LA Angels (86-57) at Boston (84-58)

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ana

Halos have no intention of backing down

Brittany Ghiroli / Special to MLB.com
Following Monday's makeup game, the Angels hopped a quick flight to Boston, where they will face the Red Sox for a three-game set before heading south to square off with divisional foe Texas.
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Angels probable pitcher

John Lackey

  • #41 RHP
  • (10-7) 3.53 ERA 125 SO
Lackey was in prime-time form in shutting out the Mariners on Thursday night, yielding five hits while walking one, hitting one man and striking out seven. It was his eighth career shutout, first of the season, and fourth against Seattle. Lackey was consistently in the 92-94 mph range with his fastball with good bite on his breaking ball and a quality changeup. He has yielded one earned run in his past 26 innings and is the first Angels starter to go at least eight innings in three consecutive starts since Kelvim Escobar in 2006. Lackey is 3-6 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 career starts against Boston and 2-4, 6.34 in eight outings at Fenway Park.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 101-70 3.78 1480.1 435 1187 .261
Season 10-7 3.53 155.2 41 125 .253
September 1-0 0.50 18.0 1 11 .180

Series at a Glance

Standings - 09/15/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Los Angeles Angels (AL West) 86 57 .601 - 44-27 42-30
Boston Red Sox (AL East) 84 58 .592 7.5 50-21 34-37
Stats - 09/15/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
LAA .286 789 154 751 134 900 4.57 1276.1 1347 468 938
BOS .268 753 185 713 109 1000 4.24 1263.2 1293 456 1097
bos

Sox gear up for possible playoff preview

John Barone / MLB.com
For the third consecutive year, the Red Sox appear poised to reach the postseason. And for the third consecutive year, they appear to be on a collision course with the Angels.
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Red Sox probable pitcher

Daisuke Matsuzaka

  • #18 RHP
  • (1-5) 8.23 ERA 34 SO
Matsuzaka makes his first Major League appearance since June 19, nearly three months after landing on the disabled list for the second time this season with right shoulder woes. After leading Japan to its second consecutive World Baseball Classic title this spring, the 28-year-old has had a forgettable 2009 campaign thus far, evidenced by a 1-5 record and 8.23 ERA in eight starts. Dice-K was tagged for six runs on seven hits over five innings in one career regular-season outing against the Angels.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 34-20 4.11 407.1 192 389 .245
Season 1-5 8.23 35.0 18 34 .378

Angels hitters vs Daisuke Matsuzaka

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Abreu, Bobby - - - - .125 16 0 1
Aybar, Erick - - - - .500 2 0 0
Bourjos, Peter - - - - - - - -
Brown, Matthew - - - - - - - -
Budde, Ryan - - - - - - - -
Evans, Terry - - - - - - - -
Hunter, Torii - - - - .200 10 1 3
Izturis, Maicer - - - - .167 6 0 0
Kendrick, Howard - - - - .000 1 0 0
Mathis, Jeff - - - - .000 4 0 0
Matthews, Gary - - - - - - - -
Morales, Kendry - - - - .500 2 0 0
Napoli, Mike - - - - - - - -
Pettit, Chris - - - - - - - -
Rivera, Juan - - - - .000 3 0 1
Sandoval, Freddy - - - - - - - -
Trumbo, Mark - - - - - - - -
Willits, Reggie - - - - - - - -
Wilson, Bobby - - - - - - - -
Wood, Brandon - - - - - - - -

Red Sox hitters vs John Lackey

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Anderson, Brian - - - - .000 3 0 0
Bates, Aaron - - - - - - - -
Brown, Dusty - - - - - - - -
Drew, J.D. - - - - .300 20 0 1
Ellsbury, Jacoby - - - - .200 10 0 0
Hermida, Jeremy - - - - - - - -
Iglesias, Jose - - - - - - - -
Kotchman, Casey - - - - .333 3 0 0
Lowell, Mike - - - - .143 21 0 1
Lowrie, Jed - - - - - - - -
Martinez, Victor .500 2 0 0 .476 21 0 0
Ortiz, David - - - - .333 24 2 9
Pedroia, Dustin - - - - .375 16 0 0
Reddick, Josh - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Varitek, Jason - - - - .100 20 0 0
Wagner, Mark - - - - - - - -
Youkilis, Kevin - - - - .294 17 2 4

Matsuzaka is A-OK (86-58) (85-58)

Red Sox 4, Angels 1

Lackey edged

Lyle Spencer / MLB.com
John Lackey had three brilliant outings in a row entering his start at Fenway Park. He pitched well again, but not good enough. His error allowed the deciding run to score as the Angels were handcuffed by a Red Sox team they could meet in the first round of the playoffs.

