LA Angels (0-0) at Boston (0-0)

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Fenway strikes no fear in Saunders

T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com
The Angels are down, 2-0, to the Red Sox in the American League Division Series, and they have to win or their season is over. They are counting on their 17-game winner, Joe Saunders, to help get this series turned around. It's that simple.
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Angels probable pitcher

Joe Saunders

  • #51 LHP
  • (0-0) -.-- ERA 0 SO
Angels: Saunders, fully recovered after passing a kidney stone three days earlier and missing a start, finished the regular season with a dominant effort against the Rangers, holding them to two hits while striking out nine and walking none in six shutout innings on Sunday. He became the staff leader with 17 wins, one more than Ervin Santana. Saunders believed the time off served to revive his arm, and he was stronger than he'd been in close to a month. The All-Star southpaw has been a road warrior, going 10-3 with a 2.55 ERA away from Angel Stadium. At Fenway Park, notoriously unkind to lefties, he is 3-0 in his career with a 2.75 ERA. He is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA in six lifetime starts against the Red Sox. In three starts this season he was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA against Boston.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 32-15 4.04 385.1 120 227 .268
Season 17-7 3.41 198.0 53 103 .253
Vs. Boston 2-0 3.38 18.2 9 6 .254

Series at a Glance

Standings - 10/05/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
Los Angeles Angels (AL West) 100 62 .617 - 50-31 50-31
Boston Red Sox (AL East) 95 67 .586 2.0 56-25 39-42
Stats - 10/05/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
LAA .268 765 159 721 129 987 3.99 1451.1 1455 457 1106
BOS .280 845 173 807 120 1068 4.01 1446.1 1369 548 1185
bos

Right place, right time for Beckett

Ian Browne / MLB.com
Josh Beckett now gets a chance to announce his presence in this postseason by being the cold-blooded finisher. Could there possibly be anyone better suited than Beckett for the job of finishing off the Angels?
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Red Sox probable pitcher

Josh Beckett

  • #19 RHP
  • (0-0) -.-- ERA 0 SO
Red Sox: More than anything, the righty has come to be known for his utter dominance in postseason play. For the Red Sox last October, Beckett went 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four starts. Overall, he is 6-2 with a 1.73 ERA in the postseason over 10 outings, nine of which were starts. It was not an easy regular season for Beckett, who battled injuries, inconsistency and, at times, bad luck. Still, the righty would have opened the series if not for a strained right oblique suffered in a bullpen session two days before the end of the regular season. Beckett held opponents to a .256 average and gave up 18 homers. He was hardly dominant at Fenway this season, going 5-5 with a 5.65 ERA. Beckett was 0-2 with a 7.43 ERA in two starts against the Angels.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 89-62 3.78 1188.2 371 1131 .241
Season 12-10 4.03 174.1 34 172 .256
Vs. LA Angels 0-2 7.43 13.1 2 14 .345

Angels hitters vs Josh Beckett
Regular Season stats only

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Abreu, Bobby .333 12 0 1 .226 53 1 4
Aybar, Erick 1.000 1 0 3 1.000 1 0 3
Brown, Matthew - - - - - - - -
Budde, Ryan - - - - .333 3 0 0
Evans, Terry - - - - - - - -
Figgins, Chone .500 8 0 0 .313 16 0 0
Guerrero, Vladimir .286 7 1 2 .263 19 1 3
Hunter, Torii .500 6 0 0 .455 11 0 2
Izturis, Maicer .429 7 0 0 .292 24 0 1
Kendrick, Howard .200 5 0 0 .308 13 0 0
Mathis, Jeff .200 5 0 1 .200 5 0 1
Matthews, Gary .000 3 0 0 .133 15 0 0
Morales, Kendry - - - - - - - -
Napoli, Mike - - - - .000 4 0 0
Pettit, Chris - - - - - - - -
Quinlan, Robb - - - - .000 3 0 0
Rivera, Juan .500 2 0 0 .167 12 0 1
Sandoval, Freddy - - - - - - - -
Trumbo, Mark - - - - - - - -
Willits, Reggie - 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0
Wilson, Bobby - - - - - - - -
Wood, Brandon - - - - - - - -

Red Sox hitters vs Joe Saunders
Regular Season stats only

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Anderson, Brian .000 6 0 0 .125 8 0 0
Baldelli, Rocco - - - - - - - -
Bates, Aaron - - - - - - - -
Bay, Jason - - - - .333 3 1 2
Brown, Dusty - - - - - - - -
Drew, J.D. .200 5 0 0 .200 5 0 0
Ellsbury, Jacoby .143 7 0 0 .143 7 0 0
Gonzalez, Alex - - - - - - - -
Hermida, Jeremy - - - - - - - -
Iglesias, Jose - - - - - - - -
Kotchman, Casey - - - - - - - -
Lowell, Mike .167 6 0 0 .214 14 0 0
Lowrie, Jed .250 8 0 0 .250 8 0 0
Martinez, Victor .333 3 0 0 .500 6 0 1
Ortiz, David .200 5 0 0 .200 15 0 0
Pedroia, Dustin .333 9 0 0 .389 18 0 0
Reddick, Josh - - - - - - - -
Varitek, Jason .000 4 0 0 .000 4 0 0
Wagner, Mark - - - - - - - -
Woodward, Chris - - - - - - - -
Youkilis, Kevin .286 7 1 2 .250 16 1 3

Halo Fenway, farewell streak (1-2) (2-1)

Angels 5, Red Sox 4 (12)

Angels break through

Lyle Spencer / MLB.com
Mike Napoli homered twice and Erick Aybar broke a deadlock with a 12th-inning single to help the Angels snap an 11-game postseason losing streak against the Red Sox. Five relievers combined to blank Boston and keep the Halos alive.

