Mets 4, Giants 0

NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Mets didn’t need any more late-inning dramatics.

They scored early this time, and Bobby J. Jones did the rest to finish off the San Francisco Giants and put the Mets back in the NL championship series.

Jones pitched the sixth complete game one-hitter in postseason history and Robin Ventura gave New York all the offense it needed with a two-run homer in the first inning as the Mets eliminated the Giants with a 4-0 win in Game 4 of their NL division series Sunday.

“We’re going to go back in to celebrate this one,”Jones said.

Jones limited the Giants to a clean, fifth-inning double by Jeff Kent as the wild card Mets won the final three games of the series to avoid a cross-country trip and a decisive Game 5 in San Francisco.

New York earned themselves two days off before opening the NLCS in St. Louis on Wednesday. The Mets were 6-3 against the Cardinals this season.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Jones said. “They’re a great team and play great baseball. We just have to go out and play the best we can.”

The Giants (97-65), who finished with the best record in the majors, had their magical season end with a whimper, in part because Barry Bonds was a postseason bust again.

Bonds dropped to 0-5 in playoff series – three with Pittsburgh, two with the Giants – with a .196 batting average overall. Fittingly, the three-time MVP made the final out of the series, hitting a fly ball to center field that left him 3-for-17 against the Mets.

Fireworks shot out from behind the center-field fence and the Mets shot out of their dugout to mob Jones on the infield. The Baha Men’s :”Who Let The Dogs Out” – the song that blared throughout Pacific Bell Park when San Francisco clinched the NL West – played as the Bonds and the Giants glumly walked to the clubhouse.

After a few minutes, a leaping Lenny Harris led the victorious Mets to a champagne celebration in the clubhouse.

Jones, in his first career postseason start, made quite a name for himself.

Known as much for being one of two Bobby Joneses on the Mets as for his own pitching, Jones etched his own place in Mets postseason history.

“If he needed vindication, I’m glad he got it,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “Bobby has earned everything he has done.”

Shea Stadium was still feeling the electricity of Saturday night’s 3-2 Mets win in 13 innings. Fans chanted Benny Agbayani’s name as he stretched before the game, about 18 hours after his homer had brought the Mets one win away from the NLCS.

That was New York’s fifth straight postseason win in the last at-bat, including a 5-4, 10-inning victory in Game 2 at San Francisco.

Mets fans didn’t need to wait nearly as long this game. Jones struck out Bonds on a high fastball to end the first, drawing an ovation from a crowd ready for another celebration.

Ventura gave them much more to cheer about in the bottom half. After Mark Gardner walked Mike Piazza with two outs, Ventura turned on a first-pitch fastball and hit it off the scoreboard in right field for just his second hit in the series.

“He’s an aggressive pitcher and tries to jump ahead,” Ventura said. “I was a little lucky.”

That would be all Jones needed, pitching his first shutout since 1997. After struggling to a 1-3 record with a 10.19 ERA after eight starts, the right-hander was banished to the minors and bashed in the newspapers. He returned two weeks later and won 10 of his final 13 decisions.

“I struggled early on and I knew I was better than how I pitched,” Jones said. “You can’t say enough about this team. They were making great plays, put some runs on the board, and just felt good out there.”

Jones wasn’t even certain to start in this series. Manager Bobby Valentine toyed with the idea of starting Mike Hampton on three days’ rest or using left-hander Glendon Rusch in Game 4, but stuck with Jones.

“People like to look at the speed gun and say he’s not an upper-echelon pitcher,” Valentine said. “But it’s what he does with that 84 mph fastball to complement his change and curve that torments people.”

Jones made the decision pay off. Never the most overpowering pitcher, Jones baffled the Giants with big breaking curveballs that didn’t even reach 70 mph. He struck out Bonds twice – both to big ovations – and retired the first 12 batters before Kent’s double over Ventura’s head down the left-field line.

“I figured someone would pop one,” Baker said. “It wasn’t a one-hitter where he was completely dominating. We hit some balls hard. He pitched a great game and pitched to his defense.”

Jones performed much better than Gardner, his fellow Fresno State alum and friend. Gardner breezed through the second and third innings on 15 pitches and got out of a jam in the fourth when Kent made a diving stop of Todd Zeile’s grounder to second.

One of the biggest decisions in the game came in the next inning. San Francisco loaded the bases with two outs and Gardner coming up. With a weary bullpen, manager Dusty Baker chose to let his pitcher hit, and Gardner popped out to second base.

“I figured we’d get some runs,” Baker said. “I don’t regret it. If you don’t have a full bullpen, you don’t have a full bullpen. That’s the way it transpired.”

Making the move even worse, the Mets knocked Gardner out with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Jones swung and missed at strike three in the dirt, but reached first on a wild pitch.

Late-season callup Timo Perez followed with a double to the right-field corner, his fifth hit of the series. Edgardo Alfonzo, the Mets’ clutchest hitter in the series, hit a two-run double to center to make it 4-0.

Notes: Ventura has two homers in 73 postseason at-bats. Of course, he also hit his famous grand slam single to win the fifth game of last year’s NLCS against Atlanta. Atlanta’s Kevin Millwood pitched the last postseason one-hitter in Game 2 of the Braves’ division series against Houston last year. San Francisco hadn’t lost three straight games since dropping three to the Mets at Shea Stadium Aug. 8-11. Gardner allowed four runs, four hits and two walks in 4 1-3 innings. (Associated Press)