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Series at a Glance

 

A sterling return

Ian Browne / MLB.com
Daisuke Matsuzaka returned from almost three months on the disabled list, and the outcome could not be more pleasing to the Red Sox: six-plus innings, three hits and no runs against a possible first-round playoff foe. David Ortiz homered and drove in two.
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Red Sox 4, Angels 1

LA Angels AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Figgins, 3B 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 .299
Izturis, M, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .297
Abreu, B, RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .299
Guerrero, DH 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .297
Hunter, CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .311
Morales, K, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .306
Rivera, J, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .287
Aybar, E, SS 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 .303
Mathis, J, C 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 .208
  a-Matthews, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .241
  Wilson, Bo, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Kendrick, H, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .291
Totals 33 1 6 1 3 8 19  

a-Struck out for Mathis, J in the 7th. b-Grounded into a fielder's choice for Wilson, Bo in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Abreu, B (26, Matsuzaka), Aybar, E (23, Papelbon).
TB: Izturis, M; Abreu, B 2; Hunter; Morales, K; Aybar, E 3.
RBI: Aybar, E (54).
2-out RBI: Aybar, E.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guerrero; Figgins 2; Hunter; Kendrick, H.
Team RISP: 1-for-11.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Aybar, E (14, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek), Figgins (41, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek).

FIELDING
E: Lackey (2, throw).
Outfield assists: Rivera, J (Bay at 2nd base).
DP: 2 (Izturis, M-Aybar, E-Morales, K, Lackey-Aybar, E-Morales, K).
 
Boston AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Ellsbury, CF 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .300
Pedroia, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .296
Drew, J, RF 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .266
Bay, LF 2 0 1 1 2 1 1 .262
Ortiz, D, DH 4 1 2 2 0 1 1 .233
Lowell, 3B 3 0 0 0 1 2 3 .294
Kotchman, 1B 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 .269
Varitek, C 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .215
Gonzalez, A, SS 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .231
Totals 30 4 9 3 3 6 13  

BATTING
3B: Drew, J (4, Lackey).
HR: Ortiz, D (24, 8th inning off Arredondo, Jo, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Ellsbury 2; Pedroia; Drew, J 3; Bay; Ortiz, D 5; Kotchman; Gonzalez, A.
RBI: Ortiz, D 2 (83), Bay (102).
2-out RBI: Ortiz, D.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kotchman 2.
GIDP: Kotchman; Varitek.
Team RISP: 2-for-6.
Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING
CS: Ellsbury (10, 2nd base by Lackey/Mathis, J).
 
LA Angels IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Lackey (L, 10-8) 7.2 8 3 2 3 6 0 3.47
Arredondo, Jo 0.1 1 1 1 0 0 1 6.15
 
Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Matsuzaka (W, 2-5) 6.0 3 0 0 3 5 0 7.02
Ramirez, R (H, 11) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.80
Wagner, B (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.08
Bard, D (H, 11) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.30
Papelbon 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 2.00

Matsuzaka pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

Pitches-strikes: Lackey 120-69, Arredondo, Jo 3-2, Matsuzaka 93-52, Ramirez, R 12-7, Wagner, B 13-10, Bard, D 3-3, Papelbon 20-14.
Groundouts-flyouts: Lackey 13-2, Arredondo, Jo 0-1, Matsuzaka 4-9, Ramirez, R 0-2, Wagner, B 0-1, Bard, D 1-0, Papelbon 1-1.
Batters faced: Lackey 31, Arredondo, Jo 2, Matsuzaka 24, Ramirez, R 3, Wagner, B 3, Bard, D 1, Papelbon 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez, R 1-0, Bard, D 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: Rick Reed. 2B: Jeff Kellogg. 3B: Tim Timmons.
Weather: 65 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 11 mph, R to L.
T: 2:44.
Att: 37,942.
September 15, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner