World Series: Notes from Game Four

Well, that was more like it. The Giants win on a go-ahead run eked out off of phenom Francisco Rodriguez, 4-3, after a number of missed opportunities for San Francisco earlier in the game.

My notes from the game with editorial comments in square brackets:

Pregame: Billy Crystal: "It's great to be in SF. It's the first time since 1997 I had nowhere else to go."-good line (got booed).

Why didn't Nolan Ryan show?

Kirk Gibson is roundly booed in SF.

Crystal: "#8, he wouldn't like that."-re. Joe DiMaggio's streak.

Ted Williams batting .400, how is that a moment?

Crystal: "He slid into the dugout."-re. Pete Rose leaving field.

Top of 1st: Eckstein-claims ball hit him. Replay shows ball hit uniform. Isn't that the same thing?

Salmon-reaches on a tough error on Bell. Doesn't stop on ball to center, challenges Lofton's arm, no throw.

Bottom of 1st: Lofton-showing bunt on pitch 2 and 3. Dribbler just past lackey towards second. Safe.

Aurilia-bunts foul on 1st pitch. McCarver disagrees [with bunt] (me, too). Taken off-ball 2.

Kent-just doesn't look good. Ahead of a lot of pitches. 3rd pitch over plate-just able to foul it off. K's on nice slider.

Bonds-walked again. Same as 1st inning yesterday.

Top of 2nd: Poll-"If Pete Rose apologizes, should he be let back in to baseball?" If he didn't gamble on the baseball, what's he got to apologize for? If he did, screw him.

Lackey-[1st and 2nd one out] Shows bunt on ball 2. Santiago almost catches Gil off 2nd. 4th pitch, shows bunt but pulls back. Same on 5th pitch. Nice poke into right goind with pitch. Bases loaded-not testing Sanders' arm.

Eckstein-Sac Fly. Lofton takes it in left-center, worse position, worse arm than Bonds. Why didn't the runners tag on the throw home?

Bottom of 2nd: Sanders-Ball two looked good. HP ump Winters has had a tight zone.

Woody/Rueter comparison-Not again!

Top of 3rd: Buck says that the SF pitchers need a way to figure out Anaheim batters. How about throwing strikes and getting ahead?

Glaus-Rueter not getting corners, bodes ill; next pitch-too much plate: HR. [3-0 Angels]

Rueter-either hit first pitch by Angels or throws ball.

Memorial Moments Video-first ad. I knew it was coming.

SF-anyone up in the bullpen yet? 2-0 on Molina. At least Rueter's not throwing a lot of pitches. If Giants come back, could last longer.

Bottom of 3rd: Lofton-shows bunt on ball 1.

Lackey falls behind Aurilia 2-0. Molina to the mound. ("You have a lead. Throw strikes.")

Aurilia-Erstad overran ball, off the heel of his glove. Nice pickup by Anderson-saves a run.

Kent-lines to Lackey. Runners get back in time. Kent is really not catching a break. "Halloween on the way and two nightmarish ABs for Jeff Kent"-McCarver.

Santiago-[with bases loaded]2nd DP in a row. He's killing the Giants.

Top of 4th: Eckstein is on deck having a conniption. I'm sorry, but he annoys the heck out of me. Why does everyone love these little, scrappy types? Lays down a bunt. Nice play by Bell anticipating it.

Rueter-goes 1-2-3. Looks like he's settling down.

Buck-bloviating on Angels' offensive prowess. Getting ready to climb on their bandwagon.

Bottom of 4th: Sanders-ugly swing on inside pitch. (fast ball? Cutter? Flat curve?)

Buck is blaming Kent [for last two ballgames] but 1) Santiago did ground into two DPs and 2) Yesterday Kent went 2-for-4, scored on Bonds' HR, and was stranded at third in the first. It's not all his fault.

Top of 5th: Salmon-nice breaking ball to whiff Salmon.

Rueter preoccupied with Anderson at first.

Glaus-DP. The Giants needed that.

Bottom of 5th: Rueter bunted foul 2nd attempt. Chopped ball into ground in front of home. Doesn't come up. [Single.]

Lofton-bunts down the [3rd-base] line. Rolls along line 40 feet. Glaus picks it up after it rolls foul and then fair again.

Expected Runs-according to them, Giants should have 1.5 runs in 1st, .7 in second, and 1.5 in 3rd. They should be ahead by .7 runs.

