Angels 5-0, FINAL: The Angels take a 1-0 series lead as John Lackey and Darren Oliver combine on a four-hit shutout — the first shutout in Angels postseason history. It will be Josh Beckett and Jered Weaver in Game 2 Friday night and the Red Sox may already be facing a do-or-die game.
12:38 a.m.: You think this game was tough to watch? Check this out.
End 8th, Angels 5-0: Daniel Bard hits 100 on the gun and strikes out two in the inning. Last licks for the Sox coming up.
Mid 8th, Angels 5-0: It would have been interesting, even down 3-0, to see how Fuentes would have done against Martinez-Youkilis-Ortiz in the ninth. But it probably won't be Fuentes in the ninth, and it's definitely not 3-0. A flat performance by the Sox tonight, not at all helped by the umpring, but flat nonetheless. They're going to need a vintage Josh Beckett postseason start Friday night. Will they get it?
12:21 a.m.: Lackey is done after a groundout by pinch hitter Casey Kotchman. Lackey goes 7 1/3, allowing four hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. A big-time performance for Lackey and the Angels might have their first series lead against the Red Sox since 1986. And we all know how that one turned out.
12:18 a.m.: It might have been 6-0, but J.D. Drew threw out Morales at the plate on a single to right by Kendrick. Drew leads off the eighth with a single off Lackey, and the Angels bullpen is active.
End 7th, Angels 5-0: Martinez's amazing play goes for nothing. Kendry Morales follows with a single to left, scoring one run, then Bay's throw to third gets away and Rivera scores to make it 5-0. Had Lowell been able to handle Bay's throw, ivera would have been out and the run at home might not have counted, because Guerrero loafed his way home. But the throw did get away and both runs scored.
12:13 a.m.: I'm sure the Elias Sports Bureau will find the precedent, but in 30-plus years of watching baseball I have never seen a 5-2-5 double play before just now. Juan Rivera hit a sharp grounder to third, with Lowell coming home for the first out. Victor Martinez then threw back to third and Lowell tagged Torii Hunter for the second out. I have never seen a catcher go back to third in that situation. It may have saved this game.
12:03 a.m.: The Ramon Ramirez trade looked fantastic in April and May. Looks Heathcliff Slocumb-esque in October. Ramirez relieves Lester to start the seventh and faces three batters: Abreu walk, Hunter HBP, Guerrero infield single on a ball Ramirez knocked down and couldn't pick up. Bases loaded, nobody out, Game 1 just about out of reach. Takashi Saito is now in the game.
Mid 7th, Angels 3-0: The only hope for the Red Sox is getting Brian "The umps are afraid of the Red Sox" Fuentes into the game. Lackey strikes out two more in the seventh, but his pitch count is at 108. All hope may not be lost.
End 6th, Angels 3-0: Jacoby Ellsbury makes a highlight reel catch in center to end the inning and prevent the Bucknor call from directly resulting in a run. Ellsbury went all out and made a diving catch in right-center to rob Chone Figgins. Lester is now at 100 pitches, having to throw an extra 10-12 because of all the bad calls.
11:41 p.m.: C.B. Bucknor. Again. Howie Kendrick, who reached on Bucknor's first blown call, hits a grounder to third with Lowell's throw pulling Youkilis off the bag again. Once more, Youkilis records the out, getting his foot on the bag a full step ahead of Kendrick. Once more, Bucknor calls Kendrick safe. What an embarrassing night for baseball.
Mid 6th, Angels 3-0: Lackey goes 3-and-0 to Youkilis (7-and-0 overall) but Youk lets him off the hook with a really bad at-bat. After taking strike one, Youkilis watches another perfect pitch go by, then swings at a ball four, fouling it off. Finally, he hits a tapper to third, with Figgins tagging the base to end the inning. Might that have been the one chance the Sox had to get back in it?
11:34 p.m.: Now, a moment of truth for Lackey and the Angels. After two quick outs to start the sixth, Lackey allows a single to Pedroia and walks Martinez on four pitches. Youkilis, who has two career homers against Lackey, is up as the potential tying run.
