The Cubs jumped on Atlanta lefty Mike Hampton early, then rallied to tie it against closer John Smoltz.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
The Cubs got only two hits in the final six innings and lost to the Braves 5-3 Wednesday night before a Turner Field crowd of 52,743–the most ever for a postseason game in Atlanta. The best-of-five division series is tied at a game apiece.
Still, the Cubs head back to Wrigley Field for the next two games with a chance to reach the NLCS for the first time since 1989.
Carlos Zambrano didn’t make it out of the sixth. He allowed three runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings, including a pinch-hit single by Marcus Giles that gave the Braves the lead.
But Zambrano didn’t get much support. After those first five batters reached, Chicago struck out 10 times and got only four hits the rest of the way. After Hampton gave up the two runs in the first, he struck out six straight–setting a division series record.
Sammy Sosa ended the streak with a single to lead off the third.
The six straight strikeouts tied the postseason record, which had been done three times. The most recent was St. Louis’ Todd Worrell in the 1985 World Series against Kansas City.
Moises Alou followed Sosa with another single, but Eric Karros hit into a double play to end the threat. That was it for the Cubs’ offense until the eighth.
With Atlanta leading 3-2, Smoltz came in for the final two innings for only the fourth time this season. The Cubs scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Tom Goodwin, only to have reliever Dave Veres give up two in the bottom half of the inning.
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Edited by the Sports staff of RedEye
