Maddux Puts It on Cruise Control, 2-0

The World Series rematch between the Yankees and the Braves became just another stage for Greg Maddux to show he is the best pitcher in the major leagues.

Maddux made pitching look like the simplest of tasks, dispatching New York with machine-like precision Wednesday and leading Atlanta to a 2-0 victory.

“I located about as good as I ever have,” he said.

That he pitched a three-hitter does not even begin to tell the story of his dominance:

* He needed only 88 pitches, 65 strikes.

* He started 20 of 28 batters with strikes, facing one batter over the minimum.

* He went to three balls on only one batter (Paul O’Neill in the first) and went to a 2-and-0 count twice.

* Five of his eight strikeouts came on three pitches.

“It’s amazing. He’s so effortless. He makes it look so easy,” Yankee pitcher David Cone said. “You just have to admire his cool.”

Maddux (11-3) hasn’t walked a batter in five starts, a 36-inning span since San Francisco’s J.T. Snow took four balls in the eighth inning June 7.

In October, when the Braves won the first two games of the World Series before losing four consecutive to the Yankees, Maddux was dominant in Atlanta’s 4-0 victory in Game 2. But he lost Game 6, 3-2.

“It’s not the same,” he said of this week’s rematch.