HOUSTON — Ron Washington barely remembered how to have the conversation. When shortstop Dansby Swanson jogged over to him, head down, after a catastrophic second inning that lost Atlanta Game 2 of the World Series, 7-2, it had been nearly a month since an Atlanta infielder had screwed up a play that mattered.
Swanson had muffed a grounder in Game 1, but Atlanta was already up 5-0 at the time. The circumstances were more dire on Wednesday. Lefty Max Fried, the team’s remaining bulwark arm after Charlie Morton broke his right fibula during Game 1, had allowed a run in the first but was beginning to settle down.