Bobby Cox era closes as Braves lose division series to Giants

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bobby Cox's managerial career ended Monday night, and not the way the Braves and their venerable skipper hoped it would.

Derek Lowe took a no-hitter to the sixth inning, and the Braves led twice, but the San Francisco Giants scored two runs in the seventh in a 3-2 win at Turner Field to take the National League Division Series, three games to one.

"The way it all went down, going to the last game, we played as hard as we could," said Braves catcher Brian McCann, who put the Braves ahead 1-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third inning, and put them ahead 2-1 with a homer in the sixth.

"All season long, we never quit. We wish we were getting on a plane to San Fran right now [for a Game 5]," McCann said. "But I'm just honored to say I got to play for Bobby Cox."

Cox announced last year that he would retire after this season and has never wavered in that intention.   The fourth-winningest manager in major league history got a curtain call and came on the field from the dugout after the final out, to a chorus of "Bob-ee! Bob-ee!" from thousands of fans.

Giants players stopped celebrating on the field and turned to applaud Cox, who tipped his cap to them and to the crowd. Cox spoke to his players in the clubhouse after the game, but didn't get far before he choked up and began crying. At that point, players, coaches and team officials began to cry, too.

"We played a really good ballgame,"  Cox said. "And Derek pitched great. We got the ground balls, they were just out of reach.

"We wanted this game, to get back to San Francisco. It just didn't happen. The balls were just out of reach for us, turning double-plays. I'm proud of this team.  I told them that a little while ago. They've come a long ways with this team. They played their hearts out, and I'll miss them."

In Cox's record 16th postseason appearance, and the Braves'  first  since 2005, they lost in the first round for the fifth consecutive time. All four games in the series were decided by one run, and the injury-diminished Braves hit just .175 and scored nine runs.

"B-Mac put us on his back tonight," Braves first baseman Derrek Lee said. "I wish I could have been there with him. We just needed some more runs. That's the bottom line.

"We really wanted to send [Cox] out a winner. I mean, I know every team wants to do that. But it really was emotional when he came in here and spoke to us."

The losses in Games 1 and 4 went to Lowe, despite good performances by the veteran right-hander. He was charged with three runs (two earned), two hits and two walks in 6-1/3 innings Monday, and his eight strikeouts were his high in 12 postseason starts.

"This is kind of a tough one to swallow," said Lowe, who recorded 16 outs in the first 16 batters and didn't give up a  hit until Cody Ross's homer in the sixth made the score 1-all.  "I think the frustration of the what-if game is always the hardest to take right now, but it was just a tough series all in all. They seemed like they got some big hits in the series to add on an extra run here and there.

"There’s really nothing good you can say right now. These interviews don’t go that well right now. Probably in a couple days you’d get a better one."

Chipper Jones, one of the key players out with season-ending injuries for the Braves, said he couldn't help but think he and injured All-Star Martin Prado and others could have made a difference.

"At full strength, I think we're better than the Giants," Jone said. "But unfortunately we couldn't prove that. They went out and beat us on the field, and that's all that matters. But in our heart of hearts, we feel like we were a little short-handed and weren't able to play up to our potential.

"Again, there were certain things that happened in the series. We had opportunities to thwart their rallies, and we didn't make plays. If you don't make plays, you give a major league team four or five outs in an inning, you're going to get beat. Plain and simple."

Braves shortstop Alex Gonzalez was charged with his second error of the game in the Giants' two-run seventh. But his bigger mistake was not hustling to first base on a hit-and-run in the eighth inning, when his soft liner was dropped by shortstop Edgar Renteria.

Pinch-runner Nate McLouth was running from first base as the ball was hit. Gonzalez was not. He took a few steps out of the batter's box and didn't start sprinting to first base until he saw Renteria drop it.

Renteria had time to gather the dropped ball and throw out Gonzalez, and Jason Heyward struck out to end the inning.

The Braves got a pair of walks against Giants closer Brian Wilson in the ninth before Melky Cabrera grounded out to end the game.

"It's tough," said Braves left fielder Matt Diaz, whose perfect throw to the plate prevented another run from scoring in the seventh. "We all had our schedules cleared. We honestly thought we were a team of destiny. We came up short a little bit tonight.

"We're never going to make excuses. We fought through every injury we possibly could have fought through and still had a shot tonight to win this game. We didn't do it, but we left it all out there. I know that for a fact – every player left it all out there. If I do sleep tonight, that will be the reason why."

There were a few other chances for the Braves, who loaded the bases in the second inning on Heyward's two-out single, a throwing error by third baseman Mike Fontenot, and a Rick Ankiel walk. Lowe flied out to end that inning.

They broke through in the second, when McCann's sacrifice fly gave the Braves their first lead before the eighth inning in four series games. Omar Infante led off the inning with a walk, and Diaz followed with an infield hit off Fontenot's glove.

Lee's long fly-out moved Infante to third, and McCann drove him in for a 1-0 lead. After a Gonzalez single, Heyward popped out to the catcher to strand two runners.

Lowe recorded 16 outs in the first 16 batters before Cody Ross ended any no-hit thoughts with a one-out homer in the sixth inning that made the score 1-all.

It wasn't tied for long, with McCann first-pitch homer off Madison Bumgarner in the sixth inning putting the Braves back in front. It was the third homer in seven career postseason games for McCann, who hit a three-run homer off Roger Clemens in the catcher's first postseason game in 2005.

After facing only one batter over the minimum through six innings, Lowe's sparkling performance abruptly turned in the seventh. He walked Aubrey Huff with one out, and Buster Posey reached on a slow grounder up the third-base line.

Cox came out to talk to Lowe, and the crowd roared its approval when Cox returned to the dugout alone, having decided to leave Lowe in the game.

Five pitches later, the bases were loaded after a Pat Burrell walk, and this time when Cox went to the mound, it was Lowe who walked back to the dugout first.

Reliever Peter Moylan came in to face Juan Uribe, and the sidearmer got the ground ball he wanted -- but a little too far toward third. Shortstop Gonzalez fielded the ball and threw to second from his knees, pulling Infante off the base.

Uribe had driven in the tying run, and Gonzalez was charged with a throwing error that left the bases loaded.

Rookie Jonny Venters replaced Moylan and got a strikeout before Ross singled sharply to left field for a 3-2 Giants lead. Burrell also tried to score from second base on the play, but Diaz made a perfect throw to the plate on the fly to cut down Burrell for the third out.

Still, the Giants had a lead, and the Braves weren't able to overcome it.

"We lost," Heyward said. "That's the bottom line. You don't want to lose your last game."

Lowe had a 1.48 ERA in seven September and October starts, including five consecutive wins to finish the regular season before taking the losses in Games 1 and 4 of the division series.

"Personally I’ve got two losses next to my name," Lowe said, "and it’s pretty hard to swallow thinking that out of three losses, I got two of them."

Eric Hinske played  in three previous postseasons, advancing each time to the World Series in each of the past seasons with different teams.

"The only other [postseason] loss I had was in the World Series," he said. "This feels like losing the World Series, because it's Bobby's last year. He's done it for so long. I guess that's the only thing I can compare it to."

Hinske pointed out the Giants' postgame gesture to Cox.

"They stopped their celebration, took their hats off and clapped for him," he said. "He's just a class act. He's a special person. He's a pleasure to be around, and he treats everyone awesome."