They tried their best to live up to that brash statement, with four runs off playoff-untouchable Josh Beckett, matching bullpen arm for bullpen arm, as the game headed into extra innings in front of 39,067 at Fenway Park, most of whom lasted as the game headed to its fifth hour. That was when Erick Aybar's single to center scored Mike Napoli with the winning run in the 12th in a 5-4 victory that gave credence to Scioscia's words.
And left the Red Sox, still ahead, 2 games to 1, headed to Fenway tonight for Game 4. Not that the Sox, though frustrated, had any doubts that they control a series in which they have two more chances to win one game.
"We're confident in our team, we've been all year, hopefully we can come out and play better," said Dustin Pedroia, expressing frustration at being 0 for 13 in the series. "We're up two games to one.
"We like our position, obviously. If we started the series and we said we were up two games to one right now, we'd be pretty excited about it. We've just got to find a way to win one more game."
Or, as Jason Varitek said, "We still have to continue to go out and play our game and worry about ourselves. We lost tonight. Good thing we play later today."
When Aybar's single dropped in front of Coco Crisp, it was hardly a moment gilded in postseason glory. It was hardly one for the scrapbooks, at least for the Red Sox.
For the Angels, it was another story, their season on the brink, a lost opportunity to mash Beckett leading to a bullpen matchup as midnight came and went. There was drama, there was a mystic moment, there was a win, and that was all that mattered.
"It's always frustrating to lose a game," Beckett said. "We played a good game, just as good a game as they did, except they scored one more run than we did. They had opportunities, we had opportunities."
The Red Sox and Angels will do it all over tonight, with the Sox getting another chance to clinch a trip to the American League Championship Series, this time with Game 1 winner Jon Lester on the mound.
