Scutaro's slam helps Red Sox sweep the Angels

It's time for everyone to jump back on the Boston Red Sox' bandwagon.

They're still seven games behind the Yankees and five behind the Rays for the wild card but at least now, it looks like August and September will be competitive as they went 6-4 on their West Coast trip and wrapped it up with a nice 7-3 win and a sweep of the Angels yesterday afternoon in Anaheim.

Josh Beckett (2-1) was solid in his second start back from the DL. Beckett went seven innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

In a game that both Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were promised a day off, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings respectively.

Just before the series finale began, the Angels (52-52) found out starter Joel Pineiro was scratched with an oblique injury (which will keep him out 6-8 weeks). The Red Sox (58-44) caught a big break by facing five Angels relievers but for most of the contest, it didn't seem like they'd fully take advantage of that.

Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall hit solo homers in the second for the early 2-0 lead.

Bobby Wilson and Reggie Willits were both credited with RBI singles in the bottom of the second but they didn't deserve them since Boston fielders made mistakes on both plays. Jeremy Hermida, who is brutal in the field, hesitated on Wilson's liner to left and Hall lost Willits' pop-up in the sun.

Maicer Izturis hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Los Angeles a momentary 3-2 lead but Kevin Youkilis tied it up with a solo homer in the seventh.

Finally, Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 walks, career-high five times on base) came through with one of the biggest plays of the season: he hit a grand slam off Fernando Rodney with no outs in the top of the eighth.

Eric Patterson (3 hits, run) also had a good game hitting out of the ninth spot.

Boston comes home and gets a three-game set beginning tomorrow against the sinking Tigers.

Lackey finally earns some of his joke contract

One thing I never understand is why people get so wrapped up with hefty contracts in sports. Yes athletes make way too much but since we don't pay them, who cares?

As soon as the Red Sox signed John Lackey last winter, everyone save for maybe him and his trophy wife and agent, knew that Boston was overpaying him. Still, if you're a big market team with one of the highest payrolls in MLB, that's the way it goes.

Without question, Lackey had predictably been a flop in his first season until his last three starts. At the time when they need him most, Lackey (10-5) has put together three great outings in a row. For him, last night's was surely the most meaningful as he returned to Anaheim and helped the Sox (57-44) 4-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Lackey went 7.2 innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Making it even sweeter, he outdueled his former protege, Jered Weaver (9-7). The younger and more talented Weaver brother was in control for most of his night: seven innings, two runs (both earned) on two walks and eight strikeouts.

It looked likely to be another low-scoring loss for the Red Sox as the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the third on Bobby Abreu's RBI double.

Jed Lowrie (2 hits) had the play of the game as he put Boston ahead 2-1 in the seventh with a two-run double over Juan Rivera in left field.

Adrian Beltre made it 3-1 in the eighth with a crucial RBI double.

Abreu got Los Angeles back to 3-2 with a solo homer off Lackey but from there, Daniel Bard got the final two outs of the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth on nine pitches for his 24th save of the season.

Marco Scutaro (3 hits, 2 runs) scored in the ninth after an error by Howie Kendrick. Darnell McDonald (2 hits, walk, run) also had a fine night at the plate, especially considering he was a last-minute replacement for J.D. Drew, who had a strained hamstring.

Josh Beckett takes on Joel Pineiro this afternoon as the Sox try to sweep the Angels, improve to 7-0 against them this season and end this trip 6-4 (which is much better than you could have imagined a few days back).

When does the ALCS vs. the Yankees start?

As I texted to three of my friends, who were all (seperately) at the game last night, "the Red Sox own the Angels."

Sure that looked stupid when Anaheim (86-59) took a 7-5 lead in the seventh or an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth.

At Fenway Park and against the Angels, the Sox (86-58) are world-beaters and they proved that once again with a thrilling 9-8 walk-off win courtesy of Alex Gonzalez. It was their seventh straight win overall and tenth in a row at home.

With Paul Byrd on the mound, the Angels built a 3-0 lead on a Erick Aybar (4 hits) infield single in the third, a Bobby Abreu (3 hits, 2 RBIs) RBI double in the fifth and solo bomb by Torii Hunter in the sixth.

Boston finally got to Angels starter Joe Saunders in the sixth, with a big assist from the usually reliable Angels defense.

Jason Bay (2 hits, steal) cut it to 3-2 with a two-run single and Rocco Baldelli tied it with an RBI single of his own.

Foreshadowing his walk-off bloop to win it, Gonzalez gave Boston a 5-3 lead with a flare to shallow right field which scored two.

Anaheim kept battling and scored three times in the seventh: Howie Kendrick RBI single, two-run double by Juan Rivera (3 hits) and an RBI double by Mike Napoli.

Both bullpens had their major troubles on the night as Boston scored twice more in the eighth. A run came in on Casey Kotchman's groundout and Jacoby Ellsbury's RBI single tied it at 7.

Abreu's RBI single in the ninth off Daniel Bard (2-1) (Papelbon and Wagner weren't available) looked like the game-winner with the bottom of the lineup due up in the home half of the inning.

