Escobar hopes to stick around a little longer

BOSTON -- Kelvim Escobar’s last playoff start in Fenway Park didn’t begin well for him or end well for the Angels.

The right-hander needed 92 pitches to complete 3 1/3 innings in which he gave up five runs -- three earned -- and five hits, walked five and struck out four in Game 3 of the 2004 American League division series.

The Angels got Escobar off the hook with five runs in the seventh, tying the game on Vladimir Guerrero’s grand slam off reliever Mike Timlin, but Boston slugger David Ortiz hit a walk-off, two-run home run off Jarrod Washburn in the 10th to give the Red Sox a series-clinching 8-6 win.

“We came here down, 2-0, in the series, and I think I put too much pressure on myself and tried to do too much,” Escobar said. “I was just trying to get a win for the team, and it didn’t work out.”

It won’t be do-or-die tonight for Escobar, who will oppose right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 2, but history is weighing heavily against Escobar and the Angels.

Since the Angels entered that fateful ninth inning with a 5-2 lead over Boston in Game 5 of the 1986 AL Championship Series, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels, 52-18, including Dave Henderson’s two-run home run off Donnie Moore, and have gone 7-0 against the Angels in the postseason.

But there is a piece of recent history working in Escobar’s favor: While sluggers Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have worn out Angels ace John Lackey, they haven’t had much success against Escobar, who has held Ortiz to a .167 average in 24 at-bats and Ramirez to a .219 average in 32 at-bats.

Concerned that rest might lead to rust, closer Francisco Rodriguez and setup man Justin Speier each threw full-effort bullpen sessions after Game 1 Wednesday night, and Darren Oliver threw in the bullpen Thursday.

“You go through this during the season, a week without throwing, so it’s no big deal,” said reliever Scot Shields, who warmed up Wednesday night and threw a bullpen session Tuesday. “It’s fine as long as you get your work in.”

Speier said that at the end of his session, he threw a simulated inning. “I gave up a bleeder and punched one guy out,” Speier joked.

He claimed he did not give up a simulated home run to Ortiz.

The Angels and Lackey have both withered in Fenway Park, but no one has struggled more than Shields, who has a 17.65 career earned-run average in 11 games here, suffering several horrific, late-game meltdowns.

Is Shields, whose August struggles led to his demotion from the setup role, concerned that Manager Mike Scioscia might be reluctant to use him here?

“I hope not,” Shields said. “I have all the confidence in the world, and I hope he does too. I understand that my track record here may not be the best, but I think my track record overall the last few years has been pretty good.”

Entering Thursday, there had been five complete games thrown in the previous 94 postseason games since Dodgers pitcher Jose Lima beat St. Louis in the 2004 National League division series.

All of those complete games have come against the Angels, four by the Chicago White Sox to close the 2005 ALCS and Boston right-hander Josh Beckett’s four-hit shutout Wednesday night.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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Inside the numbers: Game 2 preview

* The Red Sox boast the best 3-4-5 combination in the American League. Boston’s heart of the order hit .305 with a .912 OPS during the regular season. This will be a key factor for Kelvim Escobar, the Angels’ Game 2 starter. He allowed a .600 slugging percentage in September to hitters 3 through 5 in the lineup.

* The Angels ranked third in the majors in batting average against inside fastballs at .285. This is an area of the plate that tonight’s Red Sox starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, uses for a third of his fastballs. Howie Kendrick is the Angels batter most likely to turn on Matsuzaka’s inside heat. The second baseman is batting .379 against fastballs on the inner third of the plate.

* Matsuzaka relies heavily on his slider -- 32% of his pitches to right-handers have been sliders. Keep an eye on whether Vladimir Guerrero gets a hold of one: He ranked fourth in AL with a .568 slugging percentage against sliders.

* Escobar pitched six innings of one-run ball in his last outing, but was shelled in his four other September starts. During those outings, he developed a habit of falling apart when the count went to the hitter’s favor:

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Strike percentage with count in hitter’s favor

(counts of 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0 and 3-1): Escobar’s four poor Sept. starts 58%

Escobar’s other 2007 starts 69%

Major league average 63% *--*

* If Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon gets a save opportunity tonight, the outlook isn’t good for the Angels. Papelbon, who has not pitched since Sunday, is 22 of 23 in save chances with a 1.48 earned-run average when pitching on two or more days’ rest.

Source: Inside Edge Scouting Services