BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : WORLD SERIES / ATLANTA BRAVES vs. MINNESOTA TWINS : WORLD SERIES : Game 6 Starter Erickson May Have to Change Again

He was told he threw too hard in his first postseason start when he gave up two runs to the Toronto Blue Jays in four innings of Game 3 in the American League playoffs. So the Minnesota Twins’ Scott Erickson took something off his fastball his next time out. But the result was the same: He gave up four runs--three earned--and got no decision in Game 3 of the World Series.

“I guess it’s hard to make everyone happy,” said Erickson, who will start Saturday at the Metrodome in Game 6.

Erickson’s fastball reached only 84 m.p.h. against the Braves Tuesday night, although he said he is not concerned about radar gun readings.

“I went out there and tried to be more of a control pitcher,” said Erickson, whose velocity has not returned to the levels it was before he strained his right elbow and was put on the disabled list at midseason. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but I had 10 days’ rest in between (starts). . . . I felt pretty good the first time against them. I just didn’t do quite what I needed to do.”

One TV station wanted Atlanta’s Jerry Willard for an interview at 6:20, another at 7:15. Then there was a radio station that requested an interview at 7. Willard, whose sacrifice fly drove in the winning run Wednesday in Game 4, needed an appointment book to juggle all the requests.

“It’s nice,” he said of his new-found fame. “But when I go home, it’ll all be different.”

Willard, one of the few Braves who didn’t play in Tuesday’s 12-inning game, was resigned to sitting out the Series.

“When I didn’t get into the first two games in Minnesota, I said, ‘Maybe, I’m not going to get in,’ ” he said. “I was really excited to get a chance (Wednesday). This has been a weird World Series, with little guys coming through. I’ve watched them all as long as I’ve been living. Maybe it’s strange because I’m in it. Every pitch thrown has been exciting for me.”