Red Sox Take Advantage of Angel Pitching, 12-7

This was no buzz saw the Angels ran into this week. It was more like a wood-chipper, one of those machines that grinds tree branches into sawdust in a matter of seconds.

The Angels came to New England having won 10 of 11 games, their confidence surging along with their playoff hopes, but after two games against the Boston Red Sox, their pitching staff -- especially the rotation -- is in tatters.

The Red Sox pounded starter Aaron Sele and reliever Scot Shields in a 12-7 victory over the Angels in front of a sellout crowd of 35,076 in Fenway Park on Wednesday, extending their winning streak to eight.

The Angels remained three games behind Oakland after the Chicago White Sox ended the A’s eight-game winning streak Wednesday -- but they fell 3 1/2 games behind Boston in the wild-card race.

Sele was rocked for seven runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, and the usually dependable Shields was torched for five runs and five hits, including Kevin Millar’s three-run home run in the sixth, in two innings.

The Red Sox, who are 46-21 at home, have feasted on Angel pitching, amassing 22 runs and 32 hits, including four home runs, in two games. Starters John Lackey and Sele have combined to give up 13 runs -- 11 earned -- and 17 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“I think they’re going to be a force in whatever ballpark they’re playing in,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, dismissing a question about the Red Sox being tougher at home. “Right now, they could play in the Grand Canyon and score runs.”

Leadoff batter Johnny Damon had four hits and scored two runs for the Red Sox, Millar drove in four runs, and Millar, Mark Bellhorn, Jason Varitek and Orlando Cabrera each had two hits.

Tonight, Angel ace Bartolo Colon gets a chance to prevent a three-game series sweep.

“There’s a need for good pitching; it’s important to stop the dry spell,” Scioscia said. “But it’s going to take more than Bartolo, [Kelvim] Escobar and [Jarrod] Washburn coming back. It’s going to take four or five guys who will start the remainder of our games to give us a chance to win.

“Every day, a new season starts. We need a good effort on the mound, whether we won these two games or have to stop a little skid.”

Sele gave up four runs and four hits in the first inning, a rally highlighted by run-scoring hits by Bellhorn (double), David Ortiz (single) and Cabrera (triple), and Millar’s sacrifice fly.

“They’re a hot team right now, they’re playing great at home, and you’ve got to make good pitches,” Sele (8-2) said. “That first inning, I don’t know if I threw an off-speed pitch for a strike, and my fastball was up.”

The Angels rallied off Boston starter Bronson Arroyo to tie the score, 5-5, scoring two runs in the second on RBI singles by Chone Figgins and Darin Erstad and three in the third on Bengie Molina’s RBI double, Figgins’ sacrifice fly and David Eckstein’s RBI single.

But they squandered an opportunity in the second when, with the bases loaded and one out, Vladimir Guerrero struck out and Garret Anderson grounded out to third.

Sele ran into more trouble in the fourth when Damon and Bellhorn hit consecutive one-out doubles for one run and Manny Ramirez singled.

Scioscia summoned Shields, who had a 7-2 record and 3.10 earned-run average in 50 games. The right-hander gave up Ortiz’s sacrifice fly, and the Red Sox tacked on two more runs in the fifth, and three more in the sixth on Millar’s 14th homer of the season.

The Angels scored 14 runs in two games here and lost both games, an offensive display that hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Red Sox dugout.

“I still think they’re the best team we’ve played all year,” Damon said of the Angels.

“They’re scary. But we’re playing well.”