Aurila pops a ball into right, 3-1.

Kent-[Sac fly, 3-2.] Salmon not setting up for throw. Weight going back. (McCarver points this out.) Aurilia tags up.

McCarver & Buck-admonish Aurilia for taking second because Bonds now walked again.

Santiago-got fat pitch and went right back up the middle with it. Erstad's throw [home] hits mound, up first base line, 3-3. Why isn't Bonds at third?

Snow-deep liner. [Caught.] Bonds doesn't tag. McCarver belabors Bonds' non-tag-why not mention not moving up on previous play.

Weber up in pen.

Sanders-foul fly in bullpen. Spiezio chases but looks afraid of bullpen mound. Can't get it. K's on slider in the dirt.

Top of 6th: Spiezio-Rueter looks better as game progresses. Oops, single to center.

Zerbe up in bullpen.

Gil-looks bad bunting. 2nd attempt: bat is in foul territory. Strikes out on ball a foot outside. McCarver criticizes Scioscia's decision. I agree.

Bottom of 6th: Rodriguez up in BP. (PH for Rueter?)

Bell-Anaheim fan gets foul ball. Is roundly booed. Nice liner 2 feet fair. Anderson gets to it quickly and throws Bell out at second by three feet. Anderson's D is better than I expected.

Goodwin-PH for Rueter. I'm not sure this is the right move. Rueter is settling in and they need to rest the bullpen. (I guess they'll rest in November.) [Walks and steal second.]

Lofton-ball 1 showing bunt.

Weber-pumps while looking at second [to check runner] and then throws home, 2-2. I know that's his timing mechanism, but how is that not a balk?

Goodwin-tags and goes to third. The Bell play is looking big.

Top of 7th: Palmeiro- PH. Surprised it's not Kennedy.

Francisco Rodriguez up in the pen. Felix in the game.

Erstad-grounds right to Snow playing towards the line-good call McCarver.

Salmon-Nice play by Lofton on a long fly ball. Got on his horse.

Glaus-Angels have not gotten a man to 2nd since his 3rd-inning HR. 1-2 pitch just missed. Looked like a liner but straight back.

Bottom of 7th: First Taco Bell Target plug.

F-Rod in.

Kent-strike 2 on a slider in the dirt. K's.

Bonds-"The 20-year-old to the 38-year-old. The rookie to the 17-year veteran." The diaper wearer to the denture wearer. The stamp collector to swing dancer.

Bottom of 8th: Nen is up in pen. Arm OK?

Snow-hanger lined to right.

McCarver calls Rodriguez, "Francisco Cabrera." [prescient]

Sanders-1st pitch shows bunt. Molina misses ball low fastball. Another stab by him. [Passed ball]. 2nd pitch, bunts foul. Why not take it off now? 3rd pitch, shows bunt (ball). Bunts foul in air. Great running catch by Spiezio. What a waste!

Bell-nice hit just past Eckstein. All those tough ABs are paying off, 4-3 Giants.

Schoeneweis and Shields up in the pen.

Martinez-PH. Takes twice after 3-0. K's DP at 2nd to end it.

Top of 9th: Nen-how is his arm? Let's see.

Spiezio-0-2, Nen looks pretty good (inside and outside strike). Flies out foul. Got all sliders.

Kennedy-[PH] 1st pitch, high fastball. Looked slow. Poked into right.

Percival and Donnelly up in the pen.

Fullmer-PH, fastball pokes foul. Slider-got 'em, 0-2. DP 63 on little dripper. End of game.

Postgame: Rodriguez loses with unearned run.

Jeanne-"We're all tied up with one place to go"-where? Damn, she is annoying. Is she animatronic?

For the Giants, Pros: Evened the series. Rueter ate some innings. Bullpen pitched well (1 hit, no walks in three innings). Lofton and Aurilia came alive. Santiago overcame the two double play balls. Bottom of order continued to contribute. Finally, got to F-Rod. Cons: Kent looks pretty miserable (did get a sac fly). Cannot counter the "walk Bonds" strategy (1-for-3).

For the Angels, Pros: Glaus and Anderson hitting. Six of eight position players got hits. They still have home field. Cons: Bullpen finally scored upon (even though unearned). Nothing from Eckstein and Erstad tonight (except a sac fly). Giants' adjustments (breaking balls) after third inning dismantled their offense.

A replay of game one (Washburn and Schmidt) tomorrow. Won't that be fun.