SAN FRANCISCO -- If the Giants needed an in-the-flesh, in-their-face explanation how the Angels smothered the Yankees and Twins to get to the World Series, they surely have it now. Livan Hernandez not only absorbed his first post-season loss ever, but in a 10-4 defeat to the Angels in Game 3 on Tuesday, he discovered what the American League learned weeks ago:

	“	They go left-right, left-right (in the batting order). They've got some guys who can run. If you walk someone, that allows Mike (Scioscia) to do a lot of things. And they're all contact hitters. It's tough to strike them out. ”
		— Dusty Baker

The Angels, batting .335 this post-season, are turning October into an open-air, month-long batting practice session.

"They're very good. They really put the ball in play," Barry Bonds said, and he wasn't smiling. That sentiment was shared in every corner of the Giants' clubhouse, but best articulated by Dusty Baker, who understands exactly why the Angels scored eight runs in the third and fourth innings, and batted around for the sixth time in this post-season.

"They go left-right, left-right (in the batting order)," Baker said. "They've got some guys who can run. If you walk someone, that allows Mike (Scioscia) to do a lot of things. And they're all contact hitters. It's tough to strike them out."

Obviously, the Giants refuse to consider themselves in crisis, not with two more games in Pac Bell Park. But surely, they were unsettled by the flogging Hernandez absorbed in the third and fourth innings.

Most impressive was the return of the Angels' line-drive, long-inning philosophy, which is how they produced the most runs in the AL during the regular season, but struck out the fewest number of times. In that two-inning orgy of runs, the Angels didn't need any home runs.

And that is what Bonds was talking about when he said, "They're an American League team, but they have a lot of National League-type players. They definitely know how to play the game."

As for Hernandez, Bonds shrugged and said, "We didn't pitch very good."

Baker politely seconded the thought: "When you put up a four-spot back-to-back like that, it's tough to come back from that. That's a tough deficit."

Baker acknowledged that Hernandez' decline began as soon as the right-hander walked David Eckstein to lead off the third inning, a rally which brought nine men to the plate. The manager stayed with Hernandez as long as he could in the fourth, but finally surrendered to the tidal wave that was engulfing his pitcher after the Angels had scored two more runs in the fourth.

In all, Hernandez lasted just 3.2 innings, the shortest stint of his post-season career. His October record fell to 6-1, but that one loss carries an asterisk -- one which says: a casualty of long, patient at-bats.

Besides falling behind in the Series, the Giants now face a secondary concern in Game 4 on Wednesday. Being forced to dip into his bullpen in the fourth inning, and ultimately using four other pitchers, means Baker is desperate for innings from Kirk Rueter. The lefthander was the Giants' most successful starter and had the staff's lowest ERA in 2002, but more than anything else, the Giants need Rueter to contain the Angels' offense at least until the seventh inning.

Put it this way: After the Angels had taken an 8-1 lead, Baker was managing Game 3 with an eye toward Game 4. That's why Felix Rodriguez was limited to one inning. That's why Baker was so pleased that Tim Worrell was able to take the night off altogether.

Suddenly, the Giants are facing a quasi-must-win scenario in Game 4, armed with the knowledge that his team is walking the same path as the Yankees and Twins before him. As Scioscia said, "If you go deep into your pen, you're going to end up paying a price, even with the days off."

Of course, Scioscia wasn't gloating. Just stating the obvious. All the Giants have to do is ask the Yankees and Twins.

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.