14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 6, 2005 Ensberg, Pet ATLANTA (AP) - Morgan Ensberg and the Houston Astros showed there's more to this team than just pitching. Ensberg had five RBIs, Andy Pettitte overcame a couple of homers for his record-tying 14th post- season win and the Astros got started on what they hope will be another October conquest of Atlanta, beating the Braves 10-5 in Game I of their NL play- off series yesterday. The good-pitching, weak-hitting Astros - they led the National League in ERA but ranked 11th in runs - had no trouble scoring on the Braves. Atlanta passed up the chance to start the playoffs with John Smoltz, who came in as the winningest pitcher in postseason history. Now, Smoltz will start against Roger Clemens in Game 2 on Thursday night. Pettitte is tied with Smoltz for most postseason wins, improving to 14-8. The Houston left-hander pitched four-hit ball over seven innings - more than good enough the way the Astros were hitting. Still concerned about Smoltz's ailing shoul- der, manager Bobby Cox tapped another 14-game winner, Tim Hudson, for the opener. But the right- hander was roughed up for five runs - the most he had allowed since a June 13 loss at Texas, which preceded a stint on the disabled list. Houston turned a tight game into a blowout with five runs in the eighth against the shaky Braves bullpen. Craig Biggio, at 39 the main leftover from the Killer B's, was right in the middle of things just about every time the Astros scored. He had two hits, a sacrifice fly, a sac bunt and a walk in six trips to the plate. A year ago, the Astros knocked off Atlanta in titte lead Astros in opener,. the division series for the first postseason victory in franchise history. Pettitte wasn't around for that one, sitting out after season-ending elbow surgery. He came back to have a dominant season, winning 17 games and posting the second-best ERA in the National League behind Clemens. Ensberg tied a Houston postseason record with his five RBIs. He had a run-scoring single in the first, a two-run single in the third, another RBI single in the seventh and walked with the bases loaded in the eighth, when the Astros sent 11 batters to the plate against Chris Reitsma, John Foster and Jim Brower. Houston scored only 13 runs in six regular-sea- son games against the Braves, losing five of those meetings - two by shutout. But those games came early in a season that began miserably for the Astros, who bounced back to capture the wild card. Atlanta got homers from Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones - usually a formula for success. The Braves went 44-6 when both connected during the regular season. But this is the postseason, which has provided plenty of misery for a franchise with 14 straight division titles but only one World Series champion- ship during that amazing run. The Braves went down in the opening round the last three years, each time starting with a Game 1 loss at Turner Field. Now, they're in the hole again. Atlanta tried to change its playoff fortunes by ditching the normal white home jersey in favor of a red top, which debuted this season and had been used only for Sunday home games. It didn't work. Hudson got off to a rough start. Biggio singled up the middle on the second pitch of the game, moved to second on a bunt and came home on Ensberg's single to center. Chipper Jones tied it in the bottom half on an opposite-field homer to right, but the Astros reclaimed the lead with two runs in the third. Once again, Biggio got things started - this time with a double - and Ensberg finished up with a two-run single to left. Pitching coach Leo Mazzone made a trip to the mound and the Braves got their bullpen throwing, but Hudson escaped further damage by getting Adam Everett to ground out with the bases loaded. Biggio was at it again in the fourth. Brad Aus- mus led off with a double and was bunted to third before the leadoff hitter managed a sacrifice fly to medium center. Andruw Jones had a shot at the slow-running Ausmus, but the throw home sailed way over the head of catcher Johnny Estrada, giv- ing the Astros a 4-1 lead. Andruw Jones, who ended the season in a 6-of- 51 slump, brought the Braves to 4-3 with a two-run homer in the fourth. Hudson was actually fortunate that Houston didn't build a bigger lead. He escaped the first- inning jam with a double play, and surprise starter Brian Jordan made a brilliant play in left field in the second to deny Everett a two-run homer. Jordan, who played just 76 games and was hob- bled much of the season by a sore knee, drifted back to the warning track, timed his leap perfectly and caught the ball before his glove slammed into the yellow line atop the wall. At the end of the inning, Andruw Jones lingered on the field to pat Jordan on the back. The 38-year- old outfielder was mobbed by the rest of his team- mates when he got to the dugout. 