October 06, 2008 10:06 am Bill Burt BOSTON — The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beat the Boston Red Sox in October. Stop the presses. Stop the bleeding. And stop, for now, the champagne shower. At 12:43 a.m. this morning, the Angels beat the Red Sox, 5-4, in 12 innings, some five hours and 19 minutes after the first pitch. But there were signs that this night might be different than 2007, 2004 and yes, even 1986, when the Red Sox played the Angels like a fiddle in close-out games in October. It started with the first pitch from Josh Beckett. Chone Figgins smashed it down the right-field line for a ground-rule double. Beckett eventually got out of it without too much damage, allowing one run (via a walk!) in a 30-pitch inning. But the real barometer was in the top of the third inning when Angels catcher Mike Napoli came to the plate. The inning before, the Angels allowed the first-ever post-season three-run single to Jacoby Ellsbury, which really was a gaffe by second baseman Howie Hendrick. Talk about embarrassing. With a full-count and two outs in the top of the third, Napoli walloped a Beckett curveball off the Volvo sign high above the Green Monster for two runs to tie the score. The rest of the game was a see-saw affair. The Angels had men on base in 10 of the 12 innings, and at least two men on in eight innings. "We seemed like we were pitching out of the stretch in every single inning," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "We dodged a lot of bullets and couldn't in the end." Other than the Ellsbury's historic single, Red Sox bats were very quiet. They only had seven hits in 41 official at-bats. The Red Sox, too, muffed a few chances, including one with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with 62-save closer Francisco Rodriguez finally getting Jed Lowrie to fly to right field to end the drama. Another lowlight came from slumping Dustin Pedroia, who has yet to get a hit in 16 plate appearances this series (officially 0 for 13). He did hit a hard grounder to Figgins at third in the 11th inning with Coco Crisp on second base. It would have won the game, but Figgins threw him out. "It's my fault man," said Pedroia. "I have to get on (expletive) base. That's it. I have to help our team win. I didn't do that. I haven't done that all series. I blame this one on me." So what happens now? We have a series. And the Angels, the only team to win 100 games this season, might finally have the momentum they've been desperately searching for. The "aces" return to the mound tonight at 8 p.m. when Jon Lester and John Lackey get the call. The difference between the two in Game 1 was one swing of the bat, a two-run homer by Jason Bay. The difference last night may have been the same swing, this time by Napoli. "Hopefully, about a month from now we'll talk about that 3-2 breaking pitch that Nap hit off one of the toughest pitchers ever in a playoff environment," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "That was big." The stage is set to be even bigger and probably as close as it was last night and early this morning. "I don't think we're going to expect anything other than a tight game and a pitchers' duel," added Scioscia. E-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
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