ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jason Bay is the parted hair to Manny Ramirez’s dreadlocks. He is the guy that your mother never warned you about. Upon arriving in Boston, he told reporters that he wore a Red Sox onesie as a baby, and decorated his room with Jim Rice and Carl Yazstremski posters.
Heck, for all he knows, they might still be up at his parents’ house. It’s not hard to imagine Canadian kids plastering their walls or screensavers with Bay pictures. The man who was traded for Manny couldn’t have made a better first impression on the playoffs if he showed up in a tuxedo carrying a dozen roses.
He crushed a sinker from John Lackey in the sixth inning, his two-run home run in the Red Sox’s 4-1 victory over the Angels reminding the baseball world that the road to a world championship still goes through Boston.
Home-field advantage lost, the Angels, for all intents and purposes, face a must-win game Friday in the American League Division Series.
“He’s cool as a cucumber,” said closer Jonathan Papelbon of Bay. “J.B.’s been huge for us. He has ice running through his veins. The coolest cats always win in this game. It’s as simple as that.”
This was supposed to be the night that the Angels made a statement, took advantage of a Red Sox weakness. Boston didn’t have Josh Beckett available. He’s become this generation’s Mr. October, as good any playoff pitcher since steering the Florida Marlins to a title in 2003. He’s been pushed back to Game 3 with a strained oblique.
Even without their ace, the Red Sox weren’t pushed around. Jon Lester, last seen in the playoffs clinching the World Series at Coors Field, worked seven efficient innings. He allowed just one earned run over seven innings on 117 pitches. Had shortstop Jed Lowrie not muffed a routine groundball, Torii Hunter would have never come up to single home Garrett Anderson.
Still, the Red Sox were staring directly at a loss when the sixth inning rolled around. They were 0-for-11 with runners on base as Bay dug in against Angels starter John Lackey.
Lackey, who pitches with attitude and force, made a rare mistake, leaving a running two-seam fastball out over the plate. The slugger got his arms extended and enjoyed a brief Baywatch. He flipped the bat and glanced as the ball disappeared into the sea of red over the left-field fence.
“I felt like I had a better rhythm in that at-bat,” said Bay, who struck out in his first two plate appearances. “He left it up and I put a good swing on it.”
Boston protected the one-run lead through the philanthropic base-running of Vladimir Guerrero. A promising eighth-inning rally turned ugly when Guerrero lost his mind for a moment.
With one out, the Angels’ Torii Hunter blooped a single off first baseman Kevin Youkilis’ glove. Youkilis, running toward right field, quickly retrieved the ball as Guerrero hesitated to see if it was caught before inexplicably racing toward third.
Off line, Youkilis throw still nailed Guerrero by 5 feet. The third base coach was holding him up, so unless Guerrero thought the shortstop was going to cover, the daring attempt made no sense.
“You know Vlad is aggressive, and it was a tough read and I thought he thought that the ball was a little further out than it was,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
That left the stage for Papelbon who stepped on the Angels’ chest in the ninth. He hit 96 mph on his fastball, and demonstrated great command, soothing concerns about a few uneven outings last week.
“It’s only one win,” Papelbon said. “We have to keep the pressure on them.”
Red Sox lead 1-0
Game 1 Wednesday @ L.A.
Boston 4, Los Angeles 1
Game 2 Friday 7:37 p.m. @ L.A. Red Sox’s D. Matsuzaka 18-3, 2.90 Angels’ Ervin Santana 16-7, 3.49
Game 3 Sunday, TBA @ Boston Angels’ Joe Saunders 17-7, 3.41 Red Sox’s Josh Beckett 12-10, 4.03
Game 4 Monday, TBA, if nec. @ Boston Angels’ John Lackey 0-1, 2.70* Red Sox’s Jon Lester 1-0, 0.00*
Game 5 Wednesday, TBA, if nec. @ Los Angeles Red Sox’s D. Matsuzaka 18-3, 2.90 Angels’ Ervin Santana 16-7, 3.49
*ALDS
