As much sucess as the Red Sox have had against the Angels in the postseason; particularly John Lackey, nobody in the ballpark had that losing feeling last night at the beginning of the night. The Angels aren’t pushing the panic button yet after their 4-1 loss to last year’s champs at Angel Stadium last night, but there are some things to think about. The lineup that looks so much more dominant than last years’ in comparison managed only one run against the Red Sox farm system of pitchers: Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, and Jonathan Papelbon. Jacoby Ellsbury made perhaps a game-saving catch and also collected 3 hits, and Jed Lowrie, although he made an error, also made a couple of nice plays in  the field. Overall, the young Red Sox overmatched the Halos and the team has a day off to think about it.

“It’s only one game,” Vladimir Guerrero said through a translator. “We have to keep our heads up and go forward, play the game the way we can.”

Vladdy’s baserunning blunder would cost the Angels late in the ballgame, but let’s start from the very beginning.

The pitching matchup of this game was set to be a good one: Jon Lester against our own John Lackey. Lester was making the start in this game as the Sox’ injury-plagued ace Josh Beckett, is set to pitch in Game 3 at Fenway Park. John Lackey had struggled big time against the Red Sox in the past postseasons, and was not planning on getting blown out on this one. In the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury would lead off the game with a booming double, but Lackey got 3 ground balls to retire the side. The Angels would also strand baserunners in the first, as Jon Lester would get out of trouble despite allowing 2 hits and a walk. After an uneventful next couple of innings, Jon Lester would blink first. With Garret Anderson on second and Vladimir Guerrero on first, Torii Hunter would drive in Anderson with a single to left field. Lackey’s postseason start against the Red Sox had so far been very succesful. When you have a small lead though, and you make one mistake, you’re going to be in trouble. Lackey had struck out Jason Bay twice with curveballs, making Bay look foolish each time.

“You can’t throw the same pitch every time,” Lackey said. “This is the big leagues.”

With 2 outs in the sixth and Kevin Youkillis aboard on first, Jason Bay recieved a fat fastball and absolutely crushed it, shattering the noise of the then-excited Angels fans. The only ones you could hear were the Red Sox fans. Yes, they were here too.

Although Lackey gave up the 2-run homer to Jason Bay, this is all he would allow, as he pitched 6 2/3 innings almost matching what Jon Lester was able to do for his team, the Red Sox.

“Lackey pitched his butt off,” Hunter said. “We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t capitalize. You’ve got to give Lester credit. He was nasty. He made pitches when he needed them.”

As it turns out, this is all Jon Lester and his bullpen needed to finish the rest of the game. Of course, they got a little help from Vladimir Guerrero. It could have been a combination of things, such as Jacoby Ellsbury’s outstanding diving grab to begin this 8th inning that Angel fans would like to forget. However, Vlad’s baserunning blunder proved crucial, as the Angels were still only down by a run at the time. Guererro singled with one out in the inning. The next batter, Torii Hunter, lifted a fly ball that landed behind a diving Kevin Youkillis in short right field. Guerrero, thinking he had time to get past second base, ran through a stop sign. He was out at third, and it wasn’t even close.

“It was behind me, and I didn’t know if the ball was going to drop or not,” Guerrero said. “If I had taken off and run hard all the way, I might have been doubled off. I kept running.”

Guerrero also went on to say, “I feel bad, but it’s over now, and we have to go on.”

The Red Sox would go on to score 2 runs in the 9th inning, on RBI singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. If the Angels had any chance against all-star closer Jonathan Pabelbon down one run in the bottom of the 9th, the hopes of that were dashed when the Red Sox had their way against Scot Shields.

Overall, a very disappointing first game of the ALDS for the Angels. Daisuke Matzuzaka will go for the Red Sox on Friday night as the Angels will counter with Ervin Santana. Here are the final stats for Game One:

Angels:

Figgins: 0-5, 3 K

Anderson/Teixeira/Guerrero: 2-4 each

Hunter: 2-3, RBI

Napoli: 0-4, 3 K

Lackey: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO

Shields: IP, 4 H, 2 ER

Red Sox:

Ellsbury: 3-5, RBI, 2 SB

Pedroia: 0-3, 2 BB

Ortiz: 1-5, RBI

Youkillis: 1-4, RBI

Drew/Lowell: 0-4 each

Bay: 2-run homer

Lester: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, (0 ER) BB, 7 SO

Pabelbon: IP, H, 3 SO

It’s a great day,” said first-year Angels general manager Tony Reagins. Reagins was crucial in getting the team to where they are today, acquiring Jon Garland and Torii Hunter in the offseason and Mark Teixeira in July.

On a team with stars such as Garland, Hunter, and Teixeira–it was Robb Quinlan and Dustin Moseley who emerged as heroes in the clinching game. Quinlan had a clutch 2-run single in the 3-run 6th inning that put the Angels ahead for good.  Moseley allowed 2 early runs but kept the game close pitching into the 6th inning.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Moseley, a part-time starter the past two seasons, said. “The team camaraderie at times I’ve been here, what a great group of guys. Hopefully, great things can happen this season. Clinching the division so early shows the talent and commitment here.”

The fans are all a great inspiration to me,” Chone Figgins said. “It’s a great thing to get so many to come out to support us.”

“It hasn’t been easy, by any means,” a relieved manager Mike Scioscia said. “This team has pulled together and done the job all year long.”

The amazing thing was that in this clinching game, the Angels had a team out on the field that consisted of many backup players. Mark Teixeira, Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Erick Aybar, and Howie Kendrick all were out of the lineup. The Angels had an all-backup infield: Quinlan at third, rookies Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez  at shortstop and second, respectively, and Kendry Morales behind Moseley and the relief staff.

