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On a tear Aurilia, Giants hit their stride at the right timePosted: Friday October 11, 2002 1:48 AM
ST. LOUIS -- Sometime in late August, or maybe it was early September, everything started to change for the San Francisco Giants. Hits started to fall, pitchers started to nail their spots and the Giants, not a truly great team at any point of the season, put on a surge that carried them to the National League wild card. In baseball, as in a lot of things, it's sometimes better to be hot at the right time than it is to be truly great. The Giants streak home into Pacific Bell Park this weekend up two games to none in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. They have rolled over the St. Louis Cardinals like they've rolled over most everyone else in the past month or so. They went 25-8 to end the season, better than anyone else in baseball. Since Aug. 25, including this postseason, the Giants have won three out of every four games (30-10). They show no inkling of taking a break. "This is the best ball we've played the whole year," said manager Dusty Baker. It's been no accident that the Giants are coming together now. A team loaded with players who have been around, the Giants started to hit its stride late in August when the lineup, beset by injuries during the season, began to solidify. The fact that the Giants were playing for their postseason lives probably helped. Before they went on an eight-game winning streak that began on Aug. 25, the Giants were 4 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the wild-card spot. "We've been playing big games all along," said first baseman J.T. Snow. "We've got a confidence about us. We think we can beat anybody on the hill. You've got to think that way." Probably no one personifies the Giants' surge better than shortstop Rich Aurilia. After a breakout season in 2001 -- at age 30 -- Aurilia was bothered by a groin pull early this season. Not long after, bone chips in his right elbow landed him on the disabled list. He was an All-Star in 2001, hitting .324, smashing 37 home runs and driving in 97 runs as the setup man for Barry Bonds. The injuries knocked him for a loop this season -- he hit only .257, homered only 15 times and drove in 61 runs in 133 games -- but he's sizzled along with the team in the past few weeks. Aurilia hit safely in 11 of his last 14 regular-season games, going 19 for 59 (.322), and he's stayed hot in October. He's hitting a respectable .285 in the postseason and leads the team with four home runs and 11 RBIs in the seven games. He had two homers and three RBIs Thursday night in the Giants' 4-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 2 of the NLCS. "I think finally in the middle of August, beginning of September, I started feeling better again. I started feeling like myself," Aurilia said. "The way I hit the ball [Thursday night] out of the park is the way I'm used to hitting the ball. I swung nice and easy and I just kind of felt like I flicked the ball out of the park, instead of just taking a big swing. I'm just glad that it's coming around at this time of the season." Aurilia joins some other old-timers -- notably Snow (.333 in the playoffs, with a homer and three RBIs), 37-year-old catcher Benito Santiago (.267, with a homer and nine RBIs) and Bonds (.272, three homers, six RBIs) -- as Giants who have turned it on the past few weeks. "An older club tends to get it together later than a young club. Just like spring training. Young guys, two weeks, they're ready to go," Baker said. "Where the older guys, it takes them longer to get their timing." The Giants were stretched to five games in beating the Atlanta Braves in their NL Division Series, but they rolled into Busch Stadium and have swamped the Cardinals, the NL Central division champs. The team that has won Game 1 of the NLCS has won the last nine series. For the Giants, that could mean their first trip to the World Series since 1989. If they stay hot. John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here. |
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