| | ATLANTA -- After being limited to one run and two hits in Game 1 of the World Series, Bobby Cox overhauled his lineup for Game 2, attempting to load up on lefties.
But Plan B didn't work, and now Cox and his Atlanta Braves are running out of plans and time.
"We're just honestly trying to score some runs right now," said Cox, sounding almost as helpless as his hitters looked in the Braves' 7-2 setback to the New York Yankees.
|  | | Ozzie Gullen started at shortstop in Game 2 but didn't help the Braves at bat or in the field. |
The Braves looked feeble at the plate, no-hit through four by David Cone, one-hit through seven and two-hit through eight before the Yankees seemed to get bored with the whole thing and Atlanta broke out for three hits and two runs in the garbage-time ninth.
In two games, the Braves have three runs and one extra-base hit.
Fearing that Cone would make life every bit as miserable on his right-handed hitters as Orlando Hernandez did in Game 1, Cox sat shortstop Walt Weiss, second baseman Bret Boone and catcher Eddie Perez, inserting Ozzie Guillen, Keith Lockhart and Greg Myers, and dropping Andruw Jones to eighth.
Myers had two hits, but Guillen and Lockhart were a combined 0-for-6, and made two critical mistakes in the field. Guillen somehow fumbled Cone's pillow-soft liner to allow the fifth run to score, and when Lockhart's relay to first on an easy double play was wide and high, the Yankees scored another run instead of seeing the fifth inning end.
After Sunday's loss, answers were nearly as hard to come by as scoring chances for the Braves.
"Bobby's searching for runs and hits," said hitting coach Don Baylor. "But so far, the right combination isn't there. We just haven't had good at-bats. We didn't have anything sustained until the ninth. We had a good game plan, but we haven't stayed with it.
"Are we showing enough patience? All I know is we're not showing enough hits."
For Tuesday's Game 3, with lefty Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Yankees, Cox will revert to his Game 1 lineup again and hope they can do something with the cut fastball Pettitte rides in on right-handed hitters.
"We've got to find a way to put up some runs early," Baylor said. "We've got to create some things -- get Gerald Williams on base and get Chipper to swing with some people on base."
Before Williams could grab a bat in Game 2, the Braves found themselves down 3-0, which put additional pressure on the Atlanta lineup. Armed with an early lead, Cone, though not in possession of his nastiest stuff, proved difficult to solve.
"David kept the ball down really well tonight," Cox said. "He wasn't overpowering at all. He didn't throw that hard, but his ball was sinking like crazy and he had great movement."
Cone struck out only four, but recorded eight outs on the ground through the first five innings, aided by two double plays.
The Braves can console themselves with the idea that, in 1996, with the situation exactly reversed -- the Braves won the first two at Yankee Stadium, only to see the Yankees steal the Series from them with four unanswered victories.
"We can't lose the World Series in two games," Guillen said. "I've never seen that happen before."
But for all the Braves' bravado, some doubt seemed to be sinking into the Atlanta clubhouse.
"We've had periods of inconsistency before (during the season)," Baylor said. "But right now is when it counts most. They're halfway to a world title and we have a minimum of hits and runs."
And seemingly no idea how to turn things around.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin covers the American League for ESPN.com. | |
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