Fenway Fables

The Red Sox, a team believed to be too bruised and beat up to have much of a chance in this Division Series, took Game 1 from the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1, last night at Angel Stadium. 

All of a sudden, it is the Angels who look mortal and ordinary, with the Sox having a brand new lease on life. The victory was the 10th postseason win in a row by the Red Sox against the Angels, tying a major league mark.  Jason Bay’s two-run home run in the sixth inning off Angels starter John Lackey erased a 1-0 deficit, with the Sox adding the two insurance runs in the ninth.

Jon Lester had a superlative start, getting stronger and stronger in his seven innings. The only run allowed by the left-hander was unearned, with the Angels taking a 1-0 lead in the third inning shortly after shortstop Jed Lowrie made a fielding error. Channeling the big-game makeup and stuff of last year’s postseason ace Josh Beckett (oblique, pushed back to Game 3 for now), Lester looked every bit like a No. 1. Getting stronger as he completed his seventh inning, Lester retired the last seven batters he faced, four via strikeouts. Lester allowed six hits, walked just one and struck out seven.

Justin Masterson pitched the eighth, when the Red Sox received two shining examples of defense. Mark Teixeira led off with a blooper into shallow center field that Jacoby Ellsbury, who was playing the No. 3 hitter deep, managed to catch up to with a forward rolling dive. After Vladimir Guerrero hit a sharp single to left field, Torii Hunter blooped a ball behind first base. Gold Glove first baseman Kevin Youkilis was unable to make the catch but, after tumbling to the grass, alertly got up and made a strong throw to Mike Lowell to nab Guerrero, who was trying to go from first to third on the single.

The Sox tacked on the third and fouth runs in the ninth inning on RBI singles by Ellsbury and David Ortiz. Ellsbury reached base all five times he came up.  Jonathan Paplebon closed out the win with a scoreless ninth.

Before Bay’s shot, the Bosox were 0-for-10 with runners on base, including 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. With Garret Anderson (single) on first base and two outs in the home half of the third, Guerrero hit the grounder that Lowrie was unable to handle. Ranging to his left, Lowrie bent down to field the ball, which popped in and out of his glove, allowing Guerrero to reach first and Anderson to move up. Hunter then blooped a soft single into left that scored Anderson for the 1-0 Angels lead.  The error was Lowrie’s first in 155 chances and 49 games at short.

Nation Notes:  Mike Timlin may have pitched his last game in the major leagues. The veteran relief pitcher said he is considering retirement, and that he will discuss the matter with his family during the off-season before making a decision.