NEW YORK -- In the cramped visitors' locker room, the Atlanta Braves players tried to dress quickly, grabbing their clothes from lockers that had tatters of plastic still stapled to the wood. The sheets of plastic that were there to protect their clothes from the anticipated champagne bath had been torn down.

Standing in the corner of the room, sadly recounting his part in the abrupt cancellation of the celebration, was the 22-year-old rookie pitcher Kevin McGlinchy, still in his uniform which was wet from the rain and sweat, not champagne. McGlinchy had moved from anonymity to a place in baseball lore by surrendering the decisive runs in the Braves' 4-3 loss to the Mets in 15 innings at Shea Stadium.

He had made it off the field as the Mets celebrated so madly that Robin Ventura could not make it around the bases, turning the game-winning grand slam into a run-scoring single.

McGlinchy was oblivious to the players rushing onto the field, the fans shouting louder than the jets flying over the stadium and the now-familiar strains of the Doors song "L.A. Woman," with its ominous chant of "Mojo rising."

"It really didn't hit me until I came in here and it's probably one of the worst feelings I've ever felt," McGlinchy said softly. "This is a game, but this is my livelihood. This is my job and if you don't do your job, then you don't feel good. If you do, you feel good. We could easily be celebrating in here, but we ain't."

The Braves have spent a decade at the top of the National League, battling for a World Series berth every season with superb pitching and lineups filled with fearsome bats like Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and Andres Galarraga.

But in the 15th inning, the game was left in the hands of the 22-year-old rookie who had not appeared in the series and had thrown just one-third of an inning in the divisional series.

McGlinchy dug himself a nervous hole, struggling with his control until he had to come over the plate, and he paid dearly for it. After he worked his way through the 14th inning, the Braves staked him to a 3-2 lead in the top of the 15th and were just three outs away from heading back to the World Series.

But after Shawon Dunston battled his way through an epic at-bat, eventually singling and then stealing second, Matt Franco drew a pinch-hit base on balls. A perfect sacrifice bunt by Edgardo Alfonzo sent the tying run to third and the winning run to second, so Manager Bobby Cox elected to have McGlinchy intentionally walk John Olerud.

McGlinchy could not find the plate now, walking Todd Pratt to tie the game. Then, when he grooved a fastball to Ventura, the veteran slammed it over the right-field wall.

"I really wanted the ball out there," said McGlinchy, who was 7-3 in 64 games as a reliever this season after jumping from Class AA ball.

"I was trying to make great pitches," he said. "It was on the line and everybody wants the ball when the game is on the line. I wanted to get guys out and come in here and celebrate. But unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way.

"It was a crazy game tonight. At some point in time, there's got to be an end to it. I hate to be the guy to have to walk off the field and lose this game."

Why did the Braves leave this season's ace, Kevin Millwood, in the bullpen?

Cox said: "We could have done a lot of things differently, but I didn't want to do it. Just the weather and the one-run lead, it wasn't worth bringing in Millwood and moving the rotation around. I'd rather be given the opportunity of being on our own field with a good mound."

Still, this was a hard loss and lesson for a young player to absorb, and McGlinchy tried to use the kind words of the more experienced pitchers to ease the pain.

"McGlinchy was the best man to be out there tonight, without question," said Greg Maddux, who had started this 5 hour and 46 minute game. "You don't want to use your Game 6 pitcher. Had we been in their shoes, yes, you would have seen our starters out there. We've got tomorrow and the next day. It's not do or die for us. That's why I don't think you use those pitchers there. You stick with McGlinchy. He's thrown great for us all year and there was no reason to not have confidence in him going out there. We all did."