Tim Kawakami: Ross the boss once again for this Giants team
The Giants have Cody Ross and the Phillies don't, which is suddenly the most important thing you can say about the National League Championship Series.
Forget about Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Roy Halladay or Chase Utley.
Either you have Ross, or you are in trouble. And the Giants have Ross.
"He's hitting pitches that normal people can't hit at this time," Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels said after he became the latest Boss Ross victim in the Giants' 3-0 victory in Game 3.
Now the Phillies are suddenly down 2-1 in this series and facing your basic must-win in Game 4 here on Wednesday.
The Giants also have Edgar Renteria, Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell and now a seemingly endless and interchangeable list of support players for the Ross extravaganza.
On Tuesday, under a bright sun, the Giants also got a typically strong outing from starting pitcher Matt Cain and typically shut down performances from relievers Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson.
But it was Ross who lined a low Hamels fastball down the left-field line that drove in Renteria in the fourth inning and got things going for the Giants.
"Most guys take that or most guys hit it right to the third baseman," Hamels said of the pitch to Ross.
That made it 1-0, and only added to the legend of Ross, who was a waiver acquisition in August and now is the Giants' greatest October hitter since Barry Bonds in 2002.
And if Ross keeps this up, he will surpass Bonds.
He now has five go-ahead RBIs in this postseason, the most since two players did it 2005.
Is there a gameplan the Phillies might now try on Ross?
"Hit him," Hamels said with a laugh. "No, just kidding. Hope he doesn't hear this.
"You have to keep battling. Or you just move on to the next hitter behind him."
There were other things going on in this one -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy tweaked the line-up, removing slumping lead-off man Andres Torres, inserting Renteria as the shortstop, leading off, and putting Rowand into the line-up, too.
Renteria singled to lead off the fourth -- after Hamels had retired the first nine Giants in order -- which is what set up Ross' latest line drive.
And Rowand doubled to lead off the fifth, then scored when Freddy Sanchez's tricky grounder bounded off of Utley's glove at second base.
"You've got Edgar Renteria, he's got one of the biggest hits in World Series history," Aubrey Huff said. "Aaron Rowand's been there before.
"We kind of had the old line-up out there and I like how everybody battled today."
The Giants are two victories away from the World Series, and all they have to do is keep sending Ross up to hit, and let the Phillies dare pitch to him.
Read Tim Kawakami's Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami . Contact him at tkawakami@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5442.