ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Tim Salmon let his bat do the talking.

Having spent a week as the unofficial team spokesman, Salmon delivered the biggest hit in franchise history, a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that lifted the Anaheim Angels to a wild 11-10 triumph over the San Francisco Giants in Game Two of the World Series.

After becoming just the third team in 15 years to drop Game One of the World Series at home, the Angels could not afford to lose another. But Salmon, the longest-tenured current Angel, came through against Felix Rodriguez in the eighth.

Rodriguez (0-1) got Adam Kennedy to open the inning, but David Eckstein singled. After Darin Erstad flied out to left on a 3-2 pitch, Salmon crushed Rodriguez's next offering over the left field wall.

"I knew I got it," Salmon said. "It was just -- I knew the situation. I knew it was big. You had a feeling it was going to come down to something like that, the way both teams were playing. That's something I've been dreaming about doing for a long time, and watching it being done from my couch. It was unbelievable."

"Tim's really gotten back into his groove," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He was, obviously, a major part of us being here. ... I think you can see the potential Tim has, when he's swinging the bat well, to break open a game. Tonight, those hits were huge."

Salmon's teammates were fired up and fearful at the same time.

"Timmy really gets excited when he does something like that," Eckstein said. "He came back into the dugout and started hitting fists of players and coaches. He really hits. They were hard hits and everyone was trying to hit his fist and not get hurt."

"I've been joking with Timmy during the entire postseason," Erstad said. "He's been acting like he was 12. Tonight after the game-winning homer, he was acting like he was 8. He was giddy. When he hit the homer, there was a pause in the dugout. Then it went out and we all said we just had to protect ourselves (from his congratulations) and not let them back into game."

Salmon's blast was the decisive blow in a wild offensive affair that saw neither starter get past the second inning. The Angels surrendered a 5-0 lead and trailed 9-7 in the sixth before rallying against San Francisco's bullpen.

Twenty-year-old rookie phenom Francisco Rodriguez (1-0) continued his remarkable postseason by retiring all nine batters he faced.

Rodriguez, who logged just 5 2/3 innings for the Angels in the regular season, has been spectacular in October. He tied Randy Johnson's record for most postseason wins with five and has allowed just two runs and four hits in 13 innings.

"It was great, it was exciting," Francisco Rodriguez said. "I thrive on pressure and I want it every time I go out there."

"He has responded in every situation I thrown him in and that's a manager's blessing," Scioscia said.

In the ninth, Barry Bonds turned on a fastball from closer Troy Percival and launched his second homer of the series, a soaring shot beyond the right field bleachers. But Percival had retired Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent to keep the bases empty, then got Benito Santiago to pop out and even the series.

"No men on, I went after him," Percival said. "That was what I was telling myself. I wanted to get the first two men and then get to go after Barry. I didn't want Barry to get anything. I was throwing hard at him. I wanted to see how far he could hit it if he could. I was more worried about giving up a baserunner before him, because that would have changed my approach to pitching to Barry."

The series resumes Tuesday in San Francisco. The Giants send postseason ace Livan Hernandez to the mound, while the Angels counter with righthander Ramon Ortiz.

"It was a huge win for us," Salmon said. "We had to battle to come back to get it. I don't know, going down 0-2, going into their ballpark ... But you can kind of feel good about a split right now, I guess. That's a great club over there."

"We're happy with a split, but you always feel good when you get to go home," Bonds said. "We've got three games at home."

Both starters on Sunday were torched as neither San Francisco's Russ Ortiz or Anaheim's Kevin Appier were around to see the end of the third inning. Appier's performance was the most stunning as the veteran righthander was staked to leads of 5-0 and 7-4 but could not retire a batter in the third.

Russ Ortiz was even worse as he was tagged for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings.

"You could tell that was going to be an offensive night, the way the ball was carrying and also the way both sides were hitting," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "It just appeared to be one of those nights where whoever had the last at-bat was going to win."

With both starters gone, the Giants got to Anaheim's bullpen in the fifth, scoring four times. Former Angel J.T. Snow, who delivered the key blow in Game One, had a clutch two-run base hit that tied the game, 7-7, and David Bell and Shawon Dunston came through with RBI singles.

The Angels picked up a run in the bottom of the fifth and knotted the contest, 9-9, on Garret Anderson's two-out RBI single in the sixth.

The game remained tied until Salmon's second homer of the game and fourth of the postseason. He became the first player in a World Series game to reach in all five plate appearances since Cleveland's Matt Williams did it in Game Four in 1997.

After Appier worked a perfect top of the first, the Angels jumped on Ortiz in the bottom half. Eckstein led off with a single and scored on Erstad's double. Salmon and Anderson singled, making it 2-0.

Singles by Brad Fullmer and Scott Spiezio made it 4-0. Spiezio broke for second, and Giants catcher Benito Santiago threw to second. As soon as Santiago released the ball, Fullmer broke for the plate and scored without a throw.

"I don't play the field, so I take pride in trying to create some havoc out there with my baserunning," said Fullmer, who had 12 steals in 15 attempts during the season. "I never done that before. But I'm kind of sneaky out there for a 220-pound runner."

In the second, Reggie Sanders got the Giants back in the game with a three-run homer and David Bell followed with a homer just over the center field wall.

But in the bottom half, Salmon lined a two-run homer just inside the left field foul pole for a 7-4 cushion.

"Tonight it was too much Salmon, the king fish," Bonds said.

Kent opened the third with a line drive over the left field wall for his first homer of the postseason.

With the Angels trailing 9-7, Glaus opened the bottom of the fifth with a single and took third when center fielder Kenny Lofton misplayed a base hit by Fullmer. Spiezio followed with a line drive to center field that got Anaheim within a run.

Rodriguez took over in the sixth and was dominant, striking out Aurilia and Kent before getting Bonds on a grounder to first.

"Yeah, I was focused, trying to keep the ball down and get ahead in the count," Francisco Rodriguez said. "Then go right after the guy with my fastball and try to put them away with my breaking ball."

With the crowd buzzing, the Angels capitalized on the momentum swing and pushed across the tying run in the sixth.

With two out, Erstad doubled off Chad Zerbe, Salmon drew a walk from Jay Witasick and Anderson greeted Aaron Fultz with a base hit to right that tied the game

"We kept going back and forth, back and forth," Baker said. "That was one of the best games I've ever been in. We just came up on the short end of thing, but that was a tremendous ballgame on both sides."