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Series at a Glance

 

Sox can't seal deal

Ian Browne / MLB.com
Jacoby Ellsbury's bizarre three-run single paved the Red Sox's early path to a possible three-game sweep. Josh Beckett was far from his usual superb postseason self, though, and Boston's October spell over the Angels came to an end.
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Angels 5, Red Sox 4

LA AngelsABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Figgins, 3B7130032.294
Anderson, LF6010122.200
Teixeira, 1B6020115.538
Guerrero, DH4120211.583
Hunter, CF6020026.429
Rivera, RF3001111.000
  Willits, RF0000000.000
  a-Morales, PH1000000.333
  Matthews, RF1000012.000
Napoli, C5333003.333
Kendrick, 2B5020010.143
Aybar, E, SS6011003.071
Totals50516551225 

a-Grounded out for Willits in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Figgins (1, Beckett), Guerrero (1, Beckett).
HR: Napoli 2 (2, 3rd inning off Beckett, 1 on, 2 out; 5th inning off Beckett, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Figgins 4; Anderson; Teixeira 2; Guerrero 3; Hunter 2; Napoli 9; Kendrick 2; Aybar, E.
RBI: Rivera (1), Napoli 3 (4), Aybar, E (1).
2-out RBI: Rivera; Napoli 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Napoli 2; Teixeira 2; Hunter 2; Aybar, E; Matthews.
S: Kendrick.
Team LOB: 16.

BASERUNNING
SB: Figgins (1, 2nd base off Beckett/Varitek), Guerrero (1, 3rd base off Beckett/Varitek).

FIELDING
DP: (Figgins-Kendrick-Teixeira).
 
BostonABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Ellsbury, RF5123111.429
Pedroia, 2B5000014.000
Ortiz, DH3000312.231
Youkilis, 1B5021113.286
Bay, LF5000124.357
Lowell, 3B4000123.000
  1-Cora, PR-SS1000001.250
Lowrie, SS-3B4110123.286
Varitek, C3110011.182
  a-Drew, PH1000010.300
  Cash, C0000000.000
  b-Kotsay, PH1000010.333
  Ross, C0000000.000
Crisp, CF4110100.250
Totals4147491322 

a-Struck out for Varitek in the 9th. b-Struck out for Cash in the 11th.
1-Ran for Lowell in the 10th.

BATTING
2B: Ellsbury (3, Saunders), Youkilis (1, Saunders).
TB: Ellsbury 3; Youkilis 3; Lowrie; Varitek; Crisp.
RBI: Ellsbury 3 (5), Youkilis (1).
2-out RBI: Ellsbury 3; Youkilis.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lowell; Lowrie 2; Pedroia.
GIDP: Varitek.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Crisp (1, 2nd base off Weaver/Napoli).
CS: Ellsbury (1, 2nd base by Oliver/Napoli).

FIELDING
Outfield assists: Bay (Hunter at 2nd base).
 
LA AngelsIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Saunders 4.25444207.71
Arredondo 1.20001300.00
Oliver 0.10001000.00
Shields 2.10000304.50
Rodriguez, F 1.01002207.71
Weaver (W, 1-0)2.01001300.00
 
BostonIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Beckett 5.09444627.20
Delcarmen 1.21000100.00
Okajima 1.01000004.50
Masterson 1.11000102.70
Papelbon 2.01001300.00
Lopez, J (L, 0-1)1.03110109.00

HBP: Pedroia (by Saunders), Napoli (by Delcarmen).
Pitches-strikes: Saunders 96-53, Arredondo 28-16, Oliver 7-3, Shields 28-18, Rodriguez, F 33-20, Weaver 34-21, Beckett 106-59, Delcarmen 25-16, Okajima 17-10, Masterson 16-9, Papelbon 31-19, Lopez, J 20-18.
Groundouts-flyouts: Saunders 7-5, Arredondo 1-1, Oliver 0-0, Shields 1-3, Rodriguez, F 0-1, Weaver 2-1, Beckett 5-4, Delcarmen 4-0, Okajima 2-1, Masterson 2-0, Papelbon 2-1, Lopez, J 2-0.
Batters faced: Saunders 23, Arredondo 6, Oliver 1, Shields 7, Rodriguez, F 6, Weaver 8, Beckett 28, Delcarmen 7, Okajima 4, Masterson 4, Papelbon 8, Lopez, J 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Arredondo 2-0, Oliver 1-0, Shields 1-0, Okajima 2-0, Masterson 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Kerwin Danley. 1B: Ed Rapuano. 2B: Tim Tschida. 3B: Marty Foster. LF: Tim Welke. RF: Bill Miller.
Weather: 53 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, Out to LF.
T: 5:19.
Att: 39,067.
October 5, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner