Closer Look

The White Sox took control of Game 3 of the ALCS on the third pitch of the night, when leadoff man Scott Podsednik pulled a curve from Angels starter John Lackey into right field for a single. Tadahito Iguchi sacrificed him to second base on the next pitch, two pitches later Jermaine Dye doubled into right-center, scoring Podsednik, and then Paul Konerko strolled to the plate.

In a fantastic at-bat in which he narrowly missed an extra-base hit down the left-field line, pulling a 1-1 pitch just foul, Konerko worked the count to 3-2 before turning on an offspeed pitch from Lackey and sending it over the wall in left for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Sox lead.

Already, that was more runs than they had scored in either of the first two games of the ALCS. And already that, as they often say, was that.

Even after a rest day on Thursday, the Angels are struggling to find healthy starters. Ervin Santana, the rookie who rescued the Angels when starter Bartolo Colon went down in Game 5 of their division series against the Yankees, will get the start Saturday against Freddy Garcia. The Angels will have to face Chicago's best pitcher, Jose Contreras, on Sunday. Paul Byrd, the guy who saved the Angels' halo (and got the win) in Game 1 of the ALCS with six innings of two-run work, will oppose Contreras ... Almost lost in the weird finish of Game 2 was the fact the Mark Buehrle threw the first complete game in an ALCS since Roger Clemens threw a 15-K one-hitter at the the Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS in Seattle five years ago. With Jon Garland's complete game win in Game 3, the Sox become the first team with back-to-back complete games in the ALCS since the 1982 California Angels did so with Tommy John and Brice Kison ... The two teams combined for three walks Friday night, one more than they had in the first two games combined.

Garland looked a little hot after a two-out, two-strike, two-run home run by Orlando Cabrera in the bottom of the sixth. The Angels shortstop finished with a flourish, hands held high as his homer carried down the line in left field. Garland stared him down and camped out near the third base line -- a few choice words in the chamber, possibly -- but catcher A.J. Pierzynski ushered his pitcher back to the mound, where he promptly struck out Vladimir Guerrero. Garland said after the game that he was upset with himself for shaking off Pierzynski on the pitch Cabrera jolted for a homer ... The Angels gave their fans nothing to cheer about early, so they got their jollies by booing every call that umpire Doug Eddings, stationed along the right-field line, had to make. The man behind the mask for that controversial ending in Game 2, it must be noted, got all of these calls correct. And his mechanisms were flawless ... The Angels had not taken a walk in this series before Chone Figgins led off with one in the bottom of the first ... Good pitching or bad hitting? The two teams were batting a combined .203 before Game 3 ... The thinking here is that Angels catcher Bengie Molina may be the slowest player ever to don jersey No. 1. That's a little deceptive because, yes, Molina may be the slowest player ever. Of any number ... Talk about slow. Darin Erstad looked like he threw it into a lower gear as he rounded second base in the second inning, trying to turn a double into a triple. He was out by a long, long way in an awkward, stumbling slide at third. "I stumble all the time," he said in the clubhouse afterward. "I screwed it up." ... Molina, Darin Erstad, pick a designated hitter, 40-year-old Steve Finley, a sore Garret Anderson -- it just goes to show you that you don't need fast guys to be a good running team.

The Angels' listless, punchless performance Friday night has to be alarming to the Southern California faithful. What may be more alarming to L.A. is that, even if the White Sox starters pitch poorly in the next couple of games, Chicago's bullpen will be Downy fresh after back-to-back complete games by the White Sox starters. We're not counting anyone out yet. This series still can turn on a dime. In fact, we almost expect it to. But the Angels have to make good on both of these last two games in Anaheim this weekend or they don't stand a chance of making it to the World Series.