SAN FRANCISCO — This is not a carnival game. This is not as automatic as throw hard, knock down the milk bottles and win a prize.
In the cruelest of ways, and at the most inopportune of times, the Angels were reminded that the kid with golden arm cannot win a game by himself. Francisco Rodriguez lost, a fate he did not deserve. The Angels lost Game 4, and the World Series is now a best-of-three.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday November 05, 2002 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 12 inches; 439 words Type of Material: Correction
Baseball -- The Giants' J.T. Snow advanced to second base on a passed ball by Angel catcher Bengie Molina in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, not third base as reported in a Sports story Oct. 24.
The San Francisco Giants nicked the Angels' wondrous rookie for an unearned run in the eighth inning Wednesday. David Bell singled home J.T. Snow with the winning run -- after a passed ball by catcher Bengie Molina allowed Snow to move into scoring position -- and the Giants tied the World Series at two games apiece with a 4-3 victory over the Angels. The Series will return to Anaheim on Saturday.
"Nobody cares about the first four games now," Angel infielder Benji Gil said. "That's like asking somebody if they care about the games in spring training. The first four games are completely irrelevant now."
Still, the games are memorable, the Series compelling. On an evening when baseball saluted its past, trotting out such legends as Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken and Pete Rose in a pregame ceremony, the dramatic crescendo occurred during the game, in the seventh inning.
Now batting, Barry Bonds. Now pitching, Rodriguez. The sellout crowd of 42,703 stood, anticipation flowing through the crowd like electricity, flashbulbs popping from every direction to capture the moment, the best slugger of this generation facing perhaps the best reliever of the next generation.
The Angels had walked Bonds intentionally in each of his first three at-bats. Rodriguez got him, on a ground ball.
At that point, with the score tied, 3-3, the Angels were optimistic. For the seventh and eighth innings, they had Rodriguez. For the ninth, they had closer Troy Percival. If they threw up a run of their own somewhere in there, they would win. They would lead the Series, three games to one, and the Giants would be all but mortally wounded.
"You might get a little spoiled by Francisco," Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's been incredible. He's virtually gotten everybody out."
In the seventh, Rodriguez retired the side in order, and a fearsome side it was--Jeff Kent, Bonds, Benito Santiago.
