Giants go for title Saturday night

ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The San Francisco Giants will try to win their first World Series title in 48 years Saturday night when baseball's climactic showcase returns to Southern California.

San Francisco owns a 3-2 advantage over the Anaheim Angels in a series that has been relatively short on drama but very long on runs.

The Giants are looking for their first title since the team left New York almost a half century ago. The Angels are seeking the first championship in franchise history.

Anaheim scored 24 runs in the first three games of the series and took a 2-1 lead. But the Giants evened the Fall Classic with a 4-3 victory in Wednesday night's Game 4 and shifted the momentum with a 16-4 rout Thursday night at Pacific Bell Park.

But the rest of the World Series - Game 6 on Saturday night and, if necessary, Game 7 on Sunday night - will be played at Edison Field, home of the red thundersticks and rally monkeys.

"I think we have enough gas in our tank to do what we need to do," said Angels Manager Mike Scioscia.

Scioscia is looking for a repeat of last year when the Arizona Diamondbacks won the final two games at home and beat the New York Yankees, 4-3.

However, on Saturday the Angels will need a much better start from Kevin Appier, who yielded three homers and five earned runs in just two innings in Game 2 -- an 11-10 win for the Angels.

The Giants will be counting on Russ Ortiz to rebound from a rough Game 2, in which he allowed seven runs and nine hits in 1 2/3 innings.

"I want to be the guy," Ortiz said. "I'm going to do everything I can to beat the Angels. After last Sunday, I think I know what I was doing wrong in my execution and location. It wasn't a mechanical problem. It was the way I was thinking."

Jeff Kent had three hits and four RBI and Rich Aurilia and Benito Santiago drove in three runs apiece in San Francisco's rout on Thursday.

The Giants pounded out 16 hits and improved to 8-0 in the postseason when Barry Bonds is held without a home run. Bonds had three hits, including an RBI double in the first inning, and scored twice.