In one of the most improbable comebacks you'll ever see, Nick Green walked with the bases loaded (after taking a pitch for ball four that was clearly a strike) and then Gonzalez hit a broken bat single to left off Brian Fuentes (1-5), who threw 27 pitches.

Josh Beckett faces Ervin Santana tonight in the series finale and I think after the craziness of the first two games, you can expect a perfect game or at the very least a no-hitter from Beckett, who has not been himself for over a month.

Texas lost again last night so they're 6.5 games back in the wild card. Good night Rangers and thanks for playing.

The Diceman Cometh

Now that the Red Sox are 5.5 games in front of the Rangers in the wild card (six in the loss column) and 6.5 behind the Yankees (only five in the loss column), we can finally exhale and assume that yes, Boston will be in the playoffs again.

It's pretty much guaranteed that if you do in fact make it, they'll play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for the millionth consecutive year.

And yes the Angels (86-58) have been one of baseball's hottest teams since the All-Star break but do you really fear that team?

The teams opened up an intriguing three-game set last night at Fenway and Boston won 4-1 behind Daisuke Matsuzaka's triumphant return to the big club.

Dice-K had been on a minor league odyssey since he was last seen at Fenway (June 19), out of shape and completely ineffective. With Clay Buchholz locking up the third spot in the rotation, all we need is a few signs from Dice-K that he can bring something positive to this season.

Obviously, he had a no-hitter into the fifth inning last night and in total, threw six shutout innings. Matsuzaka (2-5) allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five in one of the most promising things to happen to the Red Sox all season.

The Angels own the Yankees and most other teams in baseball but for whatever reason, when they come to Fenway (and especially when they meet in October) they turn into Grade A frauds. The Sox have beaten them in 12 of their last 13 playoff games (spanning '04, '07 and '08).

The Sox even beat Anaheim at their own game last night: small ball. Dustin Pedroia bunted to move over Alex Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury (at first and second respectively). Angels pitcher John Lackey botched the throw on Pedroia's bunt and Gonzalez came around to score, giving Boston a 1-0 lead in the sixth.

David Ortiz singled home Ellsbury later in the inning for a 2-0 lead.

Boston added two more in the eighth as Jason Bay singled home J.D. Drew and Ortiz ripped a solo homer.

Erick Aybar had an RBI double in the ninth off Jonathan Papelbon but that was pretty much irrelevant.

Paul Byrd opposes Joe Saunders tonight in game 2.

Hey look, J.D. Drew's alive

Game 2 of the ALDS was exactly the type of game the pre-2004 World Series champion Red Sox would have lost. Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and looked like they would cruise to a commanding 2-0 series lead.

However, the Angels scored one in the first and slowly started to come back until they eventually tied it at five in the eighth. The script has changed for the Red Sox since that historical win over the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. This team is clutch. Everyone seemingly makes a big play at one time or another. Nobody is afraid of the moment.

These days the Chicago Cubs and in this case the Angels seem to be playing the role of the hapless losers (aka the old Red Sox). Boston won tonight 7-5 as J.D. Drew crushed a two-run homer in the ninth off all-world closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Josh Beckett pitches in game 3 back at Fenway as the Sox look to sweep the Angels and extend their MLB record 11 game win streak over Anaheim in the postseason.

Will the Angels ever beat Boston in the playoffs (10 games and counting)?

In the offseason, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim picked up perennial gold-glover Torii Hunter and trumping that, they made the biggest trade deadline move in baseball by picking up switch-hitter Mark Teixeira. The Angels had an unbelievable regular season and rolled to the AL West title.

Yet last night in game 1 of the ALDS versus Boston, the Angels continued to fall apart against the Red Sox in October. Boston won 4-1 and has now won 10 games in a row against Anaheim in the playoffs, spread over four postseasons.

As expected, Jon Lester delivered an awesome start for Boston. He went seven innings, gave up one run (unearned) on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Anaheim starter John Lackey was good too. He lasted 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the third after Jed Lowrie's error begat Torii Hunter's (2 hits, RBI, walk) RBI single which knocked in Garett Anderson.

Boston came back in the sixth when Jason Bay (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run) blasted a two-run bomb off of Lackey, which scored Kevin Youkilis. Nursing the slim 2-1 lead going into the ninth, Boston gained some breathing room with two more runs. Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, run, RBI, two steals) knocked in Lowrie with an RBI single and David Ortiz beat the shift by lining a single up the middle which plated Ellsbury.

Justin Masterson-one of Boston's postseason keys-gave up two hits (both bloops) in the eighth but was able to wiggle out of the inning without allowing a run. He got two great plays: Youk gunned down Vlad Guerrero, who tried to take third on a single. Ellsbury also made a web gem worthy diving catch in center.

All that was left for the Red Sox was a save by Jonathan Papelbon and he obliged by striking out the side while giving up a hit.

Winning game 1 was huge for both teams as it gives Boston the split it needed on the road while also placing even more pressure on the favored Angels. Game 2 tomorrow night finds Dice-K opposing All-Star Ervin Santana. If the Angels win, it's a whole new series. If they lose, I'm saying it ends Sunday at Fenway.