direction. He retired four batters over innings, including a strikeout of the ailing Mike Piazza. Upon being removed from the game, Rocker mocked the Shea Stadium fans by pretending to boo, and yelled at fans sitting around the Atlanta dugout as he left the field. The Mets' season appeared over after Lockhart tripled home a run in the top of the 15th off Dotel to put the Braves ahead 3–2. However, McGlinchy could not hold the lead. Shawon Dunston, who misplayed Lockhart's triple, atoned with a leadoff single after fouling off several pitches with a full count. With pinch-hitter Matt Franco batting, Dunston stole second base. Franco eventually worked out a walk, which was followed by Edgardo Alfonzo laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Dunston to third. Olerud—whose homer in the first was now a distant memory—was intentionally walked to load the bases. Todd Pratt, again thrust into the spotlight with Piazza nursing several injuries, hit next. McGlinchy walked Todd Pratt on five pitches and fell behind the slumping Ventura. At 9:47 p.m., McGlinchy grooved a fastball on a 2–1 count, and Ventura launched it through the steady rain and over the right-field fence. Although Ventura had seen the ball clear the wall, and was waving Pratt around the bases, Pratt tackled Ventura between first and second base, and most of the Mets team ran out on the field and mobbed Ventura in a wild scene. Mets manager Bobby Valentine said following the game Valentine was speaking in reference to a calf injury that had been bothering Ventura during the postseason, and had led to his entering this game without a hit in the series. NBC's Bob Costas gushed on the air following Ventura's blast, At the time, the game was the longest in terms of elapsed time in postseason history, clocking in at 5 hours, 46 minutes. It was surpassed in 2004 by Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, and again in 2005 in Game 4 of the National League Division Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves, and once more in 2014 in Game 2 the NLDS between the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. This Mets victory marked just the second time in baseball history that a team had come back from a three games to none deficit