Tuesday, October 22, 2002
World Series classic in the making
More drama anticipated in Game 3 tonight
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SAN FRANCISCO - Luckily for the baseball world, Monday was an off day for the World Series. The break will give all involved a chance to rest and digest what just happened - which was a lot - in Games 1 and 2.
The series between the San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels resumes tonight at Pacific Bell Park tied at one game each.
The first two games have been as good as baseball gets.
You had too very good and very different games - one a 4-3 pitchers' duel won by the Giants and the other a 11-10 slugfest won by the Angels.
You had 11 home runs. You had baseball's biggest star, San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds, turning a 97-mph Troy Percival fastball into a 485-foot missile of a home run.
You had baseball's youngest star, 20-year-old Anaheim reliever Frankie Rodriguez, getting nine of the biggest and easiest outs you'll ever see.
What you don't have coming out of the first two games is a clear-cut favorite. Splitting two one-run games is as close as it gets.
The players say fans should expect more of the same tonight.
“That's what we are,” said the Angels' Game 2 hero, right fielder Tim Salmon. “That's what they are. It's going to a battle.”
Added Giants outfielder Reggie Sanders, a former Red: “It's been a great series so far. We got the split here. That's what we wanted. I foresee it continuing to be a great series.”
The series has been all about power so far. The Angels have hit more home runs than any team in postseason history - 21 - but they've been out-homered seven to four in this series.
Salmon, who won Game 2 with his two-run, two-out shot in the eighth inning Sunday, said the more significant thing for Anaheim was its return to small ball and clutch hitting.
“That's the way we've played all year,” he said. “That's the way you have to play to beat any good team. I don't see us as home run hitting team.”
Key to scoring the 11 runs was the Angels' leadoff man, David Eckstein, and No.2 hitter, Darin Erstad, who combined for five hits and five runs.
“My main thing is to get on base,” Eckstein said. “I really haven't done my job as far as scoring runs. It feels good to finally do it.”
Winning Game 2 was paramount for the Angels. Had they lost it, they not only would been down 2-0 in games, they would have had to live with blowing leads of 5-0 and 7-4.
Anaheim felt the pressure and responded.
“Maybe after the series is over, I'll put in a tape and watch it,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “That might have been entertaining to a lot of people, but that was a tough ballgame.”
For all the fireworks in Game 2, it was Bonds and Rodriguez who stole the show.
Rodriguez was a bucket of cold water on the Giants' sizzling offense. The first 12 pitches he threw were strikes. Four of the first six outs he got were strikeouts.
“I think you could see where the game was going,” Scioscia said. “For him to step up and pitch like that, give us three innings, is incredible.”
Rodriguez is now 5-0 in the postseason. That tied the record that Arizona's Randy Johnson set for most wins in a postseason last year. Rodriguez has pitched 13 innings in the postseason and given up just two runs.
“His stuff is unbelievable,” said Sanders, one of the strikeout victims. “He hides it very well. You can't pick up the rotation.”
Rodriguez even got Bonds out, albeit on a hard smash.
The Angels have challenged Bonds but suffered the consequences. He's burned them with two home runs, putting his slugging percentage in the Series at 1.600. When the Angels have walked Bonds, the players behind him have produced.
On Sunday, Percival had the luxury of going at Bonds in the ninth because the bases were empty and Anaheim led by two runs. Percival sounded like he might want to challenge Bonds in a situation where the slugger could beat him.
“I've pitched the same way my whole career,” Percival said. “I'm not going to change now.”
Of course, Scioscia might have something to say about that. That's one of the many reasons to stay tuned when the World Series resumes tonight.
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World Series classic in the making
