Twins and Giants Are Getting World Serious : S.F. Pushes Cardinals to the Brink, 6-3

With each shift of the wind coming off the Bay in the early innings Sunday at Candlestick Park, so did the fortunes of the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

But the Giants, indigenous to the blustery conditions, blew away the Cardinals with an impressive fourth-inning gust that turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead. Then, the Giants relied on curveballs by reliever Joe Price that dipped and swirled like all those hot-dog wrappers that were swept across the field.

The result was a 6-3 Giant win that moves them to within one victory of eliminating the Cardinals in the best-of-seven series. A win Tuesday night in Game 6 in St. Louis would send the Giants to the World Series for the first time since 1962, a prospect that is starting to excite Giant players.

“We aren’t worried,” Will Clark said. “We’re going to go into St. Louis and win. We beat them on the road before (Game 2). No reason we can’t do it again.”

If the Giants win the pennant, they should make it from a material durable enough to withstand windy afternoons such as this one.

Even without further offensive contributions from Jeffrey Leonard, who went 0 for 4 Sunday after hitting home runs in each of the first four games, the Giants were aided by such supporting characters as Price, Jose Uribe and--not to be overlooked--the wind.

Although no one on the Giants or Cardinals directly gave credit to the wind, which fluctuated from 18 to 22 m.p.h. from right-to-left field, it certainly reached its blustery peak during the Giants’ four-run fourth against loser Bob Forsch that broke open a close game.

The Giants strung together three singles and a walk off Forsch, culminated by Uribe’s two-run liner to right. Mike Aldrete, pinch-hitting for starter Rick Reuschel, brought in another run with a sacrifice fly off Rick Horton, and Robby Thompson’s run-scoring triple completed the assault.

St. Louis, already thin on pitching, was forced to go to its bullpen early because starter Greg Mathews left after three innings with a strained right leg muscle. Mathews speculated that the wind might have contributed to the aggravation of his condition.

Both Price and Giant Manager Roger Craig said the wind helped the movement on Price’s curveball. Something had to account for such a dominating outing by a self-described “average” pitcher, who once prompted Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda to reportedly say: “I wouldn’t trade three broken bats and a box full of balls for Joe Price.”

Price, picked up by the Giants as a free agent after he was cut loose by Cincinnati in spring training, inherited the 6-3 lead from Reuschel in the fifth and totally baffled the Cardinals from that point. He struck out six, walked just one and allowed only one hit--a single by Willie McGee in the sixth.

The astonishment over Price’s performance reached such a hyperbolic pitch that Giant catcher Bob Brenly compared Price’s curveball to Sandy Koufax’s and Reuschel said Price’s performance was the best he has seen this season.

“That one base hit, credit that to me,” Brenly said. “I called for a curve when I knew a fastball should’ve been the pitch. I got kind of caught up in it, too. That curveball was breaking so good, I wanted to call it every pitch.

“If they gave a Cy Young Award based on post-season play, he might have won it just for today. That was the best stuff I’ve seem from a left-hander in a long time.”

Said Reuschel, who gave up three runs (two earned) and six hits in four innings: “I saw Nolan Ryan shut us down (with 15 strike outs) this year in Houston, but I was more impressed with (Price). His curve ball was dropping about three feet.”

Overstatement could be excused when analyzing Price’s effectiveness over five scoreless innings.

Truth be told, the Giants really didn’t expect much from Price when they signed him this spring. Price had blown his arm out and was not been the same pitcher after elbow surgery in 1985. And the Giants were using him in the nebulous middle-relief role, which meant he ranked near the bottom in Craig’s bullpen roll call.

That Price was an unlikely hero proves Craig’s point that the Giants are a team of many contributors, rather than select superstars.

“I’ve had a lot of confidence in Joe Price all year, although I haven’t used him much,” Craig said. “In spring training, I didn’t give him much of a chance at all. . . . I’ve had him up four times each game and his control is amazing.

“I had a rested bullpen today. But Price was pitching so good, I just left him in.”

Another example of Craig’s “Humm-Baby” theory of team play was Reuschel’s attitude during the fourth-inning rally.

Reuschel, who gave up single runs in the first, third and fourth innings and trailed, 3-2, still felt strong enough to continue and perhaps log his first playoff win.

But after Uribe’s two-run single, which gave the Giants a 4-3 lead, Reuschel paused when he walked to the dugout to grab his bat and helmet. He looked back at Craig, who was whispering to pitching coach Norm Sherry.

Reuschel saved Craig a tough decision in a delicate situation by approaching his manager and almost volunteering to be pulled for a pinch-hitter, if that is what Craig had in mind.

“Roger’s his own man,” Reuschel said. “He’s got to do what he’s got to do. But I wanted him to know that it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if he wanted to pull me.

“If he wanted to go for the big inning, I’ve got to let him. Besides, I don’t think he had too much confidence in my bat, after my first time up (a strikeout).”

Craig admitted he was thinking about making the move before Reuschel approached him. He said he thought Reuschel was struggling and had hurt a finger on his pitching hand after mishandling a grounder in the fourth. “Rick’s a team guy,” Craig said.

Aldrete, who hit for Reuschel, managed to lift a fastball from Horton high and far enough into the swirling wind in left to score Brenly from third for a 5-3 lead. Thompson followed with a wind-aided triple to right-center that scored Uribe and sent center fielder McGee’s hat floating toward left. Then, admittedly with some trepidation, Craig sent Price and caution into the wind in the top of the fifth. Craig intended Price to pitch only one or two innings, and he had three other pitchers ready to be summoned the rest of the way.

But Price, born in Inglewood and reared in Poway in San Diego County, took control. He ended four of the five innings he pitched with a strikeout. He continually fooled the Cardinals with his curveball and also used his fastball effectively.

“His curveball was as good as it gets,” Brenly said. “Everything gets overmagnified this time of year, but maybe this was the most dominating pitching I’ve seen.”

Price, who has seen more downs than ups in his career, called Sunday’s performance the biggest of his career. He said he didn’t focus on anything on the mound. Not the opposing hitters, not the wind.

“Nothing really bothered me,” Price said. “I didn’t even think about the end of the game. I know the type of bullpen we have and that Roger could have gone with somebody else. But I also think Roger had confidence in staying with me.

“I knew this was the most important (appearance) I would make this year. You look around at this locker room and these guys were depending on me. We couldn’t afford to go to (St. Louis) down a game. They are tough in that stadium.”

The Cardinals, one game from elimination, weren’t exactly overflowing with confidence. Yes, they are happy to be leaving the wind tunnel known as Candlestick. At the same time, they realize the degree of difficulty in winning two straight games with a depleted pitching staff and without slugger Jack Clark, who remains hobbled by a severely sprained right ankle.

“We have no choice but to win both, do we?” said Vince Coleman, who led off the game with a double and scored St. Louis’ first run. “At this point, there is no home-field advantage. We still got to win two games.”