ATLANTA -- For the Atlanta Braves, postseason misery is nearly as routine as their 11 straight division titles.

	Braves starter Kevin Millwood couldn't get the job done on three days' rest.

For the second time in three years, Atlanta failed to make it to the NL championship series, losing 3-1 to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night in Game 5 of the division series.

The Braves had their chances. They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth but failed to score, and left two on in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh.

One final opportunity disappeared in the ninth when Gary Sheffield struck out with two on, and Chipper Jones grounded into a double play to end it.

''When those two guys got on, I felt like we were going to win the ballgame,'' Sheffield said. ''It just didn't work out that way.''

Atlanta traded for Sheffield in the offseason, hoping he would give the offense a boost in the playoffs. But he went 1-for-16 in the series, his only hit a solo homer in the opener. He also grounded into a double play with two on to end that game, which the Giants won 8-5.

The Braves stranded 12 runners in the final game, 11 in the first seven innings.

''We left too many guys on base,'' Jones said. ''We had our chances. We put ourselves in position, we just couldn't capitalize.''

It's the third year in a row the Braves haven't reached the World Series, and the fifth time in the last six years.

''We're to a point in this clubhouse where the regular season doesn't matter,'' Jones said. ''We're measured on how you do in the postseason, and we didn't get it done.''

Even though they had their chances, the Braves couldn't come through with the timely hits. Manager Bobby Cox didn't help by leaving two of his top hitters, Mark DeRosa and Matt Franco, on the bench at the start of the game.

DeRosa started Game 2 against left-hander Kirk Rueter and went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, but was relegated to pinch-hitting duty when Cox decided to start Keith Lockhart at second in the other games.

Lockhart played respectably, batting .333 and driving in four runs in the third game, which the Braves won 10-2.

Franco, who hit .331 in 50 starts at first base, didn't get into the lineup at all. Forty-something Julio Franco was Cox's choice in all five games and went 4-for-22.

A pitching staff that again led the league in ERA was shaky, too. Tom Glavine was hit hard in two starts, both Atlanta losses, and closer John Smoltz wasn't a factor, mopping up in a Game 2 victory and pitching two scoreless innings in the final defeat.

''I like to pitch, and in this series, it didn't work out,'' Smoltz said. ''I'm not just disappointed for me, I'm disappointed for a lot of guys. I'm proud of a lot of guys in this clubhouse.''

For the series, the Braves had an ERA of 4.91.

Kevin Millwood, masterful in Game 2, came back on three days' rest for the deciding game and pitched five solid innings. He gave up two runs and four hits and struck out seven, but it wasn't enough.

''This was the best team we've had since I've been here, all around,'' Millwood said. ''The way the guys were swinging the bats, I thought we had a pretty good chance to come back.''

Glavine and Greg Maddux, stalwarts of the staff for years, are free agents, and re-signing both might be more than the team's budget will allow.

''I'll worry about that when the time's right,'' Maddux said. ''It's not now. It's soon. Real soon. It's really not appropriate right now.''

Glavine left without speaking with reporters.