End 5th, Angels 3-0: You have to wonder how much effect the missed calls had on Lester in that inning. Physically, it forced Lester to throw extra high-stress pitches in the third and fourth. Mentally, Lester has, at times, let events out of his control distract him. He said something to Joe West coming off the mound after the fourth, then gets lit up in the fifth. Makes you wonder. And if not for a brilliant diving catch by Gonzalez with two outs, the Angels would have scored a fourth run.
11:19 p.m.: Hunter makes Lester pay, jacking a three-run homer to center for a 3-0 Angels lead. Hunter knew it as soon as he hit it. It's the first runs Lester has allowed in 19 innings against the Angels in ALDS play.
11:17 p.m.: Another serious jam for Lester, who allows a leadoff double to Erick Aybar and walks Abreu with one out for runners at the corners. Hunter is up and Lester has gone 41 innings without a GIDP.
Mid 5th, 0-0: The Red Sox get their leadoff man on base for the first time tonight on a single to left by Jason Bay. But Mike Lowell, who was third in the league hitting into double plays (24) strikes again, going 6-4-3 to kill any potential rally.
End 4th, 0-0: No harm, no foul. Lester ends the fourth like he did the third, taking matters into his own hands and striking out Mathis to end the inning.
10:58 p.m.: It's nine against 11 for the Red Sox right now. First base umpire C.B. Bucknor trumps Joe West's non-call in the third with an even worse ruling in the fourth. With two outs and nobody on, Gonzalez made a slick pick of a Howie Kendrick grounder up the middle but threw to the home-plate side of first. Youkilis came off the bag and clearly tagged Kendrick in the midsection, but Bucknor ruled Kendrick safe. That was Don Denkinger–esque and we'll see if it burns Lester here.
Mid 4th, 0-0: Lackey continues to plow through the Red Sox order, picking up his first two strikeouts in the fourth, getting Youkilis and Ortiz. Lackey's pitch count is back under control, 66 through four. Lester is at 53 through three after his 25-pitch third inning.
End 3rd, 0-0: Lester wins the battle, striking out Vladdy on three pitches. Guerrero's penchant for free-swinging really hurt the Angels there. Lester had just walked two in a row and was clearly agitated about the 2-and-2 call to Hunter that went against him, requiring a mound visit from John Farrell. But Vlad hacked away at three straight pitches, none of them in the strike zone, and the inning was over.
10:41 p.m.: A moment of truth coming right now for Jon Lester. The Angels have loaded the bases with two outs after Lester walks Torii Hunter after appearing to throw a called strike three on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, only to have West rule it low. Now it's Guerrero, after Lester has thrown 21 pitches in the inning.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: A bizarre development in the top of the third, but ultimately much ado about nothing.
After Alex Gonzalez got the game's first hit with two outs, Jacoby Ellsbury appeared to ground out to Lackey. TBS went to commercial and all the media put "1-3" on their scorecards. But home plate umpire Joe West made the delayed call of interference on catcher Jeff Mathis, who hit Ellsbury's bat with his glove during the swing. Ellsbury was awarded first base and Gonzalez moved up to second, but Pedroia flew out to right to end the inning.
10:19 p.m.: The start times for the rest of the series has been announced. Game 3 at Fenway Park will be at 12:07 p.m. Game 4 is slated for 8:37, unless the Yankees sweep the Twins, then the game is 7:37. If there are two Game 5s on Wednesday, the Red Sox play at 9:37. If the Sox are the only game, it's at 8:07.
End 2nd, 0-0: No-hitters are wild through two innings. Lester picks up his first two strikeouts, getting Juan Rivera to start the inning and Howie Kendrick to end it. Lester appears to have his cutter working early, as the Angels are swinging at balls out of the zone. Lester needed just 11 pitches for a two-inning total of 28.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Another 1-2-3 inning for Lackey, who has gotten four ground ball outs, two in each inning. Lackey is at 36 pitches. Seven of the nine hitters in the Red Sox lineup have at least a .294 career average against Lackey, but they're 0-for-6 so far.
End 1st, 0-0: We'll see how Mike Lowell hits (thumb) and runs (hip), but he can still field with the best of them. Lowell makes a diving stop on a Vlad Guerrero hot shot to third, forcing Bobby Abreu at second to end the inning. Lester throws 17 pitches, with only Abreu showing any semblence of patience at the plate, seeing seven pitches. None of the other three batters saw more than four. So much for the "new" Angels.
