ATLANTA -- Wednesday's pregame press conference was supposed to feature Kirk Rueter and Greg Maddux, the scheduled starters for Game 2 of the Braves-Giants NL Division Series. But only San Francisco held up its end of the bargain.

	Greg Maddux Starting Pitcher Atlanta Braves Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L Sv K ERA 34 16 6 0 118 2.62

As Rueter left the room, the man coming in for the Braves had 35 pounds and four inches on Maddux. He was the Braves new starter in Game 2, Kevin Millwood.

Maddux had been nursing a blister on the index finger of his right hand and Wednesday morning, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox decided to push Maddux back to Saturday's Game 3 in San Francisco and move Millwood up to Thursday.

"(Maddux) wanted to go tomorrow," Cox said, "but we just decided it would be safer to wait."

For Millwood, it was no big deal. In fact, after last pitching on Sept. 27 against the New York Mets (he gave up two runs in seven innings to get the win), Thursday would be his normal day to start.

"It's better for me physically," Millwood said. "This way, I don't have two or three extra days to sit around and try to stay sharp."

The Braves are using a three-man rotation for the first round of the playoffs. By pitching Thursday, Millwood would be able to start again in Game 5 if needed. If Maddux started the second game and the blister prevented him from coming back on three days' rest, Atlanta would have been forced to use fourth starter Damian Moss in a deciding game.

And if Millwood is as sharp as he's been this season for the Braves, Atlanta might not even miss Maddux. The 27-year-old Millwood has emerged as a solid complement to the Maddux-Tom Glavine duo, going 18-8 with a 3.24 ERA and tying Glavine for the team lead in victories.

Millwood has faced the Giants once this season, but that was on May 13, when he was just 2-4 with a 4.21 ERA.

"I'm a smarter pitcher than I was back then," he said. "My location is a little better and my breaking stuff is a little better. Whether that's true tomorrow or not, we'll have to wait and see."

Millwood may have been fine with the switch, but Maddux wasn't going to go quietly.

"He was begging Bobby to let him pitch this morning, but we decided it was better to push him back," said Braves spokesman Jim Schultz.

Trainer Dave Pursley said the blister began forming during Maddux's last start.

"It's not really a blister," Pursley said. "We're trying to prevent it from becoming a blister."

The Braves also set their 25-man roster for the opening round, electing to keep 10 pitchers and little-used Steve Torrealba as a third catcher.

Pitchers Jason Marquis, Albie Lopez and Tim Spooneybarger were dropped from the roster. Marquis and Lopez were not surprises, but Cox decided to keep Kevin Gryboski because Spooneybarger has the flu.

The Braves would go back to 11 pitchers if they reached the NL Championship Series.

Meanwhile, the Giants kept 11 pitches as well in setting their 25-man roster. The Giants dropped fifth starter Ryan Jensen and kept relievers Manny Aybar and Scott Eyre.

The Giants will not carry first baseman Damon Minor, who batted .237 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI, and outfielder Marvin Benard, who hit .276 with one homer and 13 RBI.

Benard had knee surgery July 5 and was initially thought to be lost for the season. He returned for the final month, but was limited to pinch-hitting duty.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.