Jered Weaver threw 7 1/3 brilliant innings, giving up one run and two hits. A pair of gnats, 5-foot-8, 170-pound Maicer Izturis and 5-10, 170-pound Erick Aybar, delivered a pair of humongous hits. The bullpen, a soft spot for a good chunk of the season, held firm.
This may be hard to fathom for Orange County baseball fans, but when the Angels arrive in Fenway Park this weekend, it will be the Boston Red Sox -- and not the visitors -- who have their backs against the Green Monster.
The Angels, playoff fodder for the Red Sox for so many years, pushed their October nemeses to the brink of elimination with a 4-1 Game 2 victory in Angel Stadium on Friday night to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League division series.
Izturis broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out, run-scoring single in the seventh inning, and two batters later, Aybar smoked a two-run triple to center to cap a three-run rally against Boston starter Josh Beckett.
Relievers Darren Oliver, Kevin Jepsen and Brian Fuentes nailed down the final five outs, Fuentes earning his first playoff save.
Of the 35 teams that have taken 2-0 division series leads, 31 have gone on to win the series. Game 3 is Sunday in Boston.
"We know the challenge ahead of us," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. "There's only one thing that gives you command of a best-of-five series, and that's when you win three games. We know what's ahead of us. We're going to have to play good baseball."
They played near-perfect baseball Friday night, beginning with Weaver, who struck out seven, walked two and allowed only one runner past first base.
Like ace John Lackey the night before, Weaver received a rousing standing ovation when he departed in the eighth, waving his cap to the crowd and snapping his glove toward his parents, who were seated behind home plate.
Weaver, who mixed his fastball with slow curves and changeups, then sought out Lackey, who threw 7 1/3 shutout innings in Thursday night's 5-0 victory, and thanked him for setting the tone.
"You can't help but take some momentum from him," Weaver said.
The Red Sox have no momentum, having hit .131 (eight for 61) and scored one run in the two games in Anaheim. They lost with their ace, Jon Lester, pitching Thursday night. They lost with Beckett, who has one of baseball's best playoff pedigrees, Friday night.
