Anderson pushed the lead to a 4–1 lead and gave San Francisco starter Liván Hernández the loss. Hernández was yanked following Anderson's double, and Chad Zerbe got out of the nightmarish inning. Zerbe, Kirk Rueter, and Tim Worrell held the Angels scoreless, but it was not enough. Rookie starting pitcher John Lackey maintained that lead through five innings, and turned the game over to the strong Angels bullpen. In the ninth inning, closer Troy Percival provided some tense moments as he opened the inning by putting two Giants players on base, with only one out. But Tsuyoshi Shinjo—the first Japanese-born player in a World Series game—struck out swinging, and Kenny Lofton, also representing the tying run, flied out to Darin Erstad in right-center field to end the Series. The Angels won Game 7, 4–1, to claim their franchise's first and only World Series championship to date. John Lackey became the first rookie pitcher to win a World Series Game 7 since 1909. In Game 7, three rookie pitchers (John Lackey, Brendan Donnelly, and Francisco Rodríguez) combined to throw eight innings while only giving up one run combined. The Angels won the World Series despite scoring fewer runs (41) than the Giants (44). The Angels lost the first game in all three rounds of the playoffs (Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series), yet rebounded to win each time. They were the first, and to date only, team to do this since the new postseason format was created in 1994. Until 2017, this was the last time a franchise would win its first World Series title. It was also the second year in a row that the feat had been accomplished; in 2001, the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in just their fourth year of existence. Also in those two years, both teams won the World Series in just their first appearance, which did not happen again until 2019, when the Washington Nationals would accomplish the feat. The Angels became the first American League (AL) champion team not representing the AL East Division to win the World Series since the Minnesota Twins in 1991. The Angels were also the first American League Wild Card winner to win the World Series. With this win the Angels got rid of the supposed curse on their head stemming from Anaheim Stadium being built on an ancient Indian burial ground. This was Dusty Baker's final