Cubs lead series 2-1

Updated: Oct 4, 2003, 01:28 pm

CHICAGO (AP) -- Mark Prior was nervous. After all, he was

pitching in the playoffs for the first time and facing Greg Maddux.

"It was surreal to be in that dugout in the first inning and

watch a guy I've watched my whole life growing up," Prior said.

"Obviously there is nervousness and a little anxiety. You

wouldn't be human if you weren't anxious in this situation. It's

the playoffs, you lose and you go home."

Game 3 breakdown

Hero

Mark Prior. He dazzled throughout, hurling a complete game while allowing only two hits. These are the kind of starts that make you believe Prior is perhaps the best pitcher in the game.

Goat

The Braves as a whole. Four errors, sloppy play for nearly the entire game; it certainly looked like the Braves didn't want to be outside on a cold and soggy night at Wrigley Field.

Turning Point

Once Prior stepped on the mound ... OK not quite then. Rather it came in the bottom of the first inning when Randall Simon singled in Kenny Lofton and Mark Grudzielanek -- who led off the inning with back-to-back singles -- to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. It was lights out from there for the Braves.

It Figures

Gary Sheffield, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones are a combined 3-for-30 (.100) with one run scored and three RBI in the series.

On Deck

Russ Ortiz, who was the losing pitcher for Atlanta in Game 1, will get the start in Game 4 on three days' rest. Ortiz was roughed up for four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in the opener. Matt Clement will counter for the Cubs. He was 14-12 with a 4.11 ERA in 32 starts during the regular season.

It never seemed to bother him.

The 23-year-old right-hander threw a two-hitter and outpitched

Maddux as the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 Friday night

to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five NL playoff series.

"I was looking forward to this game, win or lose. I knew it

would be a learning experience," Prior said.

"I knew it would be a lot of fun and something you never

forget."

Prior again showed the poise of a veteran and shut down the NL's

top hitting club.

"He had great stuff, and he's really hard to hit," Atlanta

manager Bobby Cox said. "We didn't hit that many balls hard. He

was a little wild early, and we didn't take advantage of it."

It was the first complete game by a Cubs pitcher in the

postseason since Claude Passeau threw a one-hitter to beat the

Detroit Tigers 3-1 in Game 3 of the 1945 World Series.

"If you told me I would go out and throw a complete game, there

is no way I would have thought that tonight," Prior said.

"As Dusty (Baker) would say, the stars lined up and things

worked out."

Matt Clement will start Saturday, when the Cubs try to capture

their first postseason series since winning the 1908 World Series.

Russ Ortiz, the Braves' 21-game winner who took the loss in Game 1,

will go on three days' rest.

The Braves will need to wake up their bats and start catching

the ball after making four errors Friday.

Atlanta led the NL in every major hitting category this season:

batting average (.284), homers (a franchise-record 235) and runs

(907, another club mark), but Prior was simply too good.

"This offense is very good, you've got to respect what they can

do," Prior said.

He gave up only Marcus Giles' single to shallow right-center in

the third and Mark DeRosa's pinch-hit double leading off the

eighth. Atlanta spoiled the shutout when DeRosa moved up on a

groundout and scored on Giles' sacrifice fly.

Prior, who won 18 games in his first full major league season,

walked four, struck out seven and was bolstered by a frenetic crowd

at Wrigley Field.

"I tried to stay calm and focused and make pitches," Prior

said. "The crowd has been awesome all year."

The Cubs got to Maddux in the first on Randall Simon's two-out,

two-run single that followed a key stolen base and wild pitch.

Aramis Ramirez, acquired from the Pirates during the season just as

Simon was, added a two-out RBI double in the eighth, and Prior made

it stand up.

"I thank Pittsburgh for letting us have them, and they've been

absolutely awesome for us," Prior said.

Maddux lasted six innings, giving up six hits and two runs in

his 31st playoff appearance, including 29 starts.

"We've got a good pitcher tomorrow and the best hitting team in

baseball. We can still force a fifth game," Maddux said. "We've

done it before."

Cox said Maddux hurt his calf muscle in the first and third

innings but pitched through it.

"I thought he did a great job pitching on one leg," Cox said,

adding that he's confident the Braves can still win the series.

"I don't feel like we're scrambling. I'm not down at all," Cox

said. "All we have to do is win two games, and we've done that

hundreds of times."

It was Giles who collided with Prior on the basepaths July 11,

hurting the young right-hander's shoulder and eventually landing

him on the disabled list.

When Prior came off the DL on Aug. 4, he was one of baseball's

most dominant pitchers, going 10-1 down the stretch to lead the

Cubs to their first division title since 1989 -- when Maddux was

still in Chicago.

Prior also hit Gary Sheffield in the left hand with a pitch in the sixth, but got out of the inning when Chipper Jones and Javy Lopez hit into forceouts.

Sheffield, who bruised his hand, was 0-for-2 with a walk and is

just 1-for-10 in the series.

Maddux, who won the first of his four Cy Young Awards in 1992,

his last year with the Cubs, gave up two first-inning runs, and the

Braves couldn't catch up.

Simon dropped a single to right in front of Sheffield as Wrigley

Field went bonkers with Cubs fans doing their version of the

Tomahawk Chop.

Chicago increased the lead to 3-1 in the eighth when Moises Alou

singled off Kevin Gryboski, stole second and scored when Ramirez

hit a drive into the ivy in right-center for a ground-rule double.

With the Braves coming to bat in the top of the ninth, the crowd