Major League Baseball

If at second you don't succeed ...;BRAVES' AFTERMATH

Published Oct. 11, 2010 10:07 a.m. ET

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There's nothing more sadistic than a baseball.

"It seems like if you make a mistake, the ball will keep finding you," Giants outfielder Cody Ross said.

He was referring to Atlanta second baseman Brooks Conrad, who committed three errors Sunday in the Giants' 3-2 win.

Conrad botched a grounder in the first inning. No harm done, run-wise.

In the second, Conrad dropped Cody Ross' pop fly in short right field, allowing Mike Fontenot to score from third.

And in the ninth inning, score 2-2 and two out, Conrad matadored a Buster Posey groundball, allowing Freddy Sanchez to score the winning run from second base.

"It's totally embarrassing," said Conrad, a 30-year-old fill-in in his first full major-league season. "I feel terrible. It's a whole lot to swallow, but I'll try to do my best to get over it. I feel absolutely terrible right now. I wish I could just dig a hole and go sleep in there."

There's no consolation for the man in Conrad's shoes Sunday.

Conrad also made an error in Game 1 of the series. And why shouldn't fate just pile it on this poor schnook? He went 0-for-3 Sunday, including a pop-up on a bunt attempt with a runner at first base in the eighth.

He is 1-for-10 in the series, with four strikeouts.

After the error on Posey's groundball, Conrad bent over, both hands on knees, as if he was about to lose his breakfast.

Oh, the ball knows whom to look for. Conrad made only two starts at second base in the regular season. He's a fill-in guy, part of the desperation patch job set in motion by injuries to third baseman Chipper Jones and second baseman Martin Prado. He has committed eight errors in his past seven games.

Even some of the Giants felt sympathy for Conrad.

"As a player, you know how tough the game is," Ross said. "It seems like you make a mistake, the ball keeps finding you. You feel for a guy like that. It's baseball; it happens."

The toughest error was on the Ross pop fly.

"When I hit it, I knew it was a tough play," Ross said. "I was out there in right field in the first inning, and the sun was terrible."

The pop fly was a 'tweener, and Conrad normally might yield to the onrushing right fielder Jason Heyward, but Conrad may have gone for it because Heyward was still woozy from crashing into the wall on Fontenot's triple on the previous play.

Giants reliever Sergio Romo summed up things nicely when asked about Conrad's errors.

Said Romo: "That's the reason why I love and hate this sport."

"I feel absolutely terrible right now. I wish I could just dig a hole and go sleep in there."

Brooks Conrad, Braves second baseman

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