Speaking of relief, Francisco Rodriguez closed out this 4-2 win over the Yankees, earning save             number 56. By the way, that’s one away from tying Bobby Thigpen’s single season saves record. K-Rod should tie, break, and pad this record before the season ends. This is one of the two goals the Angels need to accomplish before October. This is one, and the other is trying for the AL’s best record, which would give them a home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Jered Weaver had something to say about that.

“This is goal No. 1, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Jered Weaver said. “We still have guys that need to get healthy and back on track. We know we can play much better as a club right now. We just want to get rolling into the postseason.”

Then there is the goal the Angels would like to reach during the month of October.

In a battle of lefties, Joe Saunders beat John Danks. Saunders was brilliant through 7 1/3 innings, giving up only two runs. John Danks managed 5 1/3 innings, also giving up 2 runs. Paul Konerko and Toby Hall had hit solo homers against Saunders for the Whit Sox this afternoon. The Angels used the small ball, with RBI’s from Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. So, the Angels would need to break the tie to get the lead for Francisco Rodriguez. They were able to, with a run in the 8th against Horacio Ramirez. Rodriguez, trying to redeem himself for blowing the save the previous night, was able to close it out. This inning included a couple of strikeouts. K-Rod is only 2 saves away from tying the single-season record, which is 57. Let’s see what the team had to say about K-Rod and this game:

Mike Scioscia: “That’s essential to what a closer needs to do. That page gets heavy — like cement. Time after time after a tough night he’s come back and been terrific.”

K-Rod: “I feel like I have 10,000 pounds on my shoulders. To break the record and clinch [the American League West title], take those 10,000 pounds off my shoulders on the same day … that would be nice.”

The Angels inched closer to clinching the AL West today, with their win. The team’s magic number is now 3.

Game 1: The first one was a fun one–for White Sox fans. The South Siders pounded their way to a 10-2 victory, much to the delight of the home crowd. Starter Dustin Moseley was hit very hard, giving up 4 runs in only 1 1/3 innings pitched. The Sox scored 2 runs in the 1st and 2 in the second. A 2-run single from Ken Griffey Jr. and a 2-run home run from Juan Uribe gave Chicago its 4-0 lead. It didn’t get any better for the Angels. Darren Oliver came in and gave up 3 more runs in the third. This included another home run by Juan Uribe, and a solo home run by Paul Konerko. The White Sox hitting the long ball shouldn’t come as a surprise–they lead baseball in the catagory. The Angels were buried, and Chicago lefty Mark Buehrle was outstanding, shutting out them through 6 innings. The Angels would plate a pair of runs in the 7th, but it was ALL White Sox on this night.

Game 2: This game was more even, but the end result was still disappointing. In the longest September game ever that featured two first-place clubs, the White Sox won on a walk-off blast by Jim Thome in the 15th to send Chicago home happy. The Angels jumped out to an early lead in the 1st against Gavin Floyd. They would enjoy it until the bottom of the 2nd, when John Lackey gave up 2 runs. A home run by, of all people, Chone Figgins would even up the score in the 3rd. With the score 2-2, the Angels scored 3 times in the 6th. Home runs by Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli really gave the team a boost of confidence. Unfortunately, the White Sox chipped away by doing what they do best–hitting the long ball. Paul Konerko’s solo shot in the 6th brought them to within 2 runs in the 6th. Then, with Lackey still in the game, Nick Swisher clutched up with a man aboard to tie the game. The home run was Swisher’s 24th. John Lackey and Gavin Floyd each gave up 5 runs in 7 innings. Nobody would score until the 9th, when rookie Brandon Wood would go deep–a clutch home run at the time for the Angels. Nobody would expect it, but K-Rod would blow the save in the bottom of that inning, sending the two teams to extra innings. Running out of pitchers, the Angels used Justin Speier, who had pitched in the last 3 games. Jim Thome crushed one of Speier’s fastballs well into the seats in right to win the game for the White Sox, 7-6 in 15 innings. The homer by Thome was no. 30 for the season, and no. 537 for his career, passing the great Mickey Mantle. The Angels couldn’t lower their magic number on this day, and would try to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon.  

(For Game 3, see my next post)

Torii Hunter delivered the Angels an early lead against Chris Lampert, who was making just his second career start. Hunter’s double drove in a pair, and the team with the major’s best road record was looking strong again. Miguel Cabrera drove in a run during the bottom of that inning to cut the Angels’ lead in half. Torii Hunter drove in his third run of the game to get that run back in the 3rd inning, but just like that, RBI doubles by Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera knotted up the game.

“After the third inning,” Mike Scioscia said, “that’s when Joe really got aggressive. That was good to see.”

Indeed, Saunders did. He ended up pitching 6 1/3 innings and at the time of his departure, had a 4-3 lead. That was until, Miguel Cabrera, a thorn in the Angels side all night, stepped up to the plate against Scot Shields in the 8th inning. Cabrera’s opposite-field drive with 2 outs knotted up the game, and the two teams headed into the 9th tied up.

The Angels wasted no time. A single and a steal of second base from Chone Figgins, a ground ball by Garett Anderson, and a sac fly by Mark Teixeira put them in front. By the way, the steal by Figgins was No. 30 of the season, who became the fourth player in the Majors to reach that total over the past five seasons.

*K-Rod Watch: K-Rod was the man again in the bottom of the 9th, earning his 54th save of the season. Not only that, but this save was the 200th of his fabulous career, a career that has still a long way to go.