Braves Bench 2B Brooks Conrad After 3-Error Game
ATLANTA (AP) - Brooks Conrad has been benched one day after his three errors at second base left the Atlanta Braves on the brink of playoff elimination.
Braves manager Bobby Cox's lineup for Monday night's Game 4 of the NL division series against the San Francisco Giants includes Omar Infante at second base and Troy Glaus at third.
Glaus, who started 107 games at first base this season, will be making his first start of 2010 at third, his former position.
Conrad, a 30-year-old rookie, has eight errors in the last seven games, including four in the first three games of the division series.
Conrad bobbled a grounder and dropped a pop fly before his most devastating error in the ninth inning Sunday. Buster Posey's one-hopper skidded right through his legs, allowing the Giants to score the tiebreaking run and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
The 34-year-old Glaus started a game-saving double play at third base after entering Game 2 in San Francisco on Friday. He also was unable to field a bunt cleanly in his one inning on the field.
Glaus missed 14 games in August with a left knee injury and will be making his first start since Sept. 15, when he played first base and went 1 for 3 against Washington.
Cox is hoping from an offensive boost from Glaus, who has a career .338 average in the postseason with nine homers and 16 RBIs. He was the MVP of the 2002 World Series for the Angels.
Glaus hit .240 with 16 homers and 71 RBIs in 128 games this season. He worked at third base with Triple-A Gwinnett during his August rehabilitation from the knee injury.
The decision to bench Conrad is the latest in a series of infield adjustments for Cox following season-ending injuries to third baseman Chipper Jones and second baseman Martin Prado.
Prado, the NL All-Star starter at second base, moved to third after Jones hurt his left knee on Aug. 11.
Conrad, a utility infielder most of the season, became a starter at third when Prado went down Sept. 27 with hip and oblique injuries.
Conrad's two throwing errors at third base led to a combined seven unearned runs in key losses to Philadelphia on the last weekend of the regular season. Cox then moved Conrad to second base, his primary position in the minor leagues.
Cox has been second-guessed for leaving Conrad in the game for the ninth inning on Sunday. The manager had few options. Backup shortstop Diory Hernandez made one start at second in 2009 and played only one inning there this season.
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