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Posted: Monday October 25, 1999 01:31 AM
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees had things in control tonight before the distinguished guests in attendance had time to find their seats.
Staked to a big early lead, David Cone allowed just one hit over seven innings as the Yankees again shut down the Atlanta Braves, 7-2, to take a two games to none lead in the 1999 World Series.
Cone (1-0) was dominant, allowing just a fifth-inning single to Greg Myers while striking out four to improve to 8-3 in postseason play.
The only difference between Cone's outing and the seven dazzling innings by Orlando Hernandez in Game One was control. Cone, who pitched a perfect game earlier this year, walked five, none of them costly.
"I walked a couple of guys but didn't give in," Cone said. "I didn't want to see any of those guys get hot because they can get hot in a hurry."
Myers spoiled the shutout with an RBI single off Ramiro Mendoza with two outs in the ninth. Jeff Nelson yielded an RBI double to pinch-hitter Bret Boone before recording the final out.
The Braves have just seven hits and three runs in the first two games. By contrast, Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius has five hits.
"We're a little timid at the plate right now," Braves hitting coach Don Baylor said. "It's not a lack of effort. I don't know if they're intimidated by their pitchers or what."
The Yankees banged out 14 hits, scoring three times in their first at-bat and leading 5-0 after three innings.
"It's the pitching that sets the tone of our games," manager Joe Torre said. "We know what we are capable of and we don't try to go outside of ourselves. We go in small bites."
New York became the first team to win the first two games of the World Series on the road since the Braves did it to the Yankees in 1996. The Yankees rallied to win the next four games, beginning with a victory in Game Three by Cone, his only other World Series win.
Knowing how quickly fate can turn, the Yankees will try to protect their home turf when the best-of-seven series resumes Tuesday night in the Bronx. The Yankees have won the first two games of the World Series on the road four times and went on to sweeps in the previous three.
"We know what we expect from each other and how we police each other," catcher Joe Girardi said. "We know what we have to do."
The sellout crowd at Turner Field included the 18 living members of the All-Century Team introduced in a pregame ceremony. The festivities ended with Hank Aaron throwing out the first ball, and the all-time home run leader and senior vice president of the Braves then watched his team unravel.
The Yankees hammered Kevin Millwood (0-1), Atlanta's most dependable pitcher in the regular season, for five runs in just two-plus innings.
The pregame ceremony also allowed Cone to relax.
"It took the focus off me. I was expecting to get some hecklers riding me pretty good," Cone said. "Everybody was so into the ceremonies it was tremendous for me."
Atlanta tried a revamped lineup to reverse its fortunes, but miscues by new additions Ozzie Guillen and Keith Lockhart contributed to a pair of runs for New York.
In the biggest start of his career, Millwood was totally ineffective. Moved up in the rotation after Tom Glavine came down with the flu prior to Game One, the 24-year-old allowed eight hits to lose for the first time since August 8.
New York has won 10 straight Fall Classic games, two short of the record set by the Yankees in 1927, 1928 and 1932. Joe Torre's team also has won seven straight World Series road games, two short of the record also held by the Yankees.
Meanwhile, the Braves have lost their last six World Series game, all to the Yankees, and need to regroup quickly to avoid another disappointing October exit. Atlanta has won eight straight division titles, but so far has just one World Series win to show for it.
The Yankees came out swinging against Millwood, collecting five hits in the first inning.
Chuck Knoblauch, Derek Jeter, and Paul O'Neill opened the game with singles to bring home the first run. O'Neill had a two-run single to highlight a four-run eighth inning in Game One.
"We won the first game and came out with momentum today," O'Neill said. "We know there is a lot of baseball left to be played."
Bernie Williams grounded into a double play before Tino Martinez lined a single to make it 2-0. Rickey Ledee walked and Scott Brosius hit a ground ball up the middle to bring home the third run.
Millwood was lifted in the third after yielding singles to Williams and Martinez and an RBI double by Ledee, the Yankees' first extra-base hit in the series after 13 singles. Terry Mulholland retired two batters before Cone lifted a soft line drive that shortstop Ozzie Guillen inexplicably dropped for a run-scoring error.
"I was pretty surprised. He's a really good defensive player," Cone said.
In search of a predominantly lefthanded lineup to battle Cone, manager Bobby Cox inserted Guillen at shortstop and Lockhart at second base while benching Walt Weiss and Boone. Myers started behind the plate in place of Eddie Perez, who had a broken blood vessel on a finger on his right hand.
Millwood's production has declined since tossing a one-hitter in the Division Series against Houston. He defeated the New York Mets with 7 1/3 strong innings in Game Two of the NLCS, but was gone in the sixth inning of his last start in Game Six.
"Tonight I just felt too strong. My ball was just up in the strike zone all night," Millwood said. "I can't explain it. I felt good."
"Kevin can ride the the ball high or go downstairs. I think tonight he was kind of in the middle," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "It was a problem with location."
The Yankees made it 6-0 in the fourth when Jeter doubled and later scored as Lockhart threw wildly to first trying to complete a double play. Knoblauch increased the lead with an RBI single in the fifth.
Cone worked into and out of trouble in the first. His throwing error on a bunt by Guillen put a runner on second with one out. Brian Jordan ended the inning with a deep fly ball to left field that appeared to be held up by the wind.
Myers singled to open the fifth but quickly was erased on a double play.
Cone walked two of the first three batters he faced in the seventh before getting Andruw Jones on a called strike to end the inning.
"He doesn't throw as hard as other pitchers, but he's able to have good movement and I think that's the important thing," Torre said of Cone.
Jeter has hit safely in 15 straight postseason games and his last seven World Series contests. Brosius, the 1998 World Series Most Valuable Player, was 2-for-5 and is 13-for-26 in his first six Fall Classic games.
Williams had three hits and five other Yankees had two.
The Yankees have won 16 of their last 17 postseason games, with a 9-1 mark this season.
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