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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- This was the kind of moment -- a stroke of
baseball magic -- that gives the New York Mets every reason to
believe this, indeed, is their year.
|  | | Todd Pratt, center, celebrates after hitting his game-winning homer in the 10th inning. |
The improbable team found an unlikely hero when Todd Pratt, replacing injured Mike Piazza for the second straight day, homered in the 10th inning Saturday for a 4-3 victory that gave the Mets a
3-1 win over Arizona in their first-round NL playoff series.
"I'm not an offensive power like Mike, but I can handle the bat
all right," said Pratt, who hit just the fourth homer in baseball
history that ended a postseason series.
"Honestly, I don't think it was that big a deal," Pratt said.
"To be honest with you, it's just like another game. Don't get me
wrong, I'm very happy I gave my team a chance to go to the NLCS,
but I'm one guy in the mix. I could have easily been the goat
today."
Just nine days after their season was considered over, the Mets
advanced to the NL championship for the first time since 1988,
starting Tuesday night at Atlanta, and they did it in the
incredible style they've flashed all year long.
On an intense afternoon of dramatic shifts, the Mets were four
outs from winning before Jay Bell's two-run, two-out double off Armando Benitez put the Diamondbacks ahead 3-2 in the eighth.
A dropped fly ball by Tony Womack, who had just moved to right field, led to Roger Cedeno's game-tying sacrifice fly in the bottom half -- an inning in which third-base coach Cookie Rojas was ejected
and shoved left-field umpire Charlie Williams in the chest.
Pratt, a career backup who had no chance of starting once Piazza
was acquired in May 1998, then set off fireworks when he connected
off Matt Mantei with a drive to straightaway center.
Steve Finley jumped against the eight-foot wall at the 410-foot sign -- the fence is a few inches higher there than the rest of the
outfield -- and 56,177 fans at Shea Stadium held their collective
breaths for a second, unsure where the ball was caught.
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GAME 4 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
Playing in place of the injured Mike Piazza, Todd Pratt hit arguably the most dramatic home run in club history. With one out in the bottom of the 10th and the game tied at 3-3, Pratt homered over the center field fence sending the Mets into the NLCS for the first time since 1988. The homer by Pratt was his first hit in eight at-bats in the Division Series.
Key number
411. The amount of feet Pratt's homer traveled as it just cleared the 410-foot sign in center field. Diamondbacks center fielder Steve Finley made a valiant effort to try and catch the ball, but it fell just of his reach.
Last word
"I thought I had it. I felt it in my glove. It took me a second to realize I didn't catch it. I still don't believe it."
-- Finley
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"I thought he came down with it," Mets manager Bobby Valentine
said.
Pratt stopped between first and second, not knowing. Finley even
brought his glove down and looked in it.
"We have all seen it a million times on the highlight films,
Steve bringing back balls," Pratt said. "I thought he had the
ball, actually. Then he put his head down."
Pratt leapt up and down with his arms raised in the air, sending
the crowd into a frenzy and the Mets out of the bullpen and dugout.
"I thought I had it," Finley said. "I felt it in my glove. It
took me a second to realize I didn't catch it. I still don't
believe it."
Rey Ordonez raced onto the infield and jumped in the air, Valentine high-fived his players. Piazza, with a cast on his left
hand, embraced Pratt.
Then in the chaotic Mets' clubhouse, it was time for
beer-and-champagne showers as the Doors' "LA Woman" blasted on
the stereo.
"He deserves this moment," said Piazza, out with a swollen
left thumb. "He's worked hard all year. That's what this team is
all about."
Only Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski in the 1960 World Series, the
Yankees' Chris Chambliss in the 1976 AL championship and Toronto's
Joe Carter in the 1993 World Series hit homers that ended
postseason series.
Now, the Mets play Atlanta, which went 9-3 against the Mets this
season and beat them five of six in the final two weeks.
"It's going to take a good effort to stop us, and the next team
we are playing is going to be playing against some ghosts, because
they said we were dead," Valentine said.
Pratt, signed as a minor league free agent after being out of
baseball in 1996, hit a comebacker in the eighth with the score
tied and runners on first and third.
"I had a couple of chances to drive in some runs," he said.
"We overcame adversity."'
Pratt's drive made a winner of the Mets' fan favorite, John
Franco, who has struggled since coming back from a finger injury
but pitched a 1-2-3 10th. Franco had lost 10 straight decisions
since Sept. 13, 1997.
"Twenty-four or 25 guys in that locker room think he is a hero today," Franco said. "Todd Pratt has got the toughest job in baseball, sitting behind one of the best catchers, one of the best
players in baseball. Sitting day in, day out not being able to play
has got to be tough."
The victory keeps alive the possibility of baseball's first
Subway Series since 1956. The defending World Series champion
Yankees began Saturday with a 2-0 lead over Texas in their
first-round series.
Arizona heads back to the desert bitterly disappointed. The
Diamondbacks, in the greatest turnaround in major league history,
went 100-62 and became the first second-year franchise to make the
postseason. They could have brought back Randy Johnson on three days' rest Saturday, but elected to hold him back for a fifth game
that won't be played.
Without Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo provided the power again with his third home run of the series, a solo shot in the fourth.
Greg Colbrunn's homer tied it for Arizona in the fifth and Benny Agbayani's RBI double gave New York a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
Al Leiter, who had come up with the Mets' biggest wins all season, took a two-hitter into the eighth. It was Leiter who
stopped an eight-game losing streak in June, ended the seven-game
skid in late September that nearly finished off the Mets, then
pitched a shutout at Cincinnati on Monday in the wild-card
tiebreaker.
He walked pinch-hitter Turner Ward with two outs in the eighth and Womack reached when the Mets' usually infallible infield
hiccuped. Alfonzo couldn't come up with the one-hopper to second -- it would have been a good play if he had made it -- and Womack
reached on the hit.
In came Benitez, who converted 22 of 28 saves chances during the
regular season, taking over as the closer after Franco got hurt.
Bell doubled off the wall in the left-field corner, and all of a
sudden it seemed like the series was headed back to Phoenix for a
decisive game Sunday.
Melvin Mora, who came in for Rickey Henderson at the start of
the inning, then saved a run -- and possibly the game. Matt Williams singled to left and Mora threw to the plate, where Pratt tagged out
Bell.
The Mets tied it, taking advantage of Womack's second error in
two games -- letting a fly ball by John Olerud pop out of his glove after Greg Swindell walked Alfonzo leading off.
That put runners on second and third with no outs, and Cedeno's
sacrifice fly off Swindell tied it.
But Mantei escaped without giving up the tiebreaking run when
Pratt hit a comebacker that led to Olerud getting tagged out near
third and Rey Ordonez struck out with the bases loaded.
In between, Rojas was ejected for arguing with Williams, who
ruled that Darryl Hamilton's liner down the left-field line was foul.
While replays showed Williams made the correct call, Rojas gave
the umpire a two-handed push, and had to be restrained by Valentine
and Ventura.
Game notes
Arizona hadn't lost consecutive road games since July 18-19
at Seattle. ... Alfonzo is 5-for-7 with two homers off Brian
Anderson in his career. ... Womack made two errors in 258 outfield
chances during the regular season.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Arizona Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
Pratt plays the role of unlikeliest hero
Finally in playoffs, Franco wants to savor moment
Mets coach Rojas tossed for shoving umpire
Dropped fly ball mirrors Womack's terrible series
RECAPS
Boston 9
Cleveland 3
NY Yankees 3
Texas 0
Atlanta 7
Houston 5
NY Mets 4
Arizona 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Todd Pratt talks about his series-winning home run.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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