Beckett threw 108 pitches, a whopping 83 for strikes. He struck out eight and walked none in a game that lasted only 2 hours 27 minutes.
"I was just out there trying to execute pitches until somebody takes the ball out of my hand and the game's over," Beckett said after his masterpiece. "I never got ahead of myself. It was always one pitch at a time. It didn't matter what was go ing on. They hit some balls at some guys and I was fortunate."
"He went out and executed his pitches better than he has at any point in the season," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "That was a great performance."
There was something downright Patriot-ic about the win. Even when the score was 1-0, after two innings, it had the feel of a Tom Brady-led, 38-14 thrashing of an AFC East rival at Gillette Stadium. It was clear Beckett was in control and you didn't need Peter Gammons in your ear to tell you the Red Sox were going to come out on top.
Ancient Fenway was decked out in playoff bunting for the first time since the Sox were swept out of the 2005 postseason by the Chicago White Sox. Club choreographer Dr. Charles Steinberg enlisted the Standells to perform the national anthem (the Kingsmen must have been booked), which they followed with "Dirty Water" - a standard played after every Fenway victory. Red Sox Nation president-elect Jerry Remy, whose landslide victory was announced earlier in the day, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Remy played second base for both the Angels and Red Sox in the 1970s.
Angel starter John Lackey is apparently allergic to Fenway (1-5 lifetime), so it wasn't surprising to see Kevin Youkilis crush a solo homer into the Monster Seats in the first.
"I got a good fastball to hit and tried to take a good swing at it and luckily I got a good result," said Youkilis. "This is playoff time and adrenaline helps the most."