9:54 p.m.: Expanding on the Lackey pitch-count significance, in his 25 "real" starts — he was ejected from his first after one pitch and threw just 40 in his final tune-up last week — Lackey averaged 108 pitches per outing. He had several outings in the mid-110s. Right now, and it's still early, of course, his pace would get him to 105 through five innings.
Mid 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox just put together one of the most productive 1-2-3 innings you could possibly have. Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia each worked full counts before grounding out to first and Victor Martinez had an eight-pitch at-bat before flying out to left. That's 21 pitches for Lackey. Now, it's Jon Lester's turn.
9:39 p.m.: The game is underway and Jacoby Ellsbury works John Lackey into a long count before grounding out to first. It's going to be key for Lackey to keep Ellsbury off the bases and he's 1-for-1 in that regard.
9:30 p.m.: Here are tonight's lineups:
Red Sox: Ellsbury cf, Pedroia 2b, Martinez c, Youkilis 1b, Ortiz dh, Bay lf, Lowell 3b, Drew rf, Gonzalez ss, Lester p
Angels: Figgins 3b, Abreu rf, Hunter cf, Guerrero dh, Rivera lf, Morales 1b, Kendrick 2b, Mathis c, Aybar ss, Lackey p
9:20 p.m.: I wrote the other day that Alex Gonzalez and Mark Loretta were the only two Red Sox regulars since 2003 not to participate in a postseason with the Sox, as they only played for the team in 2006. Well, Gonzo gets his second chance tonight, while Loretta is making the most of his chance a few miles away at Dodger Stadium.
Loretta just singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Dodgers take a 2-0 lead over the Cardinals. But that game will be forever remembered for Matt Holliday's choke-job, dropping a fairly-routine fly ball to left with two out and nobody on, setting the stage for the Dodger comeback.
9:10 p.m.: The Red Sox and Angels are not only meeting for the third year in a row, it's the fifth time since 1986, with the Red Sox winning all four previous encounters. It's the first time in American League history that the same two teams have met five times in the postseason. The Red Sox and Indians have met four times (1995, '98, '99, 07) and the Yankees and Royals met four times between 1976-80.
This is the 20th postseason appearance in Red Sox history and tonight is their 150th game (79-69-1). If the Red Sox advance to the ALCS, they will pass the Braves (155 games) for fourth-most in major league history, behind the Yankees, Cardinals and Dodgers.
8:51 p.m.: Let's hope this isn't a trend: Anaheim is beating Boston 3-1 tonight … in hockey.
8:35 p.m.: We're an hour from the first pitch of tonight's game, but Game 2 starter Josh Beckett met with the media a short time ago and declared himself ready to go against Jered Weaver Friday night. Beckett had back spasms 10 days ago, but made his final start last Saturday and will be working on an extra day of rest in Game 2.
"There's no issues phyiscally at all," Beckett said. "I'm looking forward to going out there and doing what I'm supposed to do."
5:10 p.m.: Now, the fun begins. We are just under five hours from the first pitch of the Red Sox postseason, with John Lackey facing Jacoby Ellsbury in Game 1 of the Division Series at Angels Stadium. The Red Sox counter with Jon Lester, who was brilliant in two DS starts against the Angels last season, throwing 14 scoreless innings.
The Red Sox submitted their roster earlier today, with Rocco Baldelli and Manny Delcarmen not making the cut because of injuries. Joey Gathright and Brian Anderson will be the backup outfielders and Paul Byrd is the 11th man on the pitching staff, an insurance policy if any of the starters leave a game early.
Game 1 provides a welcome matchup for Red Sox newcomer Victor Martinez, who owns a career .476 average against Lackey. David Ortiz (.333) and Kevin Youkilis (.294) each have a pair of homers against Lackey, while Dustin Pedroia is hitting .375 and Alex Gonzalez .364. On the down side, Mike Lowell has a career .143 average, while Ellsbury is hitting .200.
For the Angels, Vlad Guerrero is hitting .400 against Lester, while Bobby Abreu is hitting .308. They are the only Angels batters with more than 10 plate appearances against Lester, who did not face the Angels in the regular season.
