Angel Fall Comes Early in Boston

The Angels headed for batting practice Thursday shaking their heads and grumbling under their breath, the completion of Oakland’s victory over the Chicago White Sox on the clubhouse television deflating a room that is usually bustling with pregame frivolity.

That hardly matched the dejection the Angels felt some five hours later, after the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Angels with a tension-filled, 4-3 victory before a sellout crowd of 35,050 in Fenway Park, delivering another body blow to the Angels’ playoff hopes.

The Angels had won 10 of 11 games when they arrived in Boston, trailing Oakland by two games in the American League West and the Red Sox by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race.

They headed for Cleveland late Thursday night trailing the A’s by four games and Boston by 4 1/2 games, the Red Sox taking command of the wild-card race by winning nine in a row and 15 of 16.

“That’s a big swing right there,” Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “It doesn’t put any more pressure on us. When you’re chasing, whether you’re one or four games back, there’s always pressure to keep playing well. It’s not that we played terribly here; they just played tremendous baseball.”

No Angel felt the frustration as keenly as Kennedy, who was doubled off second when former Dodger Dave Roberts made a diving catch of Chone Figgins’ sinking liner in the right-center field gap in the fourth, and who swung through a hit-and-run attempt that resulted in Troy Glaus’ being thrown out at second in the ninth.

With the Angels trailing, 4-3, Glaus opened the ninth with a single into the left-field corner off Boston closer Keith Foulke. Glaus is a good baserunner, but a speedster, he is not.

That didn’t stop Manager Mike Scioscia from calling a hit-and-run on the first pitch, a Foulke changeup that Kennedy missed. Catcher Jason Varitek dug out the low pitch and fired a one-hop throw to shortstop Orlando Cabrera, whose scoop and swiping tag cut down Glaus.

Kennedy struck out, and pinch-hitter Jeff DaVanon popped to short to end the game, Foulke recording his 26th save to preserve the victory for Derek Lowe, who gave up single runs in the first, second and third innings but blanked the Angels on two hits over the next 4 1/3 .

“I could have gone with a bunt, but Troy is running well,” Scioscia said. “With our bullpen [thin], I wanted to give ourselves the best chance to tie the game and get the winning run on base with less than one out.

“I wanted to stay aggressive. It didn’t work that time, but where we were in the order, the way Adam was swinging the bat -- he’s been one of our hottest hitters -- if Cabrera doesn’t make an incredible pick and tag, Troy takes the base.”

For the third night in a row, the Angels had few answers for Boston leadoff batter Johnny Damon, who had a double, two singles, a run and a run batted in, completing a monster series in which he went nine for 14 (.643) with four runs.

But at least Colon slowed baseball’s hottest team to a degree with a 4 2/3 -inning, four-run, 10-hit, 112-pitch high-wire act that was filled with as much courage as it was futility.

Though the Red Sox had six doubles and a home run (by Bill Mueller in the second) off Colon, the Angel right-hander made two great pitches to one of baseball’s best hitters, Manny Ramirez, striking out the Red Sox slugger looking to end the second inning, and again with runners on second and third and none out in the fourth.

Colon escaped the fourth by getting Varitek to pop to third, and after Kevin Millar walked to load the bases, Cabrera struck out to end the inning.

Continuing the theme of the evening, in which the Red Sox stranded 14, Angel reliever Brendan Donnelly retired Mark Bellhorn on a fly to left with runners on second and third to end the fifth and struck out Mueller looking at a full-count fastball to end the sixth with the bases loaded.

“There’s a tremendous amount of energy sucked out of you, because every pitch, you have to be perfect on,” Colon said through an interpreter. “You try to finesse, that doesn’t work. Falling behind in the count definitely doesn’t work. I was able to hold them, but my pitch count was too high.”

And the Angel win count was too low. The schedule doesn’t get much kinder -- the Indians have won five of six from the Angels this season -- but at least the Angels had Boston in their rear-view mirror late Thursday night.

“I’m definitely glad we’re leaving here,” Kennedy said.