10/19 – 10/21 – Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Game 3 – ’96 Braves 6, ’53 Dodgers 3
Glavine Vs. Loes
With the series moving to Atlanta, it was the Dodgers turn to strike in their first at-bat. Braves’ starter Tom Glavine, notorious for 1st-inning woes, was true to form, surrendering 3 hits, 3 walks and a wild pitch. Having faced all 9 Brooklyn batters, Glavine was lucky the Jackie Robinson’s and Roy Campanella’s hits were only singles and only plated 3 runs. But Glavine settled down after that and allowed only 3 hits and 3 walks over the next 5 innings. Meanwhile, 23-year old Brooklyn starter Billy Loes had no trouble with the Atlanta hitters, setting them down with ease. Only 1 Braves base runner managed to reach as far as 2nd base through 7 innings. Atlanta finally broke through, and in a big way, in the bottom of the 8th when with 2 outs Ryan Klesko hit a huge 3-run HR, and suddenly the game was tied.
Neither team scored in the 9th inning, and it was time for free baseball.
On in relief, Pedro Borbon (1-1) set down Brooklyn in order
in the top of the 10th. Marquis Grissom led off the Atlanta half of the 10th with a single off Dodgers reliever Ben Wade (0-1), and one out later advanced to 2nd base on a walk. Fred McGriff then singled up the middle, and Grissom, the fastest runner on the field, rounded 3rd with plans to score the winning run. However, Duke Snyder though otherwise and fired a bullet to Campanella at home to nail Grissom for the 2nd out. But the disappointment of the deflated Atlanta crowd turned to elation when the next batter Ryan Klesko worked the count full, then fouled off 2 pitches, and then stunned everyone with yet another 3-run bomb to give Atlanta a 6-3 walk off win. For the game, Klesko was 3-3 with 2 walks, 2 HRs and 6 RBIs.
’96 Braves lead 2-1
--submitted by Douglas Zaner--
