GAME 3
Angels 10
Giants 4
SAN FRANCISCO – All is forgiven, Roger Clemens. We understand fully now, Andy Pettitte. You are exonerated, Mike Mussina. No further explanations necessary, David Wells.
We know now it wasn’t you, it was them. It was these Angels with dirty uniforms. It was a lineup that seems to have no end. Top to bottom, bottom to top, Anaheim’s order comes at you like desert heat in ceaseless, merciless waves.
If Barry Bonds is the killer whale of this World Series, full of unfathomable size and frightful power, then the Angels are a school of piranha. They attack without stop, taking piece after piece out of an opponent. They are a lineup full of Joe Fraziers, a lineup full of fullbacks. They keep coming without any sign of letdown or remorse.
They relied, uncharacteristically, on power in the first two games of the 98th World Series. And then they came to the majors’ toughest stadium in which to homer for Game 3, never left Pac Bell Park and scored seven or more runs for the sixth time in 12 postseason games anyway as they defeated the Giants 10-4.
Bengie Molina, the Angels’ weakest offensive link, went 2-for-2 with three walks from the eighth spot. He actually drew two intentional walks, one more than Bonds, who of course thrilled the proceedings by homering for the third straight game.
But the length of Anaheim’s lineup proved more impressive than the 437-foot length of Bonds’ homer. The Angels accumulated 16 hits last night and actually stranded 15 runners, or this bludgeoning would have been worse. Every starting position player had either a hit or an RBI by the time the fourth inning was done, and a hit by the time the seventh was done.
The Angels batted around in both the third and fourth innings, and yet a double-steal by Darrin Erstad and Tim Salmon was as important as anything in that span as they stayed true to their full-out, aggressive nature.
Anaheim did not only grab the lead, two games to one in this series, but did plenty to impact the rest of this best-of-seven. Giant starter Livan Hernandez came in with a 6-0 postseason record. But now both he and his playoff stalwart half-brother both have suffered October losses to the Angels’ ferocious attack.
And this outing may have legs when it comes to arms. That is because Hernandez lasted just 32/3 innings, surrendering six runs. The three Giant starters – Jason Schmidt, Russ Ortiz and Hernandez – have managed to amass just 11 innings this series, which has forced a wearying bullpen to work 15 innings. Meanwhile, the Angels were able to fully rest wunderkind Francisco Rodriguez, meaning he could be available for two or three innings again tonight in Game 4.
The Angels are doing major damage to major pitchers such as Pettitte, Mussina and Schmidt. So you can imagine what it does to soft middle relief, especially the softest pitcher in major-league postseason history. Jay Witasick relieved Hernandez and permitted the first four batters against him to reach successfully and only got an out and out of the inning by striking out Angels starter Ramon Ortiz, who has never produced a major-league hit.
Witasick has pitched eight innings in his postseason career, allowing 20 hits and 15 earned runs. Every time he is forced to pitch in a game, the Angels move closer to a celebratory parade that will begin at Disneyland.
The Angels hit .376 with 31 runs in four games against the Yankees. They are hitting .353 with 24 runs in three World Series games. They are averaging 7.0 runs per game for this postseason. The hits come from everywhere. They foul off pitch after pitch. They run the bases with passion. They do not provide an easy out in their lineup.
And thus, they are going to be one tough out for the Giants.