Astros 9, Braves 3
ATLANTA (AP) — Roger Clemens could have been taking his turn in the car pool, doing some yard work, relaxing in front of the television.<br>And miss this?<br>No way.
The Rocket is a step closer to getting back to the World Series, and the Houston Astros are along for the ride.
”We're very happy when we see Roger Clemens on the mound,” Jeff Bagwell said. ”That's the main thing — Roger Clemens is pitching for us.”
Picking up where they left off in the regular season, the wild-card Astros routed the Atlanta Braves 9-3 in Game 1 of the NL division playoffs Wednesday.
Houston is 0-for-7 in playoff series, losing three of its last four to the Braves. But there's a sense in the Astros' clubhouse that this could finally be their year.
It starts with Clemens, who retired after pitching for the New York Yankees in last year's World Series. About two months later, he changed his mind, jumping at the chance to play not far from suburban Houston home.
The 42-year-old pitcher can't do it alone, of course. The Astros have a lethal lineup that showed off its power in Atlanta, hitting four homers and setting a franchise record for runs in a postseason game.
”This team feels real good about itself,” Bagwell said. ”We came in on a roll.”
The Astros carried over their momentum from the regular season, when they won 36 of the last 46 games to claim an improbable wild card.
Game 2 is Thursday at Turner Field, with Houston sending 20-game winner Roy Oswalt to the mound against Mike Hampton. The NL East champion Braves can't afford to go down 0-2 in a best-of-five series heading to Minute Maid Park, where the Astros have an 18-game winning streak.
”We have to win three of the next four games,” Marcus Giles said, ”but we have done that plenty of times.”
Brad Ausmus, Lance Berkman and Carlos Beltran homered off Braves starter Jaret Wright, who didn't make it through the fifth.
Clemens showed the effects of a stomach virus that kept him from making his last start of the regular season. The Hall of Famer-to-be had two wild pitches and walked six — all in the first four innings and the most he's given up in a game since 1998.
Clemens also had trouble with his footing on the mound, but he displayed plenty of grit in winning a Game 1 start for the first time in his storied career. The Braves stranded nine runners in those first four innings, when the Rocket was his most vulnerable.
He wound up lasting seven innings, throwing 117 pitches, giving up six hits and two earned runs, while striking out seven.
”I had to will my way through that game,” he said. ”Sometimes, it takes more than talent or more than a 95-mph fastball. You have to will it.”
In a nod to the guy who persuaded him to put off retirement, Clemens has been wearing a right-handed glove that was mistakenly sent to left-handed teammate Andy Pettitte, out for the season after elbow surgery.
The glove has Pettitte's name stitched into the side.
The Astros trailed 1-0 when Ausmus led off the third by homering into the left-field seats, sparking a four-run inning. Bagwell had an RBI double — the first extra-base hit of his postseason career — and Berkman hit a two-run shot into the Braves bullpen.
Beltran knocked out Wright in the fifth with another two-run homer.
The Braves, meanwhile, were squandering all sorts of chances. When Atlanta loaded the bases in the first on Berkman's error and two walks, Clemens limited the damage to Johnny Estrada's sacrifice fly. When the Braves put runners at second and third in the second, Clemens struck out Rafael Furcal, who may have had other things on his mind.
The Braves shortstop was in the lineup just hours after being sentenced to three weeks in jail and four weeks in a treatment facility for his second drunken-driving arrest. He doesn't have to report until after the season.
That could be sooner than he wants if the Braves don't start coming through with some clutch hits. Clemens walked the bases loaded in the third, but escaped by striking out rookie Charles Thomas.
The Braves put two more runners on in the fourth. Clemens took care of that by jamming J.D. Drew, whose shattered bat flew farther than his popup back to the mound.
”I thought we had a pretty good game plan,” said Chipper Jones, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. ”We got him to throw a lot of pitches early, but we missed opportunities.”
While Clemens was frustrating the Braves, Wright was watching the ball fly out of the park. After giving up just 11 homers in 32 regular-season starts, he equaled a career high by giving up three in his first postseason start since 1998.
”I thought I only made a couple of mistakes,” Wright said. ”They didn't miss them.”