Marrero, Matheny Claim Some Fame

It’s the little guys who get you in October. They come from nowhere, twist a series and then return to anonymity.

St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa is still trying to figure out the names of the Dodgers who beat his Oakland A’s in the 1988 World Series, but he had a couple of sudden superstars of his own right down the bench from him on Saturday.

On a sunny Bay Area afternoon that featured impressive aerial displays by Barry Bonds and the Blue Angels, Eli Marrero and Mike Matheny topped them all. As a result, the Cardinals turned the rest of the National League championship series into a contest, not a formality.

The Cardinals pulled to within two games to one with a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants, avoiding a 3-0 hole with postseason specialist Livan Hernandez on the mound for the Giants in Game 4 today.

In case you missed it, that’s Eli Marrero and Mike Matheny. Two guys who batted in the spots before the pitcher at the bottom of the lineup. All-time playoff home runs between them before Game 3: zero.

In fact, Marrero had only one hit in 21 postseason at-bats before Saturday.

Marrero at least showed some long ball potential this year with 18 home runs. Matheny had only three homers, none since April 26.

They’re the St. Louis heroes of the moment. The guys who provided an unexpected early run, and the guys who got the Cardinals back on their feet after Bonds delivered a tying, water-splashing, pompom-waving home run.

In the first two innings, when the Cardinals had all kinds of defensive mistakes, with second baseman Fernando Vina doing everything he could to undermine their cause, the Giants brought only one of their first eight baserunners home.

But the Cardinals got their first run from Chuck Finley, who reached base after swinging at a wild pitch that got away from Giants’ catcher Benito Santiago on strike three. Matheny gave them a 3-1 lead with a home run over Bonds in left field in the top of the fourth.

“I never think ‘home run,’ ” Matheny said. “Obviously, with the three that I had this year, it’s not a whole lot.

“I was trying to put up good at-bats. This time of the year, I think if we go out there and really grind every pitch ... either you’re going to have a good at-bat or fight off some pitches and hopefully wear down their staff and get something to fall in. I was trying to do the same thing, have a good at-bat, trying to battle and take what he would give me.”

Finley pulled an Indiana Jones-type escape in the bottom of the second inning. He faced Bonds with the bases loaded. The Giants already had one run in. Nothing to do but pitch to him. Is there a worse predicament in sports?

Somehow Finley managed to get Bonds to fly out to shallow right field.

He wasn’t so lucky the next time Bonds came to the plate.

And the Giants benefited from something that tops even the Rally Monkey. If you think the little simian is cool, try a squadron of F-18s.

The Blue Angels were in town for an air show this week, and they made a few fly-bys over Pacific Bell Park on Saturday afternoon. They soared over the stadium in their diamond formation before the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Giants came to bat trailing, 4-1. Rich Aurilia walked, Jeff Kent singled and then Bonds launched a shot into McCovey Cove that had the 42,177 fans standing and waving their orange pompoms.

Believe in the power of the Rally Jets. Can the Dodgers get these guys? Didn’t the Blue Angels make an appearance in a Van Halen video a few years back? That means they must have some free time, right?

Bonds seems intent on wiping out all of his previous playoff failures this year. He came through in Game 5 of the Atlanta series, and his triple in Game 1 of this series helped launch the Giants’ hit parade. When he tied the score in Game 3 it was one of those great baseball moments, when performance meets expectations, the big payoff for all the buildup.

Then a guy like Eli Marrero comes along and erases it.

Bonds keeps company in the record books with the likes of Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, the only players with more home runs. The only way Marrero will get mentioned in the same sentence with those legends is if he breaks into the Hall of Fame and steals their plaques.

He stole Bonds’ moment Saturday. Helped pilfer a game, too.

“You’d love to put a zero up after we tied the game, but it didn’t happen today,” Aurilia said.

What happened is the same thing that happens every October.

The little guy had his day.

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com