GAME 1
Bottom of the 1st: Second baseman Mariano Duncan draws a one-out walk. John Kruk follows with a single to right center (steals second). With two strikes, Dave Hollins works the count to a walk, to load the bases. Suddenly in trouble early, Avery has to pitch to the dangerous Darren Daulton, but Daulton would ground into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
Top of the 2nd: Curt Schilling strikes out the side in Fred McGriff, Dave Justice, and Terry Pendleton, giving Schilling 4 K's early on... This could be a long night for Atlanta, if this is any indication for things to come.
Top of the 3rd: Mark Lemke draws a one-out walk. Steve Avery up at bat, Lemke advances on a passed ball to second. Avery bats Lemke over to third for the 2nd out. Otis Nixon draws a walk. With runners on the corners, the Braves elect to hit-and-run with Jeff Blauser at the plate, Nixon is off and running, but is thrown out trying to steal second, on a solid throw by Darren Daulton. [Blauser rolled a 13-14, which if I did not elect to hit-and-run, would have drawn Atlanta's 3rd walk of the inning, with Gant up to the plate].
Top of the 5th: Damon Berryhill breaks up Curt Schilling's early no-hit bid with one out. Mark Lemke draws his 2nd walk of the day [rolling back-to-back, 14 results, which resulted in a walk against Schilling's Z control rating]. Runners on 1st & 2nd for the Braves' pitcher Steve Avery at the plate, Avery lays down a sac bunt, to advance the runners to 2nd & 3rd, 2 outs. Otis Nixon [rolls a 51-10] flying out to Lenny Dykstra for final out. Score remains, zero apiece.
Top of the 6th: With Ron Gant on second (due to a walk & advancing to 2nd on a groundout), Dave Justice has a chance to do some damage, but flies out center [Curt Schilling has pitched 6 shutout innings & advances to a Grade B-XZ].
Bottom of the 6th: Lead-off single by Lenny Dykstra. Mariano Duncan hits a double [66-0, 63-6] off Avery, scoring in Dykstra, for the game's first run. John Kruk makes it back-to-back RBI doubles [33-0, 62-6], 2-0, Phillies lead. Dave Hollins flies to right, for 1st out, no advancement by Kruk. Darren Daulton grounds it to the pitcher [44-8] , pitcher tosses over to first for the 2nd out, while Kruk moves on over to third. Pete Incaviglia [22-6, single column card] hits a two-run homer off Avery, for the nail in Avery's coffin. Braves Manager Bobby Cox has seen enough, and will go to the pen. Reliever Marvin Freeman stops the bleeding as Wes Chamberlain grounds out to second. Phillies lead 4-0.
Top of the 7th: Curt Schilling strikes out Mark Lemke to retire the side, recording his 7th strikeout of the game [Schilling advances to Grade A-XZ with 7 shutout innings].
Curt Schilling goes on to pitch a one-hit, 10 K gem, shutting out the Braves, while allowing 4 walks. The Braves' Steve Avery gets the loss, allowing 6 hits, 4 earned runs & 3 walks in 5.2 innings. John Kruk collects 3 hits, including a RBI double, run & stolen base. Mariano Duncan drew 2 walks, while also having an RBI double.
GAME 2
On the mound: N.L. Cy Young favorite Greg Maddux (Grade A-YZ) for Atlanta vs Tommy Greene (Grade B-X) for Philadelphia, at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia. Phillies lead series, 1-0.
1st Inning: Both teams squander chances. Atlanta led off 1st with a single & stolen base by Otis Nixon, with Jeff Blauser drawing a walk on the next at-bat, but two infield flies with no runners advancing & a fielder's choice at second later, the Braves came up empty. Philadelphia with 2 outs, draw back-to-back walks (a rarity) against such a great control artist like Maddux, but Darren Daulton would come up empty at the plate to capitalize on the opportunity.
Bottom of the 3rd: The Phillies' Lenny Dykstra leads off with a single & stolen base [33-0, 34-11]. Mickey Morandini flies to right, Dykstra advances to third. John Kruk singles to left, Dykstra scores, Kruk advances to second on wild throw by Ron Gant. Phillies lead 1-0.
Top of the 4th: David Justice with two outs, hits a solo home run off of Tommy Greene to give Atlanta's first run of the series, tying the game at 1-1.
Bottom of the 5th: Mickey Morandini draws a one-out walk. John Kruk smacks and RBI double over first [35-14, 2 balls... 11-0, 56-6], giving Philly back the lead, 2-1. Dave Hollins draws a walk (4th walk by Maddux). Runners on 1st & 2nd, Darren Daulton grounds out, advancing the runners to 2nd & 3rd. Jim Eisenreich connects on a big single to right [25-8 vs Grade A, 2nd & 3rd], scoring both runners, making the game, 4-1 Philadelphia! Milt Thompson strikes out for the 3rd time ending the big inning.
Top of the 6th: Fred McGriff does his best to keep the Braves in the game, hitting a two-out solo homer off of Greene. Braves trail 4-2.
Top of the 7th: The Phillies went to the pen prior to the inning, with Larry Andersen toeing the rubber; Phillies pinch-hit for Greene during the bottom of the 6th with Wes Chamberlain. Andersen (Grade B*-XY) strikes out the side in Terry Pendleton, Damon Berryhill & Mark Lemke.
Bottom of the 7th: The Braves stay with Greg Maddux for one more inning. Maddux rewards manager Bobby Cox' faith with 3 strikeouts in the inning, although giving up a 3rd hit in the game to John Kruk.
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| Kruk has 6 hits during the first 2 games of the 1993 NLCS. |
Top of the 9th: Phillies' closer Mitch Williams, 'The Wild Thing', retires the side, by getting pinch-hitter Bill Pecota to fly out for the final out.
Phillies lead the series, 2-0. When asked if he thought home plate umpire Frank Pulli was squeezing him on some possible strike calls, Greg Maddux said "I don't have much to say on the matter, we are the ones that lost the game. I think we'll be good to go once we are back in front of our home crowd."
It should be mentioned that Pulli was once placed on probation by former commissioner Fay Vincent for placing bets on non-baseball sporting events, along with umpire Rich Garcia back in 1989.
The Atlanta Braves have totaled only 5 hits in the first 2 games of the series (combined), while the Phillies' John Kruk alone has 6 hits through 7 at-bats this series, along with a BB & 3 RBI.
Atlanta will have to find their stride in Atlanta, as their postseason fate weighs on Tom Glavine & John Smoltz the next two games.
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