ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Angels' bullpen is still perfect in the AL championship series.

	Percival

Rookie Francisco Rodriguez, converted from a starter to a reliever in the minors last spring, got his third victory of the postseason as the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 Friday night to take a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.

"The kid just goes out there and he lets it fly, and he makes some quality pitches and he makes it real tough on you,'' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They've got a few other guys that can do that, too.''

Namely closer Troy Percival, who earned his second save of the series. Anaheim's relievers have allowed one hit and no runs in 8 2/3 innings.

Rodriguez has turned heads with his explosive fastball and slider.

"He's pitching as well as anyone would expect under the circumstances of a rookie coming up,'' Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "We have a lot of confidence in him being able to continue that.''

Designated hitter Shawn Wooten said the Angels remained confident after Minnesota tied it at 1 in the seventh against starter Jarrod Washburn.

"We knew that with our bullpen and the way they've been pitching this whole series and this whole year, we knew that one run was going to be a big difference,'' Wooten said.

Mission improbable, not impossible
It's been four years since a team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the AL championship series.

That's the task now facing the Minnesota Twins, who lost 2-1 to the Anaheim Angels on Friday night. Games 4 and 5 are in Anaheim this weekend.

"I'm not worried,'' Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said. "As long as we've got games left, we've got a chance. We've just got to keep pushing.''

The game was tied 1-1 in the eighth inning until Anaheim's Troy Glaus hit a leadoff homer.

"I felt like I was going to get high blood pressure out there,'' Hunter said, grinning. "There was a lot going on. It was loud.''

The New York Yankees, who lost to the Angels in the division series, came back from a 2-1 deficit in the 1998 ALCS to beat Cleveland 4-2.

Since the ALCS expanded to a best-of-seven series in 1985, a team holding a 2-1 lead has advanced to the World Series 10 out of 13 times, most recently the Yankees last year.

Angels excellent in the outfield
Minnesota's Doug Mientkiewicz led off the ninth with a line drive to right field, only to see defensive replacement Alex Ochoa make a spectacular diving catch.

"I hate Alex Ochoa,'' Mientkiewicz said, jokingly.

"That's just the story of my 2002 season. Every time I hit it off the barrel, there's nine guys diving for the ball,'' he said.

Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia subbed Ochoa for Tim Salmon.

"Got a great read on it, ran a great route to the ball and made a superb catch,'' Scioscia said.

Monkey business as usual
Anaheim's "rally monkeys'' were out in force, and Minnesota outfielders Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter and Dustan Mohr definitely noticed.

Hunter turned and watched the monkey hopping up and down on the video screen. The monkey was subbed into scenes from such movies as "Risky Business,'' "Animal House'' and "Star Trek'' late in the game.

"When the rally monkey comes out, the whole outfield is laughing,'' Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. "You get tense, you make mistakes. If you're loose, you're going to make plays you're accustomed to making.''

Mientkiewicz believes the Twins' ability to laugh has sustained them this season. So 44,234 fans whacking inflatable Thunder Stix together didn't create enough noise to bother them, either.

"There's not enough upstairs with this team to rattle us,'' he said.