WORLD SERIES: ATLANTA BRAVES vs. CLEVELAND INDIANS : Braves Left Agonizing Over a Great Missed Opportunity : Baseball: Despite still holding the advantage, Atlanta fears it has given the Indians new life.

The Atlanta Braves kept trying to tell themselves in the quiet of the clubhouse Tuesday night after their 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Cleveland Indians that they’re still in marvelous shape.

They’re ahead, 2-1, in the World Series.

They still have Greg Maddux ready to pitch Game 5, and perhaps even for a few innings in Game 7.

They know that the worst thing that can happen during their stay in Cleveland is that they will return home for Games 6 and 7.

But this night, it was of no solace.

“We gave them new life,” Brave starter John Smoltz said. “We knew they had to win that game to survive. It would be devastating for them if they had lost.

“Now, they’re on an emotional high, and who knows what can happen.

“That’s the scary part.”

The most painful aspect of the defeat is that this was a game the Braves figured they had won, and no amount of encouragement could eliminate the haunting feeling of allowing it to slip away.

They couldn’t help but agonize over the fact that they were five outs from taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series--an advantage no team in baseball history has ever blown.

They were riding an emotional high, scoring three runs in the eighth inning for a 6-5 lead. They had fine reliever Greg McMichael on the mound. They had dominant closer Mark Wohlers in the bullpen.

They figured the game was over.

“We held the game for a long time, and went ahead,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said, “and should have held the lead.”

They couldn’t do it.

Jim Thome opened the eighth by popping up to second baseman for the first out. But McMichael then walked Manny Ramirez. Paul Sorrento, who had struck out in his previous three at-bats, followed with a single to right, advancing Ramirez to third.

Cox wasted no time. He wanted Wohlers. The last time this situation was presented in Game 2, Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove wanted Ruben Amaro to bat instead of Sandy Alomar. This time, he let Alomar hit.

Wohlers fired a first-pitch fastball, and Alomar sent it past first baseman Fred McGriff into right field for a double, scoring Ramirez and advancing pinch-runner Wayne Kirby to third base. Cox called for Kenny Lofton to be intentionally walked. The move paid off. Omar Vizquel struck out and Carlos Baerga grounded out, leaving the game tied at 6 and sending it off into extra innings.

After Wohlers and Indian closer Jose Mesa matched each other pitch-for-pitch, it all finally ended when Baerga led off with a double in the 11th, Albert Belle was intentionally walked, and Eddie Murray singled to center for the game-winner.

“It should have been over a lot sooner,” Murray said. “This one would have been hard to swallow [had we lost], but we stopped them a few times. This was a great win, and hopefully we’ll turn this thing around.”

While the Braves will be trying to figure out a way to get out Lofton, who reached base a World Series record six times and is batting .417, it now may be a battle of the starters. The Braves’ bullpen is fatigued, particularly Wohlers, who pitched a season-high 2 2/3 innings. In fact, only twice this season has he pitched even two innings.

“That’s what I feel worse about,” Smoltz said. “Our bullpen is tired. I don’t know, maybe I can help them out. I’m ready if they need me.”

Smoltz, who says he felt fine, lasted only 2 1/3 innings, yielding six hits and four earned runs. It was the shortest outing by a Brave starter in a World Series game since Oct. 5, 1957 when Bob Buhl lasted two-thirds of an inning against the Yankees. It also was the shortest by any starter since Game 4 of the 1993 World Series.

“That’s the strange thing,” Smoltz said, “this is the best I felt in a long time. I threw good pitches. I really did. It just seemed like every ball found a hole.

“This was really a big win for them.”

The shame of the Braves’ defeat was that they wasted a superb bullpen performance.

The moment Brad Clontz entered the game with one out and the bases loaded in the third inning, until Lofton scored with two outs in the seventh, the bullpen had yielded only two hits in 4 1/3 innings. The bullpen still wound up yielding only six hits and three runs for 7 2/3 innings the rest of the night.

“Mesa wasn’t going to let anybody score tonight,” said Brave second baseman Mark Lemke, who just missed hitting a game-winning homer in the ninth when it fell three feet shy of the top of the right-field wall, caroming back for a single.

“Oh well, we knew it was going to be this kind of series . . . Cleveland didn’t win 100 games during the season for nothing.”

Said first baseman Ryan Klesko: “Oh, man, it was an unbelievable game, wasn’t it? You hate to lose that one . . .

“Well, if nothing else, at least we made it more interesting, didn’t we?”