2002: Angels, Rally Monkey too much for Giants
J.T. Snow celebrates the Giants' Game 5 NLDS victory over the Braves. (John Bazemore/AP) |
Following a 3-0 loss at Florida on Aug. 18, a stagnant San Francisco club stood at 66-56, four games behind Los Angeles in the NL Wild Card chase. From then on, the Giants would play like champions, going 29-10 down the stretch to capture the league's fourth playoff spot by 3 1/2 contests over the Dodgers.
Despite a 95-win campaign that tied for the fourth-most victories in San Francisco history, the Giants entered the NLDS as heavy underdogs to the Atlanta Braves, who captured their 11th consecutive division crown by an astounding 19-game margin.
Undaunted by their opponents and buoyed by the right arm of starter Russ Ortiz, the Giants stormed into Turner Field and won the series opener by an 8-5 count as Rich Aurilia, Benito Santiago and J.T. Snow all collected two RBIs apiece.
Yet, the hope of Game 1 quickly turned into despair, as Atlanta backed the stout pitching of Kevin Millwood and Greg Maddux, respectively, with 17 combined runs in a pair of routs to take a 2-1 series lead.
Facing the prospect of a long winter, San Francisco turned to past playoff hero Livan Hernandez to work his magic once again in Game 4 at Pacific Bell Park. The big right-hander responded by hurling 8 1/3 strong innings, while Aurilia finished 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs as the Giants won 8-3 to force a return trip to Atlanta.
In the decisive Game 5, five-time MVP Barry Bonds exorcised his demons of postseasons past, singling and scoring the Giants' first run in the second and clubbing an opposite-field, solo homer in the fourth that gave San Francisco a 2-0 lead. Ortiz became the first Giants pitcher to win two games in the same postseason series since Carl Hubbell went 2-0 in the 1933 World Series, yet San Francisco's 3-1 victory was in doubt until the end. With two men on and none out in the ninth, closer Robb Nen struck out Gary Sheffield then induced Chipper Jones to ground into a series-ending double play.
Following their furious late-season run to capture the Wild Card berth and that stirring five-game NLDS victory over Atlanta, the Giants provided the only truly fitting encore -- they won the club's first NL pennant in 13 years by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a scintillating and highly competitive five-contest NLCS.
San Francisco began its run to the Fall Classic by winning each of the first two contests in St. Louis. The Giants pounded Cardinals ace Matt Morris early and often en route to a 9-6 victory in Game 1, while Jason Schmidt turned in a dominating Game 2 performance. The right-hander struck out eight and carried a shutout into the eighth inning, while Aurilia's two-homer, three-RBI effort spurred a 4-1 triumph.
Despite Bonds' dramatic three-run, fifth-inning homer into McCovey Cove that briefly tied Game 3 at Pacific Bell Park, a solo clout by St. Louis' Eli Marrero and stingy pitching by the Cardinals bullpen gave the visitors a 5-4 win and renewed hope.
The Giants erupt as David Bell slides home with the pennant-winning run. (Eric Risberg/AP) |
St. Louis jumped out to a 2-0, first-inning lead in Game 4 and appeared on its way to evening the series until a pair of Giants veterans turned the tide. In the sixth, Snow delivered a two-out, two-run double that knotted the contest. Following a two-out intentional walk to Bonds in the eighth, Santiago cemented his series MVP honors by clubbing a full-count offering from Rick White into the left-field bleachers for a 4-2 lead. Nen struck out the final two hitters in the ninth to strand the tying run at third and close out a 4-3 San Francisco victory.
Giants lefty Kirk Rueter and Morris engaged in a classic October pitchers' duel in a Game 5 that was scoreless until St. Louis broke through with a run in the seventh. Bonds tied the contest, 1-1, with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, thus setting the stage for one of the most dramatic moments in San Francisco history.
Morris retired the first two Giants hitters in the bottom of the ninth inning but was chased by consecutive singles from David Bell and Shawon Dunston. St. Louis turned to reliever Steve Kline, and Kenny Lofton greeted the southpaw by lining his first pitch into right-center field for a single that scored a sliding Bell as the jubilant NL champion Giants poured onto the field.
In the first World Series between two Wild Card teams, the Giants and Anaheim Angels lived up to the moniker, combining to set numerous offensive records in a memorable seven-game Fall Classic.
Anaheim emerged from the fireworks with the first world championship in franchise history, while San Francisco was saddled with heartbreak after seeing a title slip away just five outs from the pinnacle.
Barry Bonds became the 26th player to homer in his first World Series at-bat. (Ben Margot/AP) |
The clubs split the first two contests in Anaheim, with Bonds grabbing the spotlight in his first appearance on the World Series stage. San Francisco's left fielder clubbed a solo homer in his first at-bat to spark a 4-3 Giants win in Game 1, then connected for a mammoth ninth-inning shot in Game 2. Not to be outdone, the Angels' Tim Salmon homered twice as Anaheim won an 11-10 slugfest to even the series.
When the scene shifted north, the Angels seemed to take control with a convincing 10-4 win in Game 3. As they had all season, the Giants battled back in Game 4, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 4-3 victory on Bell's two-out, RBI single in the eighth inning.
Game 5 belonged to San Francisco, as the home club delighted the 42,713 fans at Pacific Bell Park with a 16-4 rout. Jeff Kent tied Giants World Series records with four runs, two homers and four RBIs, Aurilia drove in three runs to establish a franchise playoff mark with 17 RBIs overall, and Snow had two of his series-high 11 hits.
The Giants were eight outs from their first World Series title since 1954, as Dunston's two-run homer, Bonds' record eighth postseason clout (fourth of the Series), and Kent's RBI single propelled San Francisco to a 5-0 lead in Game 6. But the ultimate prize was wrested away as Scott Spiezio's three-run, seventh-inning homer and series MVP Troy Glaus' two-run, eighth-inning double highlighted Anaheim's rally to a 6-5 victory.
San Francisco scored first in Game 7 but ultimately could not overcome the pitching of John Lackey and the bat of Garret Anderson, who delivered the deciding three-run, third-inning double in Anaheim's 4-1 triumph.
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