Helped by a 17-year-old fan who barehanded a foul pop away from Angels catcher
Jeff Mathis, the
Boston Red Sox tied Los Angeles 3-3 after six innings of the second game of their playoff series Friday night.
Manny Ramirez's at-bat continued after the fan, Danny Vinik of suburban Boston, snagged the ball as it was about to settle into Mathis' outstretched glove with one out in the fifth. The cleanup hitter ended up walking before
Mike Lowell tied it with a long sacrifice fly that would have been the third out had Mathis caught the ball.
The Red Sox won the opener of the best-of-five AL division series 4-0 on Wednesday night behind
Josh Beckett's four-hitter.
Lowell's sacrifice fly took
Daisuke Matsuzaka off the hook after his ineffective playoff debut.
The major league rookie with the $52 million, six-year contract left with two outs in the fifth and the Angels leading 3-2. He allowed three runs and seven hits with three walks.
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Angels starter
Kelvim Escobar lasted five innings and was charged with three runs and four hits with five walks.
The fans even were celebrating as Matsuzaka was giving up consecutive run-scoring doubles to
Chone Figgins and
Orlando Cabrera in the Angels' three-run second after
J.D. Drew gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the first inning that lasted 36 innings and 61 pitches.
The crowd was cheering the news out of Cleveland where
Travis Hafner's bases-loaded single had just given the Indians a 2-1 win in 11 innings and a 2-0 series lead over the
New York Yankees, Boston's longtime rivals.
When the hit fell in, a roar went up and Matsuzaka waited until it subsided. Then he served up a 93 mph fastball that Figgins looped down the left-field line. Ramirez overran it, his hat falling close to the ball, and Figgins raced to second as
Kendry Morales scored the tying run.
Matsuzaka's next pitch also was a 93 mph fastball and the results weren't any better. Cabrera hit that to left-center, where
Coco Crisp retrieved it but had no chance to get the speedy Figgins at home.
The free-swinging Angels, aware of Matsuzaka's occasional bouts of wildness, were unusually patient and it paid off.
The Angels' first run in the third came after
Casey Kotchman led off with a walk, took third on Morales' single and scored on Mathis' groundout to third baseman Lowell.
Boston tied it in the fifth after
Dustin Pedroia led off with a double,
Kevin Youkilis then grounded out to Escobar, who stepped in first as Pedroia took third. After
David Ortiz was walked intentionally, putting him on base for the 19th time in his last 23 plate appearances, Ramirez walked before Lowell tied the game.
Ortiz had singled in the first, stretching his hot streak to 19-for-33 in 10 games, including the last eight of the regular season. Youkilis, who had walked, and Ortiz scored on the single by Drew, who struggled most of the year.
The Red Sox got a scare when second baseman Pedroia dove to his left and clutched his left shoulder after failing to come up with Morales' single into short right field. Manager Terry Francona and trainer Paul Lessard ran from the dugout and checked on the star rookie, who remained in the game.
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Manny walks off with a big 3 run HR
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