Projo Sports Blog

Journal photos / Gretchen Ertl

J.D. Drew blasted a two-run home run with one out in the top of the ninth off elite closer Francisco Rodriguez (above), lifting the Red Sox -- who had squandered early advantages of 4-0 and 5-1 -- to a 7-5 victory over the Angels in Game Two of the American League Division Series.

The Sox now lead the best-of-five series, 2-0, and, with the next two games at Fenway Park (and their two best pitchers, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, set to work), appear poised to finish off Los Angeles of Anaheim and advance to the ALCS.

Boston has now won 11 straight postseason games against the Angels dating back to 1986, a new MLB record for consecutive playoff wins against a single opponent. They've also won nine consecutive postseason games overall, dating back to Game Five of the 2007 ALCS, which is a franchise record.

David Ortiz had led off the ninth with a double off the right-field wall -- the ball actually hit right fielder Reggie Willits' glove as he leaped at the wall, but he couldn't hold it -- and he was pinch-run for by Coco Crisp. Kevin Youkilis couldn't advance Crisp, grounding out to third base for the first out.

But Drew blasted a 2-and-2 pitch over the wall in right-center field, his third hit of the game, to put Boston back on top. It was Drew's first home run since July 26.

Rodriguez is now 0-3 with an 8.53 ERA in three postseason appearances against the Red Sox. In an eerie coincidence, he surrendered a game-losing home run to Manny Ramirez in Game Two of the last year's ALDS on the first Friday night in October, though
that game was played in Boston.

The Angels appeared poised to break the streak last night. Starting in the beginning of the fourth inning, Los Angeles hitters went 6-for-17 with five walks, meaning exactly half their hitters -- 11 of 22 -- reached base from the beginning of the fourth to the beginning of the eighth. They erased a 5-1 deficit and tied the game, 5-5.

With the Red Sox' lead down to 5-4, Chone Figgins led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple. Terry Francona called on Jonathan Papelbon for what would be a six-out save. He retired the first hitter he faced, Garret Anderson, on a foul pop to Youkilis. But Mark Texeira then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 5-5.

Staked to the big early lead, Daisuke Matsuzaka's season-long nemesis -- the walk -- came back to bite him and the Red Sox. He walked the leadoff batter in the fourth inning -- the first time all series the Angels put the leadoff man on -- and he came around to score, cutting Boston's advantage to 5-2. Then in the fifth he walked the first two batters of the inning, Teixeira and Vladmir Guerrero, and an RBI single by Torii Hunter delivered the third Los Angeles of Anaheim run.

That's where it stayed, as Matsuzaka retired the next three batters and ended the fifth with Boston ahead, 5-3. Still, Dice-K took more than 20 minutes to complete the fifth and ran his pitch count to 108.

Francona pulled the plug at that point and brought in Hideki Okajima to pitch the sixth. He retired the side in order, although the last out was a drive to the fence in right field by Anderson that was hauled in by Drew.

Okajima had no more success with Teixeira and Guerrero than Matsuzaka'd had, allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the seventh. (Their combined line to that point: 6-for-6 with two walks.) Out went Okajima and in came Justin Masterson, who retired Hunter on a one-pitch fly to left. A walk to Juan Rivera loaded the bases and, after Howie Kendrick struck out for the third time, Masterson walked Mike Napoli, forcing home Teixeira and making the score 5-4.

Erick Aybar struck out to end the inning. The Angels stranded 11 runners through the first seven.

The Sox scored four runs after two were out in the first inning, then added another two-out run in the fourth in building their early lead.

Jason Bay -- returning triumphantly to the dugout (right) -- blasted his second home run of the ALDS, a three-run shot to dead center field, to cap a two-out, four-run rally in the first. Ortiz started the hit parade by lashing a single to right through the teeth of the Angels' overshift, and Youkilis followed with a single to right of his own. Drew delivered the first Boston run with a double to right-center, a groundball through the infield that snaked its way up the gap away from the Los Angeles fielders, who were playing Drew the other way.

Bay then cleared the bases with a shot over the center-field fence, making it 4-0.

In the fourth, back-to-back doubles by Alex Cora and Jacoby Ellsbury delivered the fifth Boston run and made the score 5-1.

Los Angeles of Anaheim had scored a two-out run of its own in the bottom of the first off Matsuzaka. Texeira singled to right and Guerrero singled to center before Hunter hit a seeing-eye grounder past the mound and into left-center field, delivering Guerrero from third, cutting the Sox' lead to 4-1.

Matsuzaka escaped further trouble by inducing Rivera to ground out to Cora, who threw out Rivera from the hole at shortstop.

Matsuzaka settled down and retired six in a row after Hunter's single. He got into two-out trouble again in the third, however, and again it was the two-headed monster of Teixeira and Guerrero (back-to-back singles) who put him there. But Hunter was thrown out by a hair at first base on a slow hit ball to Cora at shortstop, ending the inning.

Hunter leaped in the air in protest of umpire Kerwin Danley's call and collapsed after appearing to land awkwardly on his left knee (left). He was checked by the Angels' medical staff and stayed in the game, but was taken into the clubhouse to be examined by team doctors in the bottom of the fourth. He went back to center field in the top of the fifth.

A leadoff walk to Rivera and a one-out bloop single to left by Mike Mathis put Matsuzaka in hot water again in the fourth. After the runners advanced to second and third on a grounder to first by Aybar, Matsuzaka allowed an RBI single to left by Figgins, cutting the lead to 5-2. He ended the threat by striking out Anderson.

But in the fifth, the walks to Texeira and Guerrero and the single by Hunter -- those three batters were a combined 6-for-7 with two walks against Matsuzaka -- made it 5-3.

The Red Sox did some stranding of their own in the sixth. With one out, Mark Kotsay reached when Hunter dropped his liner to center and Jason Varitek followed with a single. Los Angeles of Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia replaced starter Ervin Santana with Jose Arredondo, who walked Cora to load the bases. But the Sox didn't score, as Arrendondo struck out Ellsbury and retired Dustin Pedroia on a hard grounder to second.

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