Mets Beat Braves In 15th!

The Mets, facing elimination for the second straight day, must beat Greg Maddux to keep the Braves from popping champagne corks in Shea Stadium.

New York will send Masato Yoshii to the mound, a pitcher who has never beaten the Braves in his career, and who will face Maddux for the fourth time this season.

Yoshii was the loser in the series opener, leaving the game in the fifth inning with a twisted ankle. He says he's healthy now.

"I did the 30-yard dash, the sprint, and I had no problems with it. So I'm OK," he said.

Yoshii said he had a game plan on how to attack the Atlanta lineup, but he wasn't about to share it. "It's more of an industrial secret," he said, "so I really can't comment on that."

New York's thrilling 3-2 comeback victory on Saturday night delayed the Braves' celebration for at least one day, but the team still trails 3-1 in the series.

While no team has ever rebounded from an 0-3 deficit, the Mets believe they still have a shot.

"Someday, someone's going to do this," New York manager Bobby Valentine said, after John Olerud's two-run single in the eighth off Met-killer John Rocker helped give the New York the win.

Rocker, who boasted to the media on Saturday that he would be immersed in champagne at the end of Game 4, had retired Olerud in nine career at-bats against Rocker, with five strikeouts.

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John Rocker gets a less than warm reception from New York fans after the Mets take a 3-2 lead.(AP)

The Mets' emotional victory was not without controversy however, as reliever Turk Wendell, who earned the victory after getting three outs to end the eighth inning, criticized teammate Rickey Henderson after the game.

"We're a scrappy bunch because we don't quit," Wendell said. "Except for one person. You'll find out who soon enough."

Henderson, who was replaced by Melvin Mora in the top of the eighth ining, was already showered, dressed and on his way out of Shea Stadium with a cardboard box of bats in his hand, just three minutes after the Mets had won the game.

Notes

• Rocker, who had a streak of seven straight saves against the Mets snapped in Saturday night's loss, turns 25 on Sunday.
• Jordan and Klesko hit the first back-to-back homer in the NLCS since Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds did it for the Mets in 1988.
• New York has played in a World Series in every decade of their existence prior to the 1990s, their previous appearances in 1969, 1973 and 1986.
• Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of the Mets' Game 5 win in the 1969 World Series, which gave the Mets their first championship. The Mets swept the Braves, three games to none, in the first-ever NLCS to reach the Series.

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