Padres Pound Braves Pen

May 8, 1999 / 2:39 AM EDT / CBS/AP

So much has changed for the San Diego Padres since they last faced the Atlanta Braves. Tony Gwynn, though, remains as good as always.

Gwynn hit a tying, two-run single with one out in the eighth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Phil Nevin's single as San Diego beat Atlanta 4-3 Friday night, the first time the teams have met since the Padres won the NL championship series in six games.

Manager Bruce Bochy said he was reminded of the wild playoff atmosphere when the crowd got wound up as closer Trevor Hoffman took the mound in the ninth.

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Gwynn said he felt no twinges of nostalgia.

"There's a whole different bunch of guys, you know, a whole different set of problems we have to deal with," said Gwynn, who watched many of San Diego's stars leave via free agency and trades. "It's kind of like growing pains. It's going to take guys time to jell."

The Padres, last in the NL West and coming off a 2-7 trip, fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and Gwynn thought, "Here we go again."

But with the Padres trailing 3-1, Damian Jackson walked leading off the eighth and Reggie Sanders hit a one-out double off Rudy Seanez.

Lefty reliever John Rocker came on to face Gwynn, who lined the first pitch right past Rocker and up the middle to tie the game. Gwynn took second on center fielder Andruw Jones' throw home, and moved to third when Wally Joyner singled on Rocker's next pitch. Nevin's single to left scored Gwynn.

"(Kevin) Millwood was throwing the ball great and we weren't getting much going against him," Gwynn said. "But we pecked away."

Rocker threw a fastball that Gwynn rifled right back at the mound. Gwynn thought at first that Rocker caught it, but then saw it go into center. He knew he had to be careful because of Jones' arm.

"He threw it high and I kept going and got into scoring position," Gwynn said.

"I was trying to get ahead," Rocker said. "I owned this team last year. But I don't know. That pitch to Gwynn was a good 0-0 pitch, but he guessed right."

Rocker (1-2) took the los, allowing three straight hits without getting an out, as the Braves blew a save chance for the fifth time this year.

"Three hits in a row with a two-run lead," Rocker said. "That's pretty (bad)."

Counting the NLCS, Rocker didn't allow an earned run over 10 1-3 innings in 11 appearances, with 10 strikeouts.

Brian Boehringer (1-1) pitched one perfect inning for the win. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his fourth save, striking out Andruw Jones with a runner on third to end the game.

The loss was just the third in 13 games for the Braves.

Padres right-hander Matt Clement had a rough start falling behind 3-0 in the first. He walked Otis Nixon to open the game and then took a sharp one-hopper by Bret Boone off his right ankle for an infield hit, knocking him to the ground and putting runners on first and third.

Clement stayed in and allowed Brian Jordan's one-out RBI single. Ryan Klesko followed with a grounder to first, and Clement was charged with an error even through Joyner's throw to the bag was off target, allowing Boone to score from second. Jordan scored on Jones' grounder.

Clement settled down after that, throwing three perfect innings. He allowed four hits and three runs, one earned, in five innings.

Reggie Sanders singled leading off the Padres fourth and scored on George Arias' grounder.

With runners on first and third and one out in the seventh, Millwood was pulled so lefty Mike Remlinger could face lefty pinch-hitter John Vander Wal, but Bochy then sent up right-hander Eric Owens. Ruben Rivera was thrown out trying to take second on a pitch in the dirt, and Owens grounded out.

Millwood allowed one run and four hits in 6 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked one.

Notes: Braves catcher Javy Lopez was scratched from the lineup just before the game because of the death of his mother in Puerto Rico. Lopez likely was going to fly home Friday night, a team spokesman said. No other information was immediately available. ... Arias came off the 15-day disabled list before the game and left-handed reliever Roberto Rivera was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Tom Glavine will face Andy Ashby on Saturday night, and Greg Maddux will go Sunday against Sterling Hitchcock, MVP of the NLCS. ... The game drew just 26,765. The three NLCS games in San Diego drew raucous crowds ranging from 58,988 to 65,042. ... Gwynn's hit left him 31 shy of 3,000.