A’s Turn to Improbable Stopper Moore to Keep Their Hopes Alive

Somehow, the Oakland Athletics didn’t expect that Mike Moore would be their World Series stopper.

That’s because the A’s didn’t figure on going home down 2-0 to the Cincinnati Reds.

All the signs suggest that the A’s are in trouble. Some of those signs were even there before the Series started.

The A’s miss Walt Weiss’ steady defense at shortstop, and despite a Game 2 home run, Jose Canseco is hurting. And Mark McGwire isn’t hitting.

In Game 1 the Reds destroyed Dave Stewart with a 7-0 rout, and on Wednesday they took care of relief ace Dennis Eckersley with a 5-4 victory in 10 innings. (Story, C1.)

Meanwhile, Billy Hatcher is 7-for-7 with five extra base hits, the bullpen is as nasty as ever, and the Reds are running wild on the bases.

In six at-bats against the Reds’ bullpen, Canseco and McGwire are 0-for-6 with four strikeouts. Against starters Jose Rijo and Danny Jackson, they are 3-for-8 with a homer and two runs batted in.

“Once we won the division, this team felt it could win,” Reds Manager Lou Piniella said. “I knew that once we got over the hump and won the division, we’d be competitive in postseason play.”

The A’s swept the Boston Red Sox by hanging in there for six or seven innings and then wrecking the relievers. That strategy just won’t work with Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers waiting in the Cincinnati bullpen.

No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit, and it’s up to Moore to make sure the A’s don’t have to try.

“It doesn’t matter what the situation is, tied or down two games to none,” Moore said. “I just have to do my job. I’m not going to put any more pressure on me.”

At least Moore’s postseason history suggests the A’s are in good shape for Game 3. The right-hander is 4-0 in the playoffs and World Series the last two seasons, including two wins against San Francisco last year.

Moore was 19-11 for the A’s in 1989 but dropped to 13-15 this season with a 4.65 earned run average. At home, he was 7-10.

He is scheduled to face Cincinnati left-hander Tom Browning.

Piniella skipped over Browning so Danny Jackson could work on five days’ rest in Game 2. Browning’s record at home might have had something to do with it too.

Browning (15-9) was 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA at home and 7-1 with a 2.71 ERA on the road. He was 5-1 on grass, the surface at the Coliseum in Oakland.

The A’s will have designated hitter Harold Baines back in the lineup for Game 3 with the Series moving to an American League park. His presence should help.

The A’s swaggered into Cincinnati with an air of invincibility about them, but they left shaking their heads.

“I don’t know if it’s destiny,” Reds second baseman Ron Oester said. “We’ve still got to work hard at it. Those guys can get on a roll.”