Yankees Halfway Home

Forget about the supposed showdown to determine the team of the decade because the Atlanta Braves have more immediate concerns now.

The Braves are shaken, sullen and in serious trouble after two World Series games against the never-nervous New York Yankees, so the talk about their place in history will have to wait.

Atlanta is coping with the depressing present after an embarrassing, mistake-marred 7-2 loss during Game 2 on Sunday night before another stunned sellout crowd of 51,226 at Turner Field.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, overwhelming the seemingly rattled National League champions.

And they didn’t need late-inning heroics to win Sunday after rallying for a 4-1 victory in Game 1, dismantling the cooperative Braves from the outset.

The Series shifts to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night--as if the Braves aren’t up against enough.

“Nobody is thinking about that [becoming the team of the decade], we’re just trying to win four in a row now,” said catcher Eddie Perez, out of the lineup Sunday. “We know we have to do that. That’s all we’re thinking about.”

With good reason.

The Yankees became the 46th team to take a 2-0 Series lead. Of the 45 previous teams in that position, 34 won championships.

New York overcame a 2-0 deficit against Atlanta in the ’96 Series--but that’s not especially comforting for the Braves at the moment. “Obviously, this isn’t the situation you want to be in,” said Atlanta starter and loser Kevin Millwood, chased after only two-plus shaky innings Sunday. “You don’t want to be down 0-2, you don’t want to have this uphill battle ahead of you.

“We were counted out when this season started, but we battled to get to this point. We have all the fight in the world left in us.”

The Yankees are fighters too.

They won four straight in ’96 after being on the wrong end of a 2-0 deficit. They have won 10 consecutive Series games spanning three seasons after losing the first two at Yankee Stadium that season, and the previous three road teams to take 2-0 leads failed to win Series titles.

The Yankees are aware.

“We’re very aware of it,” said utilityman Jim Leyritz, whose momentum-shifting home run in Game 4 was among the keys to the Yankees’ victory over the Braves. “This team is focused on the day to day of what we have to do. We won two games here, but now that’s over, and we’ll move on.

“We know they can play there [Yankee Stadium] because they came in and won two games last time. We know that we have to keep building on what we’ve done. We know.”

The defending Series champions raced to a 3-0 first-inning lead Sunday against Millwood. The Braves helped the Yankees extend their lead to 7-0 after five innings, committing fielding miscues while digging the hole deeper.

The support was more than enough for Yankee starter David Cone, who performed up to his big-game reputation.

Cone gave up only a fifth-inning leadoff single to Greg Myers, and the 13-year veteran pitched seven scoreless innings before turning things over to the Yankee bullpen.

The Braves scored twice in the ninth on Myers’ run-scoring single and Bret Boone’s pinch-hit double. It didn’t matter.

“Part of the strength of our team is that we play every game like it’s our last game,” said Cone, improving to 2-0 in five career Series starts. “I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s really true.

“When we have teams down, we don’t ever let up on them. We really go for the jugular whenever we have a chance to finish.”

Atlanta had only five hits--the Yankees pounded 14--after getting only two in the opener, ruining the best-laid plans of Manager Bobby Cox. Searching for answers, Cox shuffled the lineup in an attempt to jump-start the offense.

Shortstop Ozzie Guillen, second baseman Keith Lockhart and catcher Myers replaced starters Walt Weiss, Boone and Perez, respectively. The results?

Myers singled twice in three at-bats and drove in a run. Guillen and Lockhart went hitless in six at-bats combined, and hurt the Braves defensively.

Guillen couldn’t get a handle on a potential inning-ending soft liner in the third, and the Yankees scored their fifth run on his error. He also botched a potential double play in the sixth with a poor throw.

Lockhart failed to turn a potential double play in the fourth while trying to locate the bag with his toe, and the Yankees scored another run.

“I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t beat my wife,” Guillen said. “I made a mistake. Why should I be ashamed about that?”

Millwood was after his work ended quickly.

He gave up three consecutive singles in the first, and the Yankees took a 1-0 lead on Paul O’Neill’s single. The Yankees scored twice more against Millwood in the first to go ahead, 3-0, on two-out, run-scoring singles by Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius.

Millwood gave up eight hits and was charged with five runs (four earned) in his shortest outing of the season, and the second shortest of his career. It was also the second shortest outing all-time by a Brave starter in the Series.

“It’s my fault,” Millwood said. “I didn’t make the pitches I had to make, I didn’t keep us in the game. Like I said, it’s all on me.”

Actually, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

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ROSS NEWHAN

The fans may have roared, but Bud Selig was tepid in his response to the introduction of Pete Rose as a member of the all-century team.

Page 12

INTERVIEW IRRITATION

NBC’s Jim Gray drew a flood of angry viewer reaction for his pregame questioning of Rose about gambling after the ceremony.

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TURNING POINT

Atlanta starter Kevin Millwood was more than ready to take the blame for the loss after giving up a season-high five runs on eight hits in two innings.

Page 13

BASEBALL NOTES

The often-reticent Sandy Koufax, one of nine pitchers selected to the all-century team, was patient and revealing in a media interview session.

Page 13