Rodriguez can’t find his groove

Rally Monkey is good. Rally Pong is bad.

The Angels flashed back to the ’70s on Thursday, with throwback uniforms on the field, with movies and music from the disco decade for entertainment. As the Angels mounted a rally, with the potential winning runs on base in the seventh inning, the video board displayed a game of Pong in progress.

You might remember Pong as the original video game – black screen, with a white dot volleyed between two black lines. Strangely hypnotic, yeah, but not inspirational.

The Angels left those potential winning runs on base. They did not get another runner on base. And, when Jim Thome tagged closer Francisco Rodriguez for the game-winning hit in the ninth inning, the Chicago White Sox emerged with a groovy 4-3 victory.

Rodriguez was far out – of the strike zone, that is. He started the ninth inning in a 3-3 game.

He threw two balls to A.J. Pierzynski, who hit the next pitch for a double. He threw two balls to Carlos Quentin, who hit the next pitch for a fly ball to deep center field, allowing Pierzynski to tag and advance to third base.

He fell behind Jermaine Dye, 3-and-1, but Dye popped out to first. He threw ball one to Thome, who then singled home Pierzynski with the winning run.

The Angels had been 18-0 in games in which Rodriguez had appeared.

White Sox starter Javier Vazquez, in line for the victory when he started the seventh inning, settled for no decision after the Angels scored an unearned run.

The Sox led, 3-2, and Vazquez got the first two outs. But Maicer Izturis reached base on an infield single and Vladimir Guerrero doubled him to third, and Chicago Manager Ozzie Guillen summoned left-hander Matt Thornton to face the left-handed Garret Anderson.

Anderson grounded the first pitch to third baseman Joe Crede, who booted it for an error. Izturis scored, and the Angels had tied it.

Angels starter Jon Garland, facing his old team for the first time, worked six effective if inefficient innings. He gave up three runs and seven hits and four walks, striking out one.

That Garland lasted six innings was outstanding, not on the surface but in the context of a second inning in which he threw 40 pitches. Garland made 58 pitches in the first two innings, 51 in the next four, 109 in all.

Garland held the White Sox scoreless in the first inning, but not easily. Pierzynski singled on a full count with one out, Quentin walked, and Garland had thrown 18 pitches by the time he subdued the Sox.

The Angels gave Garland a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, on two beautiful pieces of hitting. Anderson drove in one run by lining a pitcher’s pitch, a fastball at the bottom of the strike zone, into right field for a single. Casey Kotchman drove in the other run by taking an outside pitch to the opposite field for a double to left.

The Sox struck back in the second inning, and painfully slowly. Paul Konerko singled on the third pitch, Joe Crede walked on five pitches and Nick Swisher singled on the ninth pitch. That’s 17 pitches, none out and the bases loaded.

Juan Uribe grounded into a force play, good for one run. Orlando Cabrera delivered a sacrifice fly, good for another run. Pierzynski doubled, and the White Sox led, 3-2.

 bill.shaikin@latimes.com