NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD

Call enrages, but errors rule

Atlanta Manager Fredi Gonzalez argues with umpire Sam Holbrook after an infield fly call in the eighth inning helped thwart a Braves rally in a 6-3 St. Louis wild-card playoff victory in Atlanta.
Atlanta Manager Fredi Gonzalez argues with umpire Sam Holbrook after an infield fly call in the eighth inning helped thwart a Braves rally in a 6-3 St. Louis wild-card playoff victory in Atlanta.

— David Freese and the St. Louis Cardinals rediscovered their postseason touch. Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves kept throwing the ball away. And the Atlanta fans turned Turner Field into a trash heap.

In a game protested by the Braves, Matt Holliday homered and the defending World Series champion Cardinals took advantage of three Atlanta throwing errors - the most crucial of them by the retiring Jones - to take the winner-take-all playoff 6-3 Friday.

MLB executive Joe Torre said the protest was denied. St. Louis advanced to face Washington in the best-of-five division round, beginning Sunday at Busch Stadium.

The Braves are done for this season, the recipients of another heartbreaking loss in the playoffs.

The 40-year-old Jones is done, period. He managed an infield hit in his final at-bat but threw away a double-play ball in the fourth, which led to a three-run inning that wiped out Atlanta’s early 2-0 lead behind Kris Medlen.

“Ultimately, I feel I’m the one to blame,” Jones said. “That should have been a tailor-made double play.”

But this one-and-done game will be remembered for the eighth, when a disputed call on a fly ball that dropped in short left field cost the Braves a potential scoring chance.

The Braves thought they had the bases loaded with one out after the ball fell between two fielders, who got mixed up over who had called for it. But left-field umpire Sam Holbrook called Andrelton Simmons out under the infield fly rule - even though the ball landed at least 50 feet beyond the dirt.

When the fans realized what had happened, they littered the field with beers cups, popcorn holders and other trash, leading to a 19-minute delay as the Cardinals retreated to their dugout.

Holbrook and umpiring supervisor Charlie Reliford defended the call.

“Once that fielder established himself, he got ordinary effort,” Holbrook said, referring to shortstop Pete Kozma calling for the ball, before he veered away at the last moment. “That’s when the call was made.”

Asked if he thought he made the proper ruling after seeing the replay, Holbrook replied, “Absolutely.”

Braves President John Schuerholz apologized for the actions of the crowd, saying a “small group of those fans acted in a manner that was uncharacteristic and unacceptable.”

The barrage left Holbrook fearing for his safety.

“When cans are flying past your head, yeah, a little bit,” he said.

The stoppage only delayed the inevitable. When play finally resumed, Brian McCann walked but Michael Bourn struck out to end the threat. Dan Uggla grounded out with two on base in the ninth to end it, leading to one more wave of trash throwing as the umps scurried off the field.

Jones refused to pin this loss on the umps.

“That one play didn’t cost us the game. Three errors cost us the game,” he said. “We just dug ourselves too big a hole.”

Holliday homered in the sixth off Kris Medlen, who had been baseball’s most dominant starter over the final two months. The Braves had not lost a start by the right-hander since 2010 - a streak of 23 games, the longest in modern baseball history.

St. Louis stunningly made the playoffs a year ago at the Braves’ expense, ralllying from 10 1/2 games back in the wild-card race in late August to pass Atlanta on the final day of the season. The Cardinals went on to win the championship, winning four consecutive elimination games while upsetting Philadelphia, Milwaukee and, finally, Texas, with their most improbable victory overall in the World Series. They rallied from two runs down in both the ninth and 10th before Freese’s home run in the 11th to set up a Game 7 victory that almost seemed anticlimactic.

This time, Freese had the sacrifice fly that put the Cardinals ahead for good.

“We put heat on them,” first-year Manager Mike Matheny said. “Our guys were aggressive.”

The Braves haven’t won a playoff round since 2001. Since then, they’ve gone 0 for 7 - including six decisive losses at Turner Field.

David Ross, starting at catcher in place of McCann, gave the Braves a chance when he hit a two-run home run into the left-field seats in the second.

Carlos Beltran led off the fourth with the first hit of the game off Medlen, a bloop single to right. Holliday followed with a hard shot to third base, and Jones made a backhanded scoop. The crowd cheered, expecting a double play. That turned to gasps when Jones’ throw to second base sailed over the head of Uggla, winding up in right field. Instead of having no one on with two outs, Medlen and the Braves faced second and third and no outs.

Postseason glance FRIDAY’S GAMES

NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD St. Louis 6, Atlanta 3,

St. Louis advances to NLDS AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD Baltimore 5, Texas 1,

Baltimore advances to ALDS

TODAY’S GAMES

All times Central AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES Oakland (Parker 13-8) at Detroit (Verlander 17-8), 5:07 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES Cincinnati (Cueto 19-9) at San Francisco (Cain 16-5), 8:37 p.m.

Sports, Pages 19 on 10/06/2012

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