Baseball playoffs roundup

By Ben Walker

AP Baseball Writer

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza have spent their whole careers winning awards, making All-Star appearances and posting Hall of Fame stats.

In October, though, their numbers don’t always add up.

Bonds and Piazza have barely hit .200 without much power, and Clemens is merely a .500 pitcher in the postseason.

They get a chance to change that this week. Rick Ankiel is scheduled to throw the first pitch of the playoffs Tuesday afternoon when St. Louis takes on Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, a master of gamesmanship, pulled the first surprise of the postseason Monday. With 20-game winner Darryl Kile expected to pitch Game 1, La Russa instead said his starter would be Ankiel, a 21-year-old rookie.

“I think it’s going to be a conversation stopper,” La Russa said.

Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: “Is he going to do that?”

Maddux, a four-time Cy Young winner, is 10-10 in 23 career postseason starts. He’ll get a break, as will the other Atlanta pitchers – Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire will only be a pinch-hitter, slowed by tendinitis in his right knee.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” McGwire said.

Later in the day, the best-of-5 AL playoffs begin. The Seattle Mariners will visit the Chicago White Sox and Clemens will start for the New York Yankees at the Oakland Athletics.

On Wednesday, Piazza and the New York Mets will visit Bonds and the San Francisco Giants.

Clemens earned his first World Series victory last year when he finished off the Yankees’ second consecutive sweep.

The Rocket’s strong outing against the Braves left him 3-3 in 12 lifetime starts in the postseason. All in all, a record not quite befitting the pitcher who has won a record five Cy Youngs.

Clemens struggled after being hit in the right hamstring by a hard grounder off the bat off Detroit’s Brad Ausmus in late September. The Yankees stumbled, too, losing their final seven games of the regular season – the worst skid ever for a team entering postseason play.

Clemens and the Yankees did not seem too worried.

“I think you’ll see the intensity there,” Clemens said.

Against the Athletics, Clemens will return to the site of one of his postseason lowlights.

In Game 4 of the 1990 AL playoffs between Boston and the A’s at the Coliseum, Clemens jawed with umpire Terry Cooney and wound up becoming the first person in playoff history to be ejected for arguing with an umpire while still in the game.

At Comiskey Park, the Mariners find themselves in a surprising position – in the playoffs without Ken Griffey Jr. Freddy Garcia will start for Seattle against Jim Parque of the White Sox.

After trading Randy Johnson in 1998, Seattle sent away its greatest player in franchise history to Cincinnati for a package that included center fielder Mike Cameron and pitcher Brett Tomko.

The result? The Mariners won a team-record 91 games and the wild card spot.

“Regardless of how you slice it, we’re going to the playoffs and the Reds are going home,” Tomko said.

At Pacific Bell Park, Bonds and Piazza will be the main focus when the Giants and Mets meet.

Piazza is only 12-for-57 (.211) with two homers and seven RBIs in postseason series with the Mets and Los Angeles.

Bonds, in contention for his record fourth MVP award, has played in four postseason series and has never won one. He’s 16-for-80 (.200) overall with only one home run and five RBIs.

Bonds praised Mets left-handers Mike Hampton and Al Leiter, who will start the first two games.

Hampton, 9-0 lifetime against San Francisco, will start the opener against Livan Hernandez, MVP of the 1997 NLCS and the 1997 World Series.

“Just giving them the respect they deserve,” Bonds said. “All lefties are giving me trouble, but those guys are especially tough.”