Game Four

By Staff

Game Four was a flashback to Game One. It was a low-scoring affair, with pitchers dodging bullets left and right. When the dust settled with Giants came out ahead 4-3. Some thoughts from the game:

• The table-setters finally came through for Bonds. Lofton and Aurilla were on three times a piece, but this meant that the Angels walked Bonds intentionally three times. That's the most intentionals given to a player in a World Series game since they started keeping that stat. Twice it paid off for the Angels...
  
  
• The first two times Scioscia rolled the dice he came up big, surrendering no runs as Benito Santiago bounced into a pair of double plays to Eckstein. But a major league hitter will get a hit once every three or four at bats, and at an even better rate when the bases are juiced. On his third try Santiago came through with a single to right that plated the tying run.
  
  
• All series long we've been writing about how the Angels are playing ball at a very high level, while the Giants have been making some errors that would make a Little Leaguer blush. In Game Four one of the biggest plays was a ball that got past Ben Molina, allowing J.T. Snow (AKA. J.T. Slow) to take second base against K-Rod. This enabled him to come home on David Bell's single to center, to score the winning run.
  
  
• It was fun seeing more of K-Rod, even if some kryptonite was brought to the ballpark. The look on Bonds' face on his check swing in the seventh was classic. It looked like a cross between bewilderment and amazement. It's saying something if you can get that face out of somebody who not only has played the game for 17 years, but also grew up in the clubhouse. It looks like the key to him is to get a man on base, after that he seems a little more human. Of course they said the same thing about the young Doc Gooden, but the problem was getting to step A.
  
  
• Lackey getting a hit in his first professional at bat was clutch, no matter what his batting average in community college was. The beer leagues are full of great CC hitters, but this is the World Series we are talking about here.
  
  
• One of the big keys to the game was that the Giants handled the Angels' table setters. Eckstein and Erstad were a combined 0-7 on the night. Reuter saw a good number of baserunners, but gave the team what it needed. The Giants bullpen had an outstanding night, needing only nine batters and a double play to record nine outs.