WORLD SERIES: ATLANTA BRAVES vs. CLEVELAND INDIANS : BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : WORLD SERIES : Indians Say Hershiser Showed Guts

Cleveland pitching coach Mark Wiley said he told Orel Hershiser after Game 1 that it “took a lot of guts for him to admit” he lost his release point and the team would benefit from a new pitcher. Hershiser took himself out after walking the first two batters in the seventh inning. Atlanta turned the two walks into two runs in a 3-2 victory.

“People don’t understand that we have one of the strongest bullpens in baseball and we don’t have to make our starting pitchers do something they’re not comfortable with,” Wiley said. “I talked to Orel after the game and told him he had pitched well.

“There was so much intensity that Orel may not have even realized he was throwing as well as he was. He didn’t even realize he had seven strikeouts.”

“When a pitcher has the courage to tell you he’s tired or isn’t throwing well, you’re better off not fighting him because at that point it’s probably become a mind set.”

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Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox won’t announce his Game 4 starter until today, but he seemed to be leaning toward left-hander Steve Avery over Game 1 winner Greg Maddux.

Starting Maddux on Wednesday in Cleveland would give Cox the option of pitching his ace right-hander three times--including Game 7--on three days’ rest.

But Avery’s performance in the postseason--he has given up one earned run and struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings and was the winner in the Braves’ Game 4, National League championship series-clinching victory over Cincinnati--is weighing heavily on Cox’s mind.

“I’ll talk to Greg, but I have all the confidence in the world in Avery,” Cox said. “It’s sort of hard to bypass him. He’s pitched well for us lately and has been throwing great on the sidelines.”

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Atlanta Game 3 starter John Smoltz is not bothered by all the distractions that come with playing in the World Series. This is the third Series since 1991 for the right-hander, so he’s accustomed to the media horde, the demands on his time and the seemingly endless requests for tickets.

But he can certainly empathize with teammates and Indian players who are getting their first taste of the World Series experience.

“You gain more and more friends each year, and it’s like each player’s house is a Ticketmaster,” Smoltz said. “I remember my first time, and it was absolutely crazy.

“My wife was having a baby, and there were a lot of distractions. It’s great if your wife will answer the phone and take care of everything while you’re doing your job.”

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While the baseball world continued to marvel at Maddux’s performance Saturday night, his teammates were the only ones who were unimpressed.

“The only thing we worried about was how he’d react to the pressure,” outfielder Dwight Smith said. “When I saw him putting golf balls in the clubhouse before the game, and saw how relaxed he was, I said, ‘Boys, Maddux will carry us tonight.’

“He wasn’t scared at all. He acted like there was no pressure. He was his old self.”

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Sister Mary Assumpta, a nun from the Sisters of the Holy Spirit in Cleveland, figured the Indians needed help after watching Game 1.

So Assumpta, 50, took a flight from Cleveland to Atlanta, baked 20 dozen cookies, and passed them out to all of the Indians’ players.

As long as she is in town, will she also bless the Indians’ bats?

“I should really do a special prayer over the bats,” she said. “I think it would even be better to exorcise the arms of the Atlanta pitchers.”

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Cleveland second baseman Carlos Baerga aggravated his sore left ankle in the ninth inning Saturday night, but the Indians say Baerga has not been healthy for several weeks.

“It’s not going to get any better,” he said, “and hopefully, it’s not going to get any worse. I’ve got all winter to get healthy. I’m not coming out of the lineup now.”

Said Manager Mike Hargrove: “This is something that’s bothered him the last month. Playing on turf [in Seattle during the playoffs] aggravated it more.”

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Cox saw the TV replays proved him right when he argued that Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel was still bobbling the ball when he ran across second base in Game 1.

“It really doesn’t make any difference now,” Cox said. “It’s over. I thought I had pretty good leverage. I told Bruce [Froemming], ‘This is the World Series, ask for some help.’ He said he had it right and didn’t need it.”

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Hargrove, mildly criticized by even some of his own players for not bringing the infield in with the bases loaded in the seventh inning Saturday, said he still believes he made the proper decision.

“In the seventh inning, we have two more at-bats and Greg Maddux is being Greg Maddux,” Hargrove said. “Even though [Luis] Polonia is tough to double up, he can be doubled up. I felt with the power we have in our lineup it would be easier to give up one run and come back from that than possibly give up two or more.

“If you believe in your ability and our knowledge and the talent you have, then you’re not afraid of being second-guessed. You have to have the courage of your convictions to be able to roll the dice.”

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It has been 10 years since Cox was in Cleveland, and after hearing all about the city’s transformation, he can’t wait to get back.

“I want to see that ballpark,” he said. “Everybody says it’s the best in baseball.”

Would he have relished the idea of traveling to Seattle and seeing what the Kingdome looks like with a full house?

“No, I’ve already seen the Dome,” Cox said. “It’s a joke.”

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Cleveland coach Dave Nelson on Maddux in Game 1: “We were looking at the best pitcher in baseball, and he does it to you without staring at you or grunting at you.” Nelson seemed to be referring to recent encounters with Seattle’s Randy Johnson. . . . The Indians’ battery of Dennis Martinez and Tony Pena on Sunday combined for 33 years of baseball experience, and 78 years of life experience. Pena was the oldest catcher to play in a Series game since Rick Dempsey, 39 at the time, caught for the Dodgers against Oakland in 1988.

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Atlanta’s 2-0 lead in the Series marks the 28th time the home team has won the first two games, and on the previous 27 occasions, that team has gone on to win the Series 23 times. . . . The Indians have eight hits in the first two games, the fewest by one team in the first two games of a Series since 1983, when Philadelphia had eight hits in the first two games against Baltimore. . . . Only three players have hit safely in both games, Marquis Grissom and Mark Lemke for Atlanta and Kenny Lofton for Cleveland.