ANAHEIM, Calif. – The stadium was loud – really loud – before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
The red ThunderStix bumped together in the lower bowl and the upper deck, encouraging the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The boos for the White Sox and the umpire whom Angels fans were sure cheated them out of a win in Game 2 of the ALCS echoed throughout the ballpark, coming from behind home plate and from the oversized rock garden in center field.
Then, the game started. The place went silent.
Sure, the Rally Monkey made its first appearance in the eighth inning, but by that time it was too late.
The Sox needed only four batters in the first inning to take a three-run lead in a game they went on to win, 5-2, a victory that took back homefield advantage and gave them a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven-game series.
"When you're on the road in front of a big crowd that's rowdy and into it, it's always good to get a run on the board in the first, because if you can get some runs early it takes the crowd out of it," Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. "That's what happened."
A complete game from starting pitcher Jon Garland, who was making his first appearance since Oct. 1, and Konerko's two-run homer in the first inning took the attention off umpire Doug Eddings, Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and Angels reserve and Buffalo Grove native Josh Paul, the three central figures in Wednesday's Game 2 controversy.
"Our guys have moved on, and I feel the same way," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Now, the Sox look to move a win away from their first World Series appearance with a victory tonight when right-hander Freddy Garcia takes the mound.