NATIONAL LEAGUE Braves beat Cubs, forcing Game 5

The series finale will be played tonight in Atlanta.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Turns out Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves still had some big hits left.
And Sammy Sosa didn't have quite enough.
With Wrigley Field fans on edge and the streets of Chicago rocking in anticipation of the Cubs winning their first postseason series since 1908, the Braves sent this NL playoff back to Atlanta for a decisive Game 5.
Jones ended his playoff slump with a two-run homer from each side of the plate, and Russ Ortiz pitched well on three days' rest as the Braves defeated the Cubs 6-4 Saturday.
It went down to the final swing. With a run already in and a runner on second, Sosa came up with two outs for a tense matchup against star closer John Smoltz.
On a full-count pitch, Sosa took a hopeful hop as his bid for a tying, two-run homer left the bat.
"I think the roofs might have come off this place if he had," Chipper Jones said.
But center fielder Andruw Jones calmly caught the ball on the edge of the warning track for the last out.
Smoltz, who appeared to be grimacing in pain during the at-bat, bent over and put his hands on his knees after holding on for a save.
Jones, who was 1-for-11 coming into the game, was 2-for-3 with two walks. Eric Karros hit two homers for the Cubs, but both were solo shots.
Back to Atlanta
So the series now goes back to Atlanta tonight. Mike Hampton will try to duplicate Ortiz's effort, facing Kerry Wood on three days' rest.
The winner will host Florida in the opener of the NLCS on Tuesday.
The Braves 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 those big bats were nowhere to be found once the postseason began.
Atlanta hit just .191 in the first three games of the series, and had only three extra-base hits. The struggles of Jones, Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield were the most glaring, with the 3-4-5 hitters combining for three hits through the first three games.
But with Sheffield on the bench -- his left hand was still sore and swollen from being hit by Mark Prior's pitch Friday night -- and the Braves on the verge of yet another postseason disappointment, Chipper Jones came through when they needed him most.
With the game tied at 1 in the fifth inning, Marcus Giles reached on a fielder's choice. Jones, batting left-handed, sent a 1-0 pitch from Matt Clement arching toward left-center for a 3-1 lead.
Today's game
The crowd of 39,983 knew the ball was gone even before it landed in the seats, falling so silent a goat could have been heard bleating. And Jones wasn't done. Batting right-handed in the eighth inning against Mark Guthrie, he put a 3-2 pitch into almost the exact same spot in left-center.
The rest of the offense fed off Jones. Every Atlanta starter reached base at least once, and Andruw Jones and Darren Bragg were the only ones without hits. But Bragg, starting in place of Sheffield, had a broken-bat fielder's choice in the fifth to score Atlanta's first run and tie it at 1.
Even 40-something Julio Franco, who started for a struggling Robert Fick, was an offensive juggernaut. Franco went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
ATLANTACHICAGO
abrhbiabrhbi
Furcal ss4010Lofton cf5000
MGiles 2b4210Grdzln 2b4010
CJones lf3224SSosa rf4100
JvLopz c5020Alou lf4031
AJones cf4100ARmrz 3b4000
JuFrco 1b4130Karros 1b4232
Castilla 3b4021JuCruz p0000
Bragg rf5001ASGzlz ss3010
RuOrtiz p3010Bako c1000
King p0000Glnville ph1000
Grybsk p0000Veres p0000
JSWrht p0000Frnswr p0000
Fick ph1000Guthrie p0000
Cnnane p0000Simon 1b1110
MFrco ph1000Clment p2000
Smoltz p0000Alfnsca p0000
Rmlngr p0000
DMiller c2011
Totals386126Totals354104
Atlanta000130020--6
Chicago001001011--4
DP--Atlanta 2. LOB--Atlanta 12, Chicago 8. 2B--JvLopez (1), Alou (1), Simon (1), DMiller (1). HR--CJones 2 (2), Karros 2 (2). SB--Furcal (1).
IPHRERBBSO
Atlanta
RuOrtiz W,1-1572242
King2-300000
Gryboski1-300001
JSWright100000
Cunnane111101
Smoltz S,1121101
Chicago
Clement L,0-14 2-384443
Alfonseca110000
Remlinger1-300011
Veres1-310000
Farnsworth100001
Guthrie2-322210
JuCruz100012
RuOrtiz pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. WP--Clement, Guthrie.
Umpires--Home, Larry Young; First, Ed Rapuano; Second, Bill Welke; Third, John Hirschbeck; Left, Bill Miller; Right, Brian Gorman. T--3:40. A--39,983.