Sox, Lester, Bay take game one 4-1

OCT 1. Anaheim, CA. Jason Manny Bay's two run shot in the 6th inning paved the way to a Red Sox victory in Game Number One.

"I think we proved a lot," Bay said. The Angels won eight of nine regular-season games between the teams this year, outscoring the Red Sox 42-17 in the final six. But the Red Sox have won 10 straight postseason games against the Angels dating to 1986, including first-round sweeps in 2004 and 2007 en route to World Series titles. The World Series champion Red Sox tied a major league record for consecutive postseason wins over the same opponent, a mark Oakland set against the Red Sox from 1988-2003

Lester got the Game 1 assignment after Josh Beckett was pushed back to Game 3 because of an oblique problem. He retired his final seven batters, striking out four, and only one outfielder had a putout during his stint. Lester struck out seven and walked one.
"Early he established his fastball in," Francona said. "Once we got the lead, he really went after 'em. He came with a vengeance and struck out the side." That was in the bottom of the sixth, when Lester fanned Howie Kendrick, Mike Napoli and Matthews.

The Angels, who wrapped up the AL West title with 2 1/2 weeks left in the regular season, finished with a franchise-best 100-62 record that was tops in the majors. But they lost for the eighth time in 10 postseason home games since winning the 2002 World Series.
Lackey, who won Game 7 of that World Series, allowed two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings with three walks and five strikeouts