A sample smattering of chatter about the Sox from the guys on the other side of the field.

It took the Angels six months to earn home-field advantage, three hours to lose it. It took the Angels six months to win 100 games, three hours to turn their next game into a must-win.

It took the Angels six months to build themselves into World Series favorites, with Mark Teixeira and an offense fortified for October, three hours to resurrect all those nagging questions, to remind us good pitching alone cannot beat good hitting.

Halos Heaven:

John Lackey was great. Garret Anderson had the audacity of hope. Darren Oliver was great. Torii Hunter was great. Teixeira was okay. Scot Shields was terrible. Vlad was October Vlad but will suffer the biggest criticisms while it was Howie Kendrick choking that cost us this game.

The Angels have dug themselves a hole, so we will now see if they are as resilient and competent as the 2002 Halo squad

Daily News:

Armed with the homefield advantage in the ALDivisional Series on Wednesday night, the Red Sox limping into Anaheim like wounded revolutionary soldiers with drums, fifes and flags, and Manny Ramirez safely relocated to the Dodgers, the Angels again assumed the position against their nemesis.

They dropped a 4-1 decision in front of 44,996. It was 2-1 into the ninth, which sounds like a taut game, but the word has more to do with the way the Angels' collars bunch whenever they see New England's finest.

The Halo Is Lit:

As disappointing as last night's game was, it was made worse by having to listen to TBS's broadcasting team of Chip Carey and Buck Martinez's game-long, incessant verbal suck job of the Red Sox team. It was ridiculous as to how much time they spent going on and on about Lester, Ortiz, Ellsbury, et.al.

OC Register:

Sure, teams have come back from bigger deficits than 2-0 in the postseason. The Red Sox, for example, did it against the Yankees not long ago.

But the Angels winning three in a row against Boston? Two of which would be at Fenway Park? Please.

In Play, No Outs:

I shouldn't have to root for a god damned hit by pitch in the bottom of the ninth to get the tying run to the plate. Papelbon throws straight fastballs. Mike Lowell is hurt. Try bunting for a base hit. Play Angels baseball. For some reason, every time October rolls around, Scioscia thinks he's managing the Yankees and stops doing the little things that make him a good manager and his team fundamentally sound during the regular season.

6-4-2:

The excruciating sameness of this game compared to the 2007 or 2005 (against the White Sox anyway) or 2004 postseasons was just numbing. True, the Angels went through so much this year, beating the Red Sox in the regular season both soundly and reliably, and yet when all was said and done, the Angels really didn't have an answer different from those other postseasons.