ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The legend continues to emerge before our eyes.

Kid K. K-Rod. Francisco.

	Francisco Rodriguez now has five victories in the postseason -- out of the Angels' eight triumphs.

After just a few short weeks in the October spotlight, he no longer requires a full name. He comes in the game in relief, throws a few high-octane fastballs and spine-tingling sliders, racks up some strikeouts and usually picks up a victory.

So when he opened the gate in the Angels' bullpen to start the sixth inning of this crazy, beautiful baseball game, the fans rose to their feet, craned their necks to the pitching mound and began clapping those thunder sticks to make some noise.

Francisco Rodriguez had entered the ballgame.

The Angels had blown their 5-0 first-inning mauling of Russ Ortiz. They had blown a 7-4 lead when the Giants scored four runs in the fifth inning to go ahead 9-7.

For the first time this postseason, the sea of red had been quieted.

But Rodriguez changed the complexion of the game with a dominating performance -- three innings of perfect relief. And when Tim Salmon belted his go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth, Rodriguez had another win -- his fifth of the postseason (that's five of Anaheim's eight victories).

Anaheim trailed 9-8 when Rodriguez went to work against the heart of the San Francisco lineup -- Rich Aurilia, Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds. He fanned Aurilia on three pitches, getting the All-Star shortstop looking at a knee-turning slider. He fanned Kent on three pitches, forcing the All-Star second baseman to flail helplessly at another nasty slider. And he got the Greatest Hitter In The Game to ground out to first base on the first pitch.

Seven pitches. Three outs. The crowd erupted in frenzied joy. If momentum exists in baseball, it had suddenly turned on the right arm of a 20-year-old Venezuelan who now has 13 big-league games under his belt.

The Angels tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and Rodriguez went back to the mound in the seventh. He struck out Benito Santiago on three pitches, with another darting slider recording the K. Ten pitches, 10 strikes. He got ahead of J.T. Snow with two strikes as Snow missed a slider in the dirt by about a foot. Snow eventually grounded out to first. Reggie Sanders had no chance. A wicked rising fastball swung at and missed. A called strike and then a slider that sent the crowd into another ear-hurting outburst.

Rodriguez said he was just looking to keep the Giants where they were at, and hope his teammates could once again rally behind him.

"I was focused, trying to keep the ball down and go ahead in the count. Then go right after the guy with my fastball and try to put them away with my breaking ball," he said.

Because Rodriguez had been so economical with his pitches -- just 19 -- he returned for a third inning of work. David Bell flied softly to center, Shawon Dunston popped out to first and Kenny Lofton bounced to the mound, with Rodriguez flipping the ball to first baseman Scott Spiezio and jumping off the field in excitement to the high-fives of his teammates.

Nine batters, nine outs, 26 pitches, 22 strikes.

"He was big," losing manager Dusty Baker said. "We've been hearing he had good stuff. For a young pitcher, he throws a lot of quality strikes. Had a good fastball. Everybody knew he had a good slider. … Three (innings)? That's a pretty good stint for a young man."

With his talented right arm, Rodriguez has been compared to a young Mariano Rivera, who performed similar middle-relief duties while setting up John Wetteland when the Yankees won the 1996 World Series.

But at least Rivera had two years of major-league action before that postseason. Rodriguez had two weeks, making his debut on Sept. 18 and pitching just five games before the playoffs began. In those five games, he recorded 17 outs -- 13 by strikeout. That was enough to convince Mike Scioscia to put him on the postseason roster.

Who would have thought it? A year ago he was a struggling starter in Class A ball with an ERA over 5.00, watching the World Series at home on television with his parents and brothers. "It's funny, because I told my mom, 'Hey, one those days I'm gonna be there."

He's here, all right.

In 13 postseason innings, he's given up just two runs and four hits while striking out 19. Rodriguez has five playoff victories, more than any American League pitcher has ever recorded in one postseason. He tied Randy Johnson, who made his own memorable relief outing in Game 7 a year ago, with five wins in one postseason. At 20 years, 286 days, he became the youngest pitcher to win a World Series game, beating the Philadelphia A's Joe Bush by 29 days.

And most importantly, the Angels now have one victory in the World Series.

David Schoenfield is ESPN.com's baseball editor.