SAN FRANCISCO -- Just mention Pacific Bell Park and what's the first image that comes to mind? Barry Bonds plopping balls into the water, of course.

Percival's theory

Troy Percival thinks he knows why baseballs are flying out of the ballpark with more frequency in this World Series: The Anaheim reliever claims the balls are harder than usual. Hogwash, responds San Francisco's Felix Rodriguez, adding that the hitters deserve the credit. ''The balls are definitely harder,'' Percival said Monday after the Angels arrived in San Francisco, where they'll face the Giants in Game 3 of the Series on Tuesday night. ''When you try to squeeze it, you don't feel the compression you do with the balls you use during the regular season,'' Percival said. ''As soon as I picked up the balls in this series, I knew there would be a lot of homers. ''They're twice as hard as any ball I've ever played with. They're different from any ball I've ever seen. But both teams have to hit 'em.'' Percival pitched the ninth to save the Angels' 11-10 victory over the Giants on Sunday that evened the series. He allowed a two-out solo homer to Barry Bonds -- a blast that traveled an estimated 485 feet. The teams combined to hit six homers -- four by the Giants -- in the highest-scoring World Series game in five years. San Francisco hit three homers and the Angels had two in the Giants' 4-3 victory in Game 1. Ramon Ortiz, who gave up a big league-leading 40 homers this season, will start Game 3 for the Angels against Livan Hernandez, who allowed 19. Rodriguez, who gave up Tim Salmon's two-out, two-run homer in the eighth that snapped a 9-9 tie in Game 2, said the balls felt the same to him. ''I haven't noticed any difference,'' he said. ''People always want to give an excuse. Sometimes you have to give credit to the hitter.'' Salmon's opinion: ''I just hit them. I don't get to feel them or touch them.'' Sandy Alderson, the executive vice president of baseball operations, said there's no difference. The balls being used are part of a group of 4,000 dozen produced in Costa Rica last month, he said.

Funny thing about that picture: It's out of focus.

Believe it or not, there were fewer home runs hit at Pac Bell this year than any ballpark in the majors. And that's fine with the Giants as the World Series shifts to San Francisco for Game 3 Tuesday night.

The Anaheim Angels and Giants already have combined to hit 11 homers, by far a record for the first two games of any World Series. After Tim Salmon connected twice Sunday night and sent the Giants to an 11-10 loss that left them with a split at Edison Field, they were eager to return home.

''For all the fans who like to see teams scoring runs and stuff, yeah, it was a great ballgame to watch,'' shortstop Rich Aurilia said. ''It's not the typical type of game you want to be involved in. We'd rather see a lower-scoring game.

''People who have never been to our park probably will be in for a surprise at the kind of hitter's park it is. It's not much of one. So I don't think we'll see 21 runs scored,'' he said.

That's fine with the Angels, who were outhomered 7-4 by the Giants in Anaheim.

''There's some outfield space in the gaps here, so we're going to have to continue to runs the bases aggressively, but our offense isn't going to fall off the face of the Earth because we're in a place that's supposedly tougher to hit home runs,'' manager Mike Scioscia said.

Maybe the baseballs were to blame for what happened in Anaheim. Bonds capped the home-run show with his second shot of the Series, a 485-foot drive off Angels closer Troy Percival.

''The balls are definitely harder,'' Percival said. ''As soon as I picked up the balls in this Series, I knew there would be a lot of homers. They're twice as hard as any ball I've ever played with.''

More of a concern is how the rules will change right after Hall of Famer Willie Mays throws out the first pitch. No more designated hitter as Pac Bell hosts its first World Series game, and the Giants like that a lot as the emphasis goes from longballs to small ball.

Minus DH Brad Fullmer, the Angels could be at a big disadvantage -- the same scenario AL teams face each other when they go on the road in the World Series.

San Francisco figures to enjoy an edge on the mound and at the plate when Livan Hernandez pitches against Ramon Ortiz in Game 3.

Along with being 6-0 lifetime in the postseason, Hernandez swings a pretty good bat.

Hernandez is at .242 with 99 career hits, including four home runs and 39 RBI. Plus he's put down 34 sacrifice bunts, 10 of them this season.

Ortiz is another story. He's 0-for-14 lifetime, with five strikeouts and no successful bunts.

''If our pitcher is looking good, we can go for a lower-scoring game,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said.

Many of the Angels have played at Pac Bell in interleague games, though they did not visit this year. So they won't be deceived by the seemingly short distances -- 309 feet to right field and 399 feet center.

Odd angles and high walls make it a tough place to hit home runs. There were only 114 at Pac Bell this year, down about 33 percent from other major league ballparks.

''It's a pretty big place, and it's given up the least amount of home runs,'' said John Lackey, the Angels' Game 4 starter. ''But they've got some guys over there who, if you make a bad pitch and they put a good swing on it, they're going to hit it out anywhere. It doesn't matter.''

The weather is factor, too. The wind blows off the Bay, and it will much cooler than it was in Anaheim -- temperatures are expected to be in the 50s on Tuesday night.

Several Angels players worked out in ski caps Monday. Anaheim relievers found new quilted parkas waiting for them when they arrived in the clubhouse.

Boosted by Bonds, Troy Glaus and Salmon, the teams easily set a mark for most homers in the first two games of a Series. There previously had been seven, but nothing close to the current 11.

The overall record for home runs in a Series is 17, with the Dodgers and New York Yankees doing it in 1953, 1955 and 1977.

After Sunday's loss, Baker didn't care to play any more home-run derby.

''This is the kind of game we see on TV with the DH. This is more of an American League game,'' he said. ''The ball doesn't carry and go out of the park in our park like it does here.''