BOSTON // The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 at Fenway Park to advance to the American League Championship Series for the fourth time in six years. The Boston shortstop Jed Lowrie had the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth, helping the defending World Series champions seal the best-of-five AL Division Series 3-1. "This team has had a tremendous amount of adversity, day in and day out," the Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. "You develop character that way."
Boston will meet their AL East rivals Tampa Bay in the ALCS. "I can't wait to get it going," the starting pitcher Josh Beckett said. "But we have a couple days to enjoy this." The left fielder Jason Bay sparked things for the Red Sox in the ninth with a ground-rule double, before eventually scoring the winner on Lowrie's two-out hit. Bay finished the game 2-for-3 with two doubles, and recorded seven hits and two home runs for the series.
"It's been a blast every step of the way," Bay said. "I'm looking forward to moving on." The Red Sox went up 2-0 against the starter John Lackey in the fifth inning, while the Boston pitcher Jon Lester kept the Angels scoreless through seven. But the Red Sox surrendered the tying runs in the eighth inning, LA's Torii Hunter knocking in a two-run single to make it 2-2. Los Angeles had the go-ahead run at third base with just one out in the ninth, but a squeeze play failed and runner Reggie Willits was run down by Varitek. "One minute we're back in the game on Torii's hit; then the squeeze doesn't work," said the Angels third baseman Chone Figgins.
Manny Delcarmen recorded the victory for the Red Sox after pitching in the ninth, and the left-hander Lester took the no-decision, allowing four hits and striking out four. Lackey allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings of work. The Angels, who won 100 games during the regular season, continued their postseason struggles against Boston. Los Angeles broke an 11-game play-off losing streak to the Red Sox on Sunday, but have now been eliminated from the post-season by the Red Sox in two consecutive years. "This is totally different from [last year]," Lackey said. "They were better than us last year. They're not better than us this year."
* Reuters