The Angels came back to tie it up after the Red Sox had an early 4-0 lead, but K-Rod gave up two in the ninth to put the Angels in an 0-2 hole for the series.
Boston scored four in the first, but the Angels rallied back throughout the game to tie it a 5’s by the eighth. Hunter got an RBI-single in the first but Juan Rivera grounded out with runners on second and third to end the inning. Figgins got an RBI-single in the fourth before another by Hunter in the fifth. Mike Napoli walked with bases loaded in the seventh to bring the Angels within one, but Aybar struck out with bases loaded to keep the Angels down a run. Mark Teixeira drove in Chone Figgins, who led off with a triple, on a sac fly to tie it in the eighth but Jonathan Papelbon shut down the Angels in the ninth to end the game.
It was the first inning that hurt Santana, giving Boston a quick 4-0 lead, including a three-run homerun to Jason Bay. He gave up another run in the fourth before leaving in the sixth, being down two runs. Arrendondo and Shields held the Sox offense while the Angels tied it up, and K-Rod came in for the ninth hold the tie. He gave up a leadoff double to David Ortiz and one out later gave up the go-ahead two-run homerun to JD Drew.
The Angels now have nine consecutive postseason losses, and 11 consecutive postseason losses to the Red Sox. Joe Saunders will look to help the Angels avoid the feat they suffered last year, with a sweep from Boston. Saunders is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.75 ERA in six career starts against the Sox, with the Angels winning all six of those games. Three of those four wins have come at Fenway, but he will have to face Josh Beckett to continue his undefeated streak. Beckett went 12-10 this year, with two of those losses courtesy of the Angels.
