A clutch burnout and closer's flameout put Angels in a hole

There's more blame than clutch hits, so which finger would you like to point in which direction?

That's what it came down to as the Angels, with those 100 wins and the best record in baseball, left their high hopes strewn all over the Angel Stadium bases, failed to get a key hit -- "that's been our Achilles' heel all season," Manager Mike Scioscia said -- and ultimately faced the numbing reality that, having lost the first two games of the best-of-five divisional series with the dreadlock-absent Boston Red Sox, their famed closer's next pitch may come in free-agent negotiation, and they are one loss from being swept by the Red Sox for the third time in the last five postseasons.

To avoid that, having blown the home-field advantage, they only have to defeat Josh Beckett, one of the best postseason pitchers ever, in Game 3 today in their house of horrors known as Fenway Park, and to avoid the ultimate elimination they only have to win three in a row from a team that "now has all 25 players pulling in the same direction," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia in a pointed reference to the departed Manny Ramirez.

The Angels were pushed into this claustrophobic corner by Jon Lester's outpitching John Lackey in a 4-1 loss in Game 1 and by a series of wasted opportunities as they inched back from Ervin Santana's 4-0 deficit in the first inning of Game 2 before Rodriguez found himself in a 5-5 tie in the ninth inning.

That was when David Ortiz hit the Rodriguez slider for a double and J.D. Drew hit the changeup for a two-run homer and a 7-5 victory, the indomitable Jonathan Papelbon closing it out for the win two nights after getting the save in Game 1, leaving Scioscia and catcher Mike Napoli to defend their closer, who politely said he had nothing to say, assuredly aware he has possibly made his last appearance for the Angels six years after debuting as the sensational K-Rod in the 2002 World Series victory.

Both manager and catcher, despite some contrary statistics, said Rodriguez had improved as the season progressed, unfazed by a career-high 76 appearances and his big league records of 62 saves and 69 chances.