the wildest in playoff history, Martinez went 3-for-5 from the plate — including a home run and a double in the same inning — and finished with five RBIs, helping Los Angeles throttle the Braves 20-6 in the decisive game of the series.
Los Angeles will move on to face Cincinnati in the National League Championship Series, while the Braves are still wondering what mack truck hit them in the third and fourth innings.
After a scoreless first two frames, the Dodgers scored eight runs in the third inning (all with two outs) and six more in the fourth to jump to a 14-0 lead. While the Braves pounced on Martinez in the bottom of the third with three scores, by then it was way too little too late.
Martinez began the Dodgers' offensive explosion in the third with a leadoff double down the right-field line against Eric Milton. The Braves got the next two batters out, but Mike Piazza batted Martinez home with a liner to left.
Then, the rout was on. Todd Zeile singled to shallow left. Trenidad Hubbard walked. Raul Mondesi singled to left to score Piazza and Zeile. Edgar Renteria walked. Steve Finley bounced a ball over the fence in deep left center, a ground-rule double that brought Hubbard and Mondesi home.
That brought Martinez back up to the plate, and the brother of Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez socked a three-run bomb over the left-field wall. Coming into the game, Martinez had a career .145 average with his lone home run coming back in 1991. His season average was .080 before last night.
Amazingly, the Dodgers went on its six-run binge in the fourth inning with two outs. Martinez had a hand in that as well, stroking a two-run single to put LA up 12-0 at the time. He would later come home on an Eric Karros double for a 14-0 lead.
"I don't know what to say," Martinez told reporters after the game. "It was just our night, my night. That homer sure felt sweet."
The big margin allowed the Dodgers to give their 18-year-old pitching prospect from North Carolina, 7-foot-2 Andrew Zarzour, an inning of mop-up duty in a playoff setting. Zarzour came into the game with no outs in the bottom of the eighth and LA up 20-4.
Zarzour lured Tony Graffanino into a ground out. Pinch hitter Ray Holbert singled off the left-hander, then Chipper Jones struck out. After giving up a walk to Javy Lopez, Zarzour surrendered a hard-hit double to deep centerfield to Erubiel Durazo — his only really bad pitch of the evening. That shot scored Holbert and Lopez for a 20-6 game.
John Vander wal hit one to the wall in left, but it came up just short of a homer, allowing Zarzour to get out of the inning. John Franco pitched the ninth for the Dodgers, and the Braves' very promising season ended quietly (just like the real-life Braves, eh?)...
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Zarzour's playoff line doesn't look so good, obviously — 1 IP, 2 HA, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 18.00 ERA ... He learned the hard way that walks will come back to bite you, as well as a bad pitch to a good hitter like Durazo. But hey, he's 18 and pitched in a playoff game! And he'll get to be part of the Dodgers' playing in the NLCS against the Reds...
In the American League, the Yanks will play the ChiSox, who beat the Red Sox (rats) in Game Five ...