Tue Apr 22 10:29:43 2008

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Red Sox host Angels in playoff rematch

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(Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox take aim at their sixth straight win this evening when they open a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Fenway Park.

This, of course, is the first meeting between these teams since the Red Sox dispatched the Angels in three straight games in last year's American League Division Series. Boston outscored the Angels 19-4 in that series, en route to their second World Series title in four years.

On Monday, though, Boston got a terrific outing from rookie Clay Buchholz, as the 23-year-old right-hander hurled six innings of five-hit shutout ball for his first win of the season in the Red Sox' 8-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Patriots Day.

David Ortiz went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Dustin Pedroia knocked in a pair for Boston, which swept the four-game set with the Rangers and has won nine of 10.

Ortiz, who entered the series hitting a mere .111, was 7-for-16 with a homer and 11 RBI against Texas, raising his average to .177.

Boston hopes ace Josh Beckett can duplicate Buchholz's performance from Monday, as he tries to record his third straight win. Beckett beat the New York Yankees for the second time in as many starts on Thursday, surrendering three runs and six hits in eight innings to improve to 2-1 on the year, while lowering his earned run average to 5.12.

Beckett has faced the Angels four times in his career and is 2-0 against them with a 2.16 ERA.

Los Angeles will counter with young right-hander Jered Weaver, who has lost three of his four starts this season. The 25-year-old hurler was tagged with the loss on Wednesday against Kansas City, as he gave up three runs (two earned) and 10 hits in six innings, dropping him to 1-3 to go along with a 3.60 ERA.

Weaver is 0-2 lifetime against the Red Sox with a 4.70 ERA in four starts.

Los Angeles enters this series on a sour note after being denied a sweep in its three-game series with the Seattle Mariners, dropping the finale of the set, 4-2, on Sunday at Angel Stadium.

The loss went to Dustin Moseley (1-2), who was tagged for four runs on eight hits, with a pair of walks and three strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Gary Matthews Jr. drove in both runs, while Vladimir Guerrero and Maicer Izturis each had two hits for the Angels, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

Boston won six of its 10 regular season matchups with the Angels a year ago and is 15-11 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign. Los Angeles is also just 6-10 in Beantown in that time.