Finding a way

Stunned Giants look for a way to slow down the Angels

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sometimes a team gets beat, sometimes a team is beaten.

Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants were one beaten team.

You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their exasperated sighs. The Anaheim Angels are pounding the Giants, knocking them around like a tin can in an alley, and the Giants can't do anything about it except make a little clatter.

What can you do with a team that just keeps hitting and hitting and running and running and refusing to strike out even on your best pitches?

What can you do about a team that prides itself on fouling off pitches, that forces you to throw the ball over the plate, that is riding a high so high that you can't even see them to try to knock them off their pedestal?

What are the Giants going to do to stop the Angels?

"We have to try some different things out there on the mound," said Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia.

OK. Good idea. Now we have a plan. Like ...?

"I don't know," Aurilia said, wiping the sweat from his brow in a silent Giants clubhouse after Tuesday's 10-4 loss in Game 3 of the World Series. "That's for the pitchers to decide, not me."

CNNSI.com's John Donovan Closer Look: Any home-field advantage the Giants thought they had was defused by two explosive innings from the Angels. Viewpoint: If the Giants are going to win this Series, their bats will have to match the Angels' offensive assault. SI's Stephen Cannella Unstoppable force: Angels hitters are in the zone, and Giants pitchers are suffering the consequences. Running away Click the image to launch the clip Scott Spiezio and the Angels continue to pour on the runs against the Giants for a 2-1 series lead. Start Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio says small ball has played a key role in his team's back-to-back wins. Angels catcher Bengie Molina isn't surprised at the offensive prowess his team has shown. Video Plus Visit Video Plus for the latest video and audio. HEROES & GOATS HERO GOAT Scott Spiezio L. Hernandez Spiezio capped a four-run third inning with a two-RBI triple. Hernandez couldn't give any rest to a weary bullpen. BY THE NUMBERS 0 World Series teams that had batted around in consecutive innings before the Angels in Game 3. 1.714 Barry Bonds' slugging percentage in the World Series. The record is 1.727, set by Lou Gehrig in 1928. 7 Record-setting number of home runs hit by Bonds this postseason. 7.27 The World Series ERA of the Giants pitching staff (21 ER, 26.0 IP).

The Giants strutted into this postseason boasting the second-best pitching staff in the National League, a group that had a 3.54 ERA and kept opponents to a .251 average during the regular season. They had four starters who had won at least 12 games. They had a closer, Robb Nen, considered to be one of the best in the game.

Tuesday night, they even broke out their lucky charm, starting a pitcher who never had lost in the postseason in nine games, including seven starts.

So what happens?

They get clobbered, punished for 16 hits. Anaheim batted around twice in the game, in back-to-back innings no less. Every regular in the lineup got a hit. One pinch hitter got a hit. We think we saw Jackie Autry's name in the box score credited with a hit.

The Angels are hitting .353 in the three games of the Series. The Giants have allowed 41 hits, 24 runs and have an ERA of 7.27. The Giants have struck out fewer than five Angels a game. The Giants have walked four a game.

The Giants simply can't get the Angels out. And it's starting to drive the Giants batty.

"When they need a fastball, they hit a fastball. When they need a double, they hit a double," said Giants starter Livan Hernandez, who fell to 6-1 in the postseason after the loss. "This lineup is different because there are a lot of contact hitters. They're playing good baseball right now."

Good? This is not good. This is otherworldly. This is angelic. This is put-them-up-for-sainthood good.

Darin Erstad is hitting .375. Scott Spiezio is hitting .364. Troy Glaus is hitting .462. Tim Salmon is at .417.

There are two Angels' regulars hitting under .300 in this Series: Garret Anderson, probably the team's best hitter, and catcher Bengie Molina, probably the worst.

"It's hard to win a game when you're giving up 16, 17 hits a game," Aurilia said, "and your team doesn't get the 17 hits a game."

The Giants have all sorts of theories about what it might take to cool down the Angels hitters. Mostly, the theories involve staying ahead of the Angels in the count. When the Giants are throwing 1-0 and 2-1 and 3-1 and 3-2 pitches all the time, the Angels tee off on them.

Not the long ball, necessarily. But a single here, a double in the gap, a double down the line. Couple that with a hit-and-run or a double steal and, suddenly, there's a big inning. The Angels have been doing it all postseason. They've batted around six times this postseason -- including in the third and fourth on Tuesday -- and have now scored eight runs or more in half of their 12 postseason games.

It's becoming clear that the Giants, now down 2-1 in this best-of-seven slugfest, cannot win the Series with pitching. The Angels won't let them. Losing the designated hitter for Game 3 did not stop the Angels' hitters. The switch to spacious Pac Bell Park didn't either. The Giants' pitchers sure as heck aren't doing the job.

The only way the Giants will pull this out is by outslugging the Angels. Considering they're hitting only .238, that's a tough assignment.

But it will be a heck of a lot easier than finding a way to cool off those sizzling Angels' bats.

John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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