Obviously, the team at WEEI.com has boundless affection for El Alcalde and his remarkable City Hall. But Mark Kotsay is enjoying one of those only-in-the-postseason sorts of games. He scored the first run, made an incredible sliding catch in the sixth and added an over-the-shoulder grab on a foul ball down the right field line in the seventh. I’m trying to grab him off the waiver wire for my fantasy football team. 

Colleague Rob Bradford noted that Jon Lester had the lowest swing-and-miss percentage of any Sox starter this year at 18.4 percent. But he’s capable of living on the hands of opponents, resulting in a ton of weak, weak contact. He blitzed through the seventh (Rivera pop-out to second, Kendrick foul out to first on Kotsay’s slick play and Erick Aybar’s harmless liner to center). The Angels are now 10-for-53 (.188) against him this series. It is a very Beckett-like mark.

As we head to the bottom of the inning, Hideki Okajima is warming in the bullpen and Jonathan Ppaelbon is starting to stretch. Both, of course, pitched yesterday. Okajima has been strikingly effective this year when pitching in back-to-back games, having not allowed a single earned run in 12 contests. For the low-down on the Sox bullpen performance with zero days of rest, check this out. 

Lackey once again proved excellent in the bottom of the seventh, stranding Jed Lowrie (leadoff single off the Wall) by getting Jason Varitek to fly to center and getting Jacoby Ellsbury to hit into a double play grounder, shortstop-unassisted to first. Ellsbury grounded into nine double plays in 168 plate appearances this year. 

Red Sox 2, Angels 0