Old Foe Returns to Haunt Braves

ATLANTA â€”  Maybe the Atlanta Braves should just sign Kevin Brown this winter. That way, they wouldn’t have to worry about him beating them each fall.

The lifelong Georgia resident picked up exactly where he left off last October, pitching another gem at Turner Field to give the San Diego Padres a 3-0 victory Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the National League championship series.

Brown, who won twice at Atlanta in the 1997 NLCS while with Florida, shut down the Braves on only three singles. Relying on his heavy sinker and a nasty fastball in the mid-90s, he struck out 11 and lowered his earned-run average this postseason to 0.38 in three starts.

Brown outdueled Tom Glavine, and contributed with his bat, too. He singled with two out in the sixth inning to set up Quilvio Veras’ RBI single, and also singled and scored in a two-run ninth.

The Padres traded three prospects to Florida in the off-season to get Brown. He’s eligible for free agency after this season and perhaps the Braves, despite their great rotation, would be better off getting Brown and keeping him out of the way.

San Diego won without 50-homer man Greg Vaughn, out of the starting lineup for at least three days because of a strained left quadriceps. Game 1 star Ruben Rivera took his place, but Brown was all the Padres needed on this night.

A crowd of 43,083, about 8,000 short of a sellout, spent the last couple of innings booing the Braves’ futility.

It was 0-0 until the sixth, when Chris Gomez, Brown and Veras each singled with two out for a 1-0 lead.

The Padres scored two insurance runs in the ninth off Odalis Perez. Brown’s leadoff single set up RBI singles by Steve Finley and Wally Joyner.