GIANTS PITCHING: BULLPEN GETS OVERWORKED GIANTS RELIEVERS GETTING PUT INTO GAMES EARLY AND OFTEN.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - The best way to keep warm on a cold evening is to stay active and on the move. But the San Francisco Giants would just as soon have their bullpen remain frigid Tuesday night.

Again, the Giants were forced to go to their relievers early and often in Game 3 of the World Series at Pacific Bell Park, and the bullpen didn't do much to pick up struggling starter Livan Hernandez. The overuse of the bullpen is a concern as the series continues today and Thursday.

``For both teams, if you have to go deep in the bullpen, you're going to end up paying the price,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``Even with the days off, you have to monitor some guys and see how they're doing.''

Scioscia has also had to rely on his bullpen more than he would like, but the difference is the Angels' relievers have, for the most part, been getting the job done, and the Giants have been unable to get important outs late in the games.

``We've been going to (the bullpen) the last two games in the third and fourth inning,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. ``When they're in there as early as they've been the last two days, it's really more about preserving somebody versus having the proper matchup against whoever is up there hitting.''

Hernandez left with two outs in the fourth inning, and Baker couldn't have been too confident in any of the choices he had in the bullpen. Chad Zerbe had done an admirable job in Game 2 but threw four innings and was unavailable Tuesday.

The Giants turned to Jay Witasick, who failed to record an out in Game 2 and didn't do much better in Game 3. He allowed one of Hernandez's stranded runners to score as well as two of his own. Witasick got one out and allowed three hits and walked one.

From there, it went to Aaron Fultz, who allowed one run in two innings, Felix Rodriguez, who pitched a scoreless seventh, and Scott Eyre, who allowed one run in two innings.

The last two relievers stopped the bleeding, but with all those innings, what happens if starter Kirk Rueter struggles early in Game 4 today?

``When you go (to the bullpen) that early, it's more about damage control than anything, because you certainly don't want to go to the next day with everybody tired,'' Baker said. ``That's why today we didn't go with Felix in (the eighth), even though his pitch count was low.

``We didn't use (Tim) Worrell, Zerbe, who went four innings two days ago, and we didn't use Robb Nen. So that's why our usually great relief pitching has been down the last couple days.''

The other reason, as the Giants readily admitted, is the Angels' pesky and timely hitters. Besides pitcher Ramon Ortiz, the Angels' starters struck out just twice and seemed to find every gap in the outfield.

That patience causes pitch counts to rise quickly. In the third inning alone Hernandez threw 40 pitches. Even if he had escaped the inning relatively unscathed, he wasn't long for the game because of his high pitch count.

``We still have to make our pitches, and hopefully they start finding people (in the field),'' Fultz said. ``They are hitting some good pitches but they are finding holes, and those things just multiply quickly.''

For now, Baker will hold his breath and hope the bullpen holds up, even though Rodriguez, his frequent stopper, has already appeared in 10 of 13 postseason games.

``We've got to find a way, in these next two games, to keep them down, because so far we haven't done it yet,'' Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia said. ``Adam Kennedy, I don't know why he stuck with me, but it seemed like he was batting every inning. They've got a great offense, and they have showed it all during the playoffs.''

Now it's time for the Giants to show their bullpen is up to the challenge of stopping the Angels.

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Scott Eyre was one of four relievers the Giants used Tuesday in a feeble attempt to keep the Angels at bay. Eyre allowed one run in two innings.

Nick Lammers/Staff Photographer