White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had a modest, practical goal for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Angel Stadium on Friday night.
“I want to keep that little monkey in his cage and not wake him up,” Guillen said. “That little monkey, he drives people crazy.”
Guillen was referring to the Los Angeles Angels’ “Rally Monkey,” a manic, maddeningly annoying little fur ball that pops up on the center-field Jumbotron to try to incite the home crowd when the Angels are attempting to take control of a ballgame.
They could have rolled out a barrel of Rally Monkeys on Friday night and it probably wouldn’t have mattered. With Jon Garland pitching a crisp four-hitter and Paul Konerko slugging his third home run of the playoffs, the Sox won 5-2 and took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 4 was scheduled for Saturday evening, with the White Sox’s Freddy Garcia opposing Ervin Santana.
Garland led the Sox’s staff with 18 wins during the regular season, but the way the schedule broke, he hadn’t been needed in the playoffs before Friday. Konerko’s two-run homer capped a three-run first inning that enabled both Garland and his many friends and family members from nearby Granada Hills to relax in his first postseason start.
“Scoring early was huge,” Garland said. “It took the pressure off, and I was able to go out and attack. I don’t know if it was my best game ever, but it’s up there. It’s pretty exciting, something I’ll remember.”
Umpire Doug Eddings, the protagonist in Wednesday night’s Game 2 controversy, spent a quiet night working the right-field line, a non-factor as the White Sox won the way they’ve been winning all year–“with pitching and clutch hitting,” Guillen said.
And if they can do it two more times they’ll be in the World Series.
