Angels, Bosox tied at 1 thru 6 innings in Game 2
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josh Beckett and Jered Weaver remained locked in a pitcher's duel Friday night, with the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels tied at 1 through six innings in Game 2 of their AL playoff series.
Victor Martinez hit an RBI single for Boston in the fourth. Kendry Morales tied it in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly.
After scrawling the initials of late teammate Nick Adenhart with his finger on the back of the mound — a routine he has followed since the car crash that killed Adenhart and two friends back in April — Weaver retired his first nine batters before Jacoby Ellsbury led off the fourth with a triple over the head of center fielder Torii Hunter.
Ellsbury, whose 10 triples during the regular season tied Minnesota's Denard Span for the AL lead, snapped an 0 for 24 postseason drought with that hit. He scored on Martinez's one-out hit to center, ending a 20-inning scoreless drought by the Red Sox that included Thursday night's 5-0 loss in Game 1.
Weaver had six strikeouts through six innings without walking a batter and allowed just those two hits.
In Weaver's other postseason start, on Oct. 7, 2007, he lost 9-1 to Boston's Curt Schilling in Game 3 of the division series. The right-hander also pitched two scoreless innings of relief against the Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2008 ALDS to get the victory.
Weaver faced Boston twice during the regular season, both times at home, allowing one earned run over 13 2-3 innings. He beat them 6-3 in his season debut, then got a no-decision on May 12.
Beckett matched zeros with Weaver through the first three innings and received some defensive help from second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who made a diving stop of Bobby Abreu's first-inning grounder in the hole and threw him out. Right fielder J.D. Drew then made a running, shoestring grab of Mike Napoli's slicing flyball in the third.
In the fourth, after a leadoff single by Abreu, ageless third baseman Mike Lowell made a diving grab of Hunter's line drive toward the line to rob him of a possible RBI double. But Vladimir Guerrero followed with a hit-and-run, opposite-field single that sent Abreu to third, and Morales pulled the Angels even with his flyout to right.
Jason Bay, who hit three of his 36 homers this season at Angel Stadium, came within a few feet of another in the fifth when Hunter had to race to left-center to track it down.
Beckett, who was 6-0 with a 3.04 ERA in his previous eight postseason starts since losing Game 3 of the 2003 World Series, was making his third postseason start against the Angels. He threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout in Game 1 of the 2007 ALDS. Last year, the he gave up four runs and nine hits over five innings in Game 3 of the division series and ended up with a no-decision.
The Angels, who won their third straight division title, took the series opener 5-0 behind John Lackey. During the regular season, Beckett was 8-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 starts following Red Sox losses.
Source: The Associated Press
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