CUBS 4, BRAVES 2: The right-hander picks up the victory and gives Chicago a 1-0 NL Division Series lead.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published October 1, 2003
ATLANTA - What Kerry Wood did with his bat, ripping a two-run double that put the Cubs ahead to stay in a 4-2 playoff-opening victory, was a bit unexpected. But what he did on the mound, holding the powerful Braves to two hits in a dominating seven-plus inning performance, shouldn't have surprised anybody.
Wood, at 26, has already established himself as one of the most dominating pitchers in the National League, firing blazing fastballs like the two tall Texans he grew up idolizing, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. But what Wood had not done was win a postseason game, and get the national attention that comes with starring on that stage.
"He was awesome, just awesome," Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa said. "I've seen him pitch great games, but never like that. I've never seen him pitch better. He showed the world tonight."
Asked before the game whether he thought Wood was a "big game" pitcher, Cubs manager Dusty Baker said he's have to wait and see.
After Wood struck out 11, allowed only the two hits over 71/3 innings, and was consistently clocked in the 95-97 mph range, there really wasn't any question.
"It has to be a big boost to his confidence and his career," Baker said. "His career is going in the right direction, skyward, and what I think it does more than anything is it lets him know and lets us know exactly what he's capable of doing.
"It was a big game for Kerry. He wanted it badly. He was calm and cool all night. It means a lot to the maturity of a good pitcher turning into a great pitcher."
With thousands of Cubs fans among the split crowd of 52,043 (think Yankees at the Trop) chanting "Ker-ry, Ker-ry, Ker-ry," Wood admitted he was a bit nervous to start, but he allowed only a third-inning homer by Marcus Giles and a seventh-inning single by Javy Lopez. In the process, he pretty much negated the theory about how building a strong offense would allow the Braves to avoid another postseason disappointment.
"Kerry pitched phenomenally," reliever Mike Remlinger said. "You can't say enough about what he did."
The Cubs wasted several early scoring chances, most glaring a based-loaded no-out opportunity in the fourth against Russ Ortiz, who pitched for Baker last season in San Francisco.
They looked like they were going to fail again with the bases loaded in the sixth, but first baseman Robert Fick botched a ground ball that should, or at least could, have led to an inning-ending double play.
Instead, the tying run scored and Wood, a .175 career hitter, lashed a double that one-hopped to the left-centerfield wall and knocked in two. A Kenny Lofton bloop single made it 4-1.
"(Wood) won the ballgame with his bat," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Wood played it straight, insisting: "I really just tried to put it in play."
But his teammates were braced for the expected bragging about his offensive prowess, as well as a nifty grab he made in the second.
"He'll probably talk more about the double or the play behind his back," catcher Paul Bako said.
The Braves had a chance to pull it out in the eighth when Wood loaded the bases without allowing a hit - a wild pitch on a strikeout of Matt Franco, a one-out walk to Mark DeRosa, and a walk to Gary Sheffield, after Wood was ahead 0-and-2 in the count but threw four straight offspeed pitches (three balls and a foul) before missing low with a 97-mph fastball on his 124th and final pitch.
Remlinger, an ex-Brave, got the double-play grounder he wanted, but Chipper Jones was called safe on a questionable call by first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, allowing a run to score. Kyle Farnsworth walked Andruw Jones to reload the bases, but got Lopez to hit into a force out for the final out.