0 AP PHOTO Houston relief pitcher Mike Gallo pitched the ninth inning in yesterday's 10-5 win over Atlanta. SMALL TALK WITH PLAYOFF CHOKERS With the playoffs two days in, Daily Sports asked perhaps baseball's two most infamous figures, Bill Buckner and Shoeless Joe Jackson, how they expect things to go down over the next month. DS: What do you think of the battle of the Sox? BB: I was pretty happy the Red Sox won last year, if for no other reason than they can finally leave' me the hell alone. But there's no way they deserve a second title. Simple as that. SJ: I'm happy to see Chicagoans get their hopes up because it's going to fall apart soon enough. DS: Will the other three semi-finalists be the same as last year - Yanks, Cards and Astros? BB: Yes. SJ: Yes. DS: Fellas, last question. Who screwed up worst? BB: Oh, it's got to be Shoeless Joe. I mean, he threw the World Series. What he did changed the sports landscape. SJ: Look, I did what I did, but people forget that I had a great series. Did a ground ball ever roll through my legs? 0 AP PHOTO Reliever Bobby Jenks pitched two innings to save game two for the White Sox. Red Sox gaffe helps White Sox take lead - Ready admission - 4 1/2 yrs. In English " No MCAT - 105 year old University - USA Recognized Reputed China Medical Schools " Practice in US - US, Caribbean Schools Too Costly - ($240,000)? Toooo Long (4+4=8)? CHICAGO (AP) - Boston needs another big comeback, this time just to get out of the first round. Tadahito Iguchi hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off David Wells after a costly error by Red Sox sec- ond baseman Tony Graffanino, and the Chicago White Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory over Boston on yesterday night to take a 2-0 lead against the defending World Series champions in their AL playoff series. The Red Sox, 14-2 losers in Tues- day's opener, took a 4-0 lead in the third, then were shut out on three hits for the final six innings by Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks. Graffanino hit a one-out double in the ninth, but Jenks got the save by retiring Johnny Damon on a foulout to the catcher and Edgar Renteria on a groundout. Games 3 and possibly 4 in the best- of-five series are at Fenway Park on Friday and Saturday. A fifth game, if necessary, would be at Chicago on Sunday. After a 19-8 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the AL cham- pionship series a year ago, the Red Sox won eight straight games to cap- ture their first World Series title since 1918. Boston has won eight of its last nine games when facing postseason elimination. Wells, who dropped to 10-4 in postseason play, allowed just two hits through the first four innings. But after the White Sox scored twice in the fifth and closed to 4-2, Graffanino let Juan Uribe's potential inning-ending, double- play grounder go through his legs - bringing up memories of first baseman Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's grounder in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against a single and scored from first when Aaron Rowand doubled into the left-field corner. Rowand moved up on a grounder before Joe Crede sent an RBI single through the box to make it 4-2. Uribe's grounder went right to Graffanino, who played for Chicago's previous playoff team in 2000, and the ball went through his legs, putting runners at first and third. After Graffanino went to the mound, Wells retired Scott Podsednik on a foul pop for the second out. Igu- chi, a 30-year-old major league rookie who played eight seasons in his native Japan, connected for the home run. Buehrle, who started and won the All-Star game for the AL with Bos- ton's Terry Francona as his manager and Jason Varitek as his catcher, was hit hard by the Red Sox in two regu- lar-season starts, giving up 22 hits and nine earned runs in 13 innings. He went seven innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. Wells allowed five runs - two earned - and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. Boston went right after Buehrle. Damon's leadoff grounder went under Crede's glove at third and was ruled a hit, and Renteria fol- lowed with a double. After David Ortiz struck out, Manny Ramirez lined a two-run single over Podsednik in left. Damon singled in the third and, one out later, Ortiz double to left and just beat the throw to sec- ond. The White Sox intentionally walked Ramirez to load the bases, and Varitek hit an RBI single. Trot Nixon followed with a run- scoring grounder, beating the relay throw from second to avert a dou- ble play. The beefy Wells, the front of his *1 =MR