ESPN.com - MLB Playoffs 2002 - Game 2: Ortiz vs. Appier
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Sunday, October 20
 
Game 2: Ortiz vs. Appier

By Tom Candiotti
Special to ESPN.com

Editor's Note: ESPN analyst Tom Candiotti will write a scouting report on the starting pitchers for each game in the World Series. Here is the former knuckleballer's report on Game 2 starters Russ Ortiz of San Francisco and Kevin Appier of Anaheim.

Russ Ortiz Kevin Appier
Russ Ortiz Kevin Appier
Regular season:
14-10, 3.61 ERA, 214.1 IP, 94 BB, 137 K
Postseason:
2-0, 3.71 ERA, 17 IP, 11 BB, 11 K

Ortiz has the stuff and the command to give the Angels' hitters trouble. Because the Angels like to swing the bat, Ortiz will need to stay on the corners and off the plate and try to induce the Angels' hitters to go out of the zone.

The first two pitches to every batter will be key for him. He needs to pitch ahead in the count early in the game.

He will need to use his fastball early and be able to pitch inside and away, as well as up when needed. Many of the Angels' hitters will chase pitches out of the strike zone, so Ortiz will need to keep changing his pitching patterns.

Darin Erstad, Garret Anderson, Brad Fullmer, Adam Kennedy and Scott Spiezio will be tough outs for Ortiz. He should be able to control Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus with his stuff.

Regular season:
14-12, 3.92 ERA, 188.1 IP, 64 BB, 132 K
Postseason:
0-1, 4.11 ERA, 15.1 IP, 7 BB, 6 K

Appier will try and get the Giants' hitters out by getting them to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.

He will need to throw strikes early in the count, and then get the hitters to chase pitches out of the zone. His out pitches are his splitter and slider, so once he gets ahead in the count, he will attack out of the zone with these pitches.

The Giants will try and run on Appier when they get on base. Appier will need to try and stay ahead of hitters, especially when potential basestealers are on.

Appier has a tendency to throw a lot of pitches. He will need to keep his pitch count down and get some one- and two-pitch outs. If he can do this, he should be able to pitch deep into the game.

ESPN baseball analyst Tom Candiotti won 151 games pitching in 16 major-league seasons.





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