Angels Shut Out As Beckett is Masterful for Red Sox

Oct 04, 12:10 AM

Current Headlines: BOSTON _ Meet the new loss, same as the old loss.

Two years after being ushered out of the American League Championship Series by the dominant starting pitching of the 2005 Chicago White Sox, the Angels opened this year's postseason by getting shut out in a 4-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of their Division Series on Wednesday.

The Angels were held to 11 runs and a .227 team batting average in five games of the 2005 ALCS. In Game 1 at Fenway Park, they managed four hits off Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett.

The best-of-5 series will resume Friday with the Angels down, 1-0 _ the same as they were in every postseason series they have won in franchise history _ three on the way to a championship in 2002 and one in 2005.

"Every game is magnified in a short series," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The story tonight was obviously our batter's-box offense. There wasn't much happening. We need to get things started there before we can get into our game on the bases.

"Obviously, tonight wasn't our finest game."

It was Beckett's finest postseason game since ... his previous postseason game. Beckett threw a five-hit shutout at Yankee Stadium to close out the 2003 World Series for the Florida Marlins and hadn't pitched in the postseason since.

"Man, let me tell you _ some of the innings I watched it on TV on the screen that we have downstairs (in the clubhouse)," Boston DH David Ortiz said. "Even on TV, he looked filthy. Even on TV, you would be like, `Oh, he could have hit that? No, I don't think so.' I mean, he was right on."

Chone Figgins led off the game with a single that caromed off the glove of diving second baseman Dustin Pedroia and into center field, which broke a season-ending 0-for-22 slide by Figgins. Figgins advanced to third base as the next two batters grounded out _ the closest the Angels would come to scoring all night.

Beckett retired 19 consecutive batters after Figgins' single, striking out seven. The Angels got just two balls out of the infield in that stretch _ a fly out by Reggie Willits in the third inning and a line drive to left in the sixth on which centerfielder Coco Crisp made a sliding catch.

The 19 consecutive batters retired ties for the third-longest in postseason history behind Don Larsen's perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series and a stretch of 22 retired by Herb Pennock (also for the Yankees) in the 1927 World Series.

"We were struggling all night to get something started," Angels outfielder Garret Anderson said. "We didn't really put him in position to have to worry about base runners. He took care of business."

Beckett completed the four-hitter with only 108 pitches, 83 of them strikes. He went to the full count on Figgins in the first and Maicer Izturis in the fifth (before he popped out) but never reached a three-ball count with any other hitter. He retired the side in order in the eighth (striking out two) on eight pitches, all strikes, and finished the ninth with just seven pitches (one ball and six strikes).

"He threw `Strike one.' That pretty much sums it up right there," Anderson said. "He kept with his game plan. He got ahead of hitters. Then once he got the lead, he didn't try to get fancy out there.

He stuck with, `Strike one.'"

The Angels tried to counter with their own ace, right-hander John Lackey, but Lackey struggled to find his footing in the early innings. He gave up a solo home run to Kevin Youkilis in the first inning before stranding two base runners.

He gave up two hits in the second inning but got out of it with a double play and a caught stealing.

In the third, he gave up a double to Youkilis and a two-run home run to Ortiz followed by a walk, a wild pitch and a single by Mike Lowell to score another run. To that point, nine of the first 14 Red Sox batters had reached base against Lackey.

"Honestly, I really think I pitched better than the numbers show," Lackey said. "Really the only pitch I'd take back is the one to Ortiz. I really didn't want to throw him a strike there. I had just thrown him a curveball in the dirt and I wanted to throw him another one. But I hung it in the strike zone."

Lackey did set the Red Sox down easily in the fourth through sixth innings, allowing only an infield single and a walk while striking out four. But the Red Sox had already gotten to him more than enough to back Beckett.

"I think they get to a lot of people. That's why we're playing them right now," Lackey said. "I really didn't watch what he (Beckett) was doing. I tried to handle my own business. I did find some things that were working for me, but by then it was too late because of the way he was pitching."

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