GIANTS STARTS SHORT, NOT SWEET IN SERIES.Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Sports Editor Noun 1. sports editor - the newspaper editor responsible for sports news newspaper editor - the editor of a newspaper SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden - Giants starting pitchers and the World Series are an awkward couple. Including their last appearance, against Oakland in 1989, Giants starters have a 12.00 ERA and have lasted an average of just 3 1/3 innings in World Series starts. They've given up an average of 6.4 hits and been particularly kind to the Angels. Anaheim has batted around in back-to-back innings, the first team to so in a World Series, and the Angels are hitting .353. Yet as the two teams play their final game here today, with a rematch between Game 1 starters Jarrod Washburn Jarrod Michael Washburn (born August 13, 1974 in La Crosse, Wisconsin) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. Drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd round of the 1995 amateur draft out of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Washburn won the final game and Jason Schmidt Jason David Schmidt (born January 29, 1973 in Lewiston, Idaho) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. On December 6, 2006 he, signed with the LA Dodgers,and received a three-year, $47 million contract. , Angels manager Mike Scioscia ``We haven't handled every single guy,'' Scioscia said. ``OK, a couple of their starters, Russ Ortiz Russell Reid Ortiz (born June 5, 1974 in Encino, California), is a Major League baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. Before returning to the Giants, Ortiz had previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves. and Livan Hernandez, have hit some bumps in the road. But they've got a terrific pitching staff. We certainly aren't looking at this like, `We're handling some of their good pitchers, we're OK.' ``There's a challenge every time you step on that field. They wouldn't be pitching in the major leagues if they weren't able to go out and shut you down.'' Fair enough. But no one's managed to do that yet. The right-handed Schmidt came closest and was the winner in the Giants' 4-3 victory in the opener, but he was hardly overpowering. Schmidt (2-1, 3.86 ERA in the postseason, 13-8, 3.45 regular season) gave up three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings in the opener but was effective enough to get the Giants to their closing threesome of Felix Rodriguez Not to be confused with Felix Rodriquez, guitar player in the Swedish band, The Sounds. Felix Rodriguez is a common personal name that can refer to different people:
``Schmidt had excellent stuff,'' Scioscia said. ``He made some tough pitches with guys in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . When it was all said and done, we weren't able to put enough pressure on him to have an impact on the game.'' Schmidt, in fact, pitched his way out of jams in the second, third and fourth innings, leaving four runners stranded in scoring position and frustrating the top of the Angels' lineup in particular. David Eckstein, Darin Erstad and Tim Salom went a combined 2 for 14 in that game. ``We wanted to challenge them and see what they were going to do. I guess we found out so far,'' Schmidt said. ``We underestimated them a little bit. They're really not doing anything special. ... They're doing their jobs and we're not.'' Washburn, responsible for all four of San Francisco's runs in Game 1 and tagged with the loss, said there was no need to change his approach against the Giants. ``They don't come out with any surprises,'' said the left-handed Washburn, Anaheim's 18-game winner. ``Make a mistake to Barry Bonds, Reggie Sanders, J.T. Snow, any one of those guys in that lineup, they're going to hurt you. ``So don't make mistakes.'' Something, the Giants starters can tell you, is not so easy to do. CAPTION(S): 4 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) THE STAR: Giants third baseman David Bell did something no one had been able to do since the second game of the division series against the Yankees: knock in a run against Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez. And it couldn't have been bigger, as it evened the series 2-2. (2) THE GOAT: Francisco Rodriguez picked the wrong time to become mortal, losing for the first time in the postseason and blowing the Angels' chances of moving within one victory of their first World Series championship. (3) WASHBURN (4) SCHMIDT Box: (1) GIANTS AT A GLANCE: GAME 4 RECAP (2) GIANTS AT A GLANCE: GAME 5 PREVIEW: TODAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP (3) ANGELS vs. SAN FRANCISCO World Series: Best-of-seven games tied 2-2 |
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