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K-Rod finally loses a postseason game Posted: Thursday October 24, 2002 12:07 AMUpdated: Thursday October 24, 2002 1:05 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- K-Rod is human after all. Francisco Rodriguez was the losing pitcher in Game 4 of the World Series on Wednesday night, allowing an unearned run in the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants beat Anaheim 4-3 to tie the series 2-2. The 20-year-old rookie sensation pitched in eight of the Angels' previous 12 postseason games, and they won them all. He earned a catchy nickname as well as five wins to tie the postseason record set by Arizona's Randy Johnson last year. Now, Rodriguez is 5-1 in October, and catcher Bengie Molina, whose passed ball led to the deciding run, was quick to take the blame. "He was great. I didn't make a play and they scored," Molina said. "It was my passed ball. If I catch the ball, maybe they don't score. "I take the blame, I had a horrible game today. I can't wait for the game to start tomorrow." J.T. Snow opened the eighth with a single and went to second when Molina couldn't handle a slider while Reggie Sanders was batting. "It just went down, I just didn't glove it," Molina said, adding that he wasn't distracted by Sanders' attempt to bunt. After Sanders popped out trying to bunt, David Bell hit a 1-1 pitch up the middle for a single to drive in Snow. "I second-guessed myself," Molina said of the pitch Bell hit. "I wanted a slider, I called a fastball." Rodriguez retired the next two batters, but the damage was done. "That ball cut so much," Rodriguez said of Molina's passed ball. "He didn't have the chance to catch it, it moved late. It's not something easy to do -- that's baseball." Angels manager Mike Scioscia, a former catcher, was also quick to absolve Molina. "The pride you have as a catcher when you let one by, it eats you up," Scioscia said. "You can't pin this one on Bengie Molina." Rodriguez became the youngest pitcher to win a World Series game Saturday, throwing three perfect innings in an 11-10 victory while using only 26 pitches -- all but four of them strikes. It was a much different story this time. He threw 30 pitches in two innings -- 18 for strikes. He fanned Jeff Kent to begin the seventh and retired Barry Bonds on a grounder to first and Benito Santiago on a fly to left. While he was making it four perfect innings in the World Series, Rodriguez needed 15 pitches and didn't appear as sharp as the other night. In that game, he struck out Rich Aurilia and Kent each on three pitches in his first inning before getting Bonds to ground to first, and his first 12 pitches were strikes. "Hey, nobody's invincible," Angels pitching coach Bud Black said. "You've got to give them credit. He was fine -- he gave up two hits, two innings. The other guys are pretty good, too. Snow had a nice at-bat, Bell, too. They're good hitters." Rodriguez was called up by the Angels on Sept. 15 and made his big league debut three days later. He struck out eight straight batters from Sept. 18-25 to match a franchise record. He pitched 5 2/3 innings in the regular season, allowing two hits and no runs while walking two and striking out 13. He did not get a decision. He has six in the postseason. It was against the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series when Rodriguez suddenly became noticed due to a wicked 95 mph fastball and nearly unhittable slider. He was the winner in two of the Angels' three victories over the Yankees, and won two more against Minnesota in the AL Championship Series. But the streak is over. Rodriguez has pitched 15 innings in the postseason, allowing six hits and three runs, two earned, while walking four and striking out 21. It was that unearned run that burned the Angels on Wednesday night.
Another perfect postseason record was wiped out 24 hours earlier when the Angels beat San Francisco 10-4 to hand Livan Hernandez his first loss after six victories.
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