Spirited Angels refuse to fall

BOSTON -- After 11 consecutive losses and two straight playoff sweeps, the Los Angeles Angels had grown tired of being a bump on Boston's road to the World Series.

"I don't ever want to hear about that streak again. Ever. It's over," center fielder Torii Hunter said Sunday after the Angels beat the Red Sox 5-4 in 12 innings to force their first-round American League division series to a fourth game.

"We were trying to get that first win out of the way and then you could see the smiles on people's faces when we got in here," Hunter said.

Mike Napoli hit two early homers off Josh Beckett, then singled and scored the go-ahead run in the 12th to help Los Angeles avoid elimination and snap an 11-game postseason losing streak against Boston.

The Red Sox came back from a 3-1 AL Championship Series deficit to reach the World Series 1986, then swept the Angels 3-0 in 2004 and last year en route to their two World Series titles this decade.

"Last year is last year. They obviously had an incredible year," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "They won their world championship in '04. It was a terrific run. But it's different times now."

Napoli hit a mammoth shot off the Green Monster light stanchion to tie the game at 3-all in the third, then gave Los Angeles a lead with his second homer. The Red Sox tied it at 4-all in the fifth, and it stayed that way until Napoli took part in a little small ball to score the decisive run in the 12th.

After hitting a leadoff single, Napoli took second on Howie Kendrick's sacrifice and scored when Erick Aybar looped a single to left-center.

"Hopefully about a month from now we'll talk about that 3-2 breaking pitch that Nap hit off one of the toughest pitchers ever in a playoff environment," Scioscia said. "That was big. It got us back in the game."

Jon Lester will face Angels right-hander John Lackey in Game 4 tonight, and if the Angels win that one they would return home for the decisive fifth game Wednesday.

Beckett, one of the most dependable pitchers in postseason history, gave up a double to Chone Figgins on the game's first pitch and struggled through five innings. The Angels got six scoreless innings from five relievers to keep them in the game until Jered Weaver finished it 5 hours, 19 minutes after the first pitch.

Weaver, in his first career relief appearance, pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Javier Lopez, the sixth Boston pitcher, took the loss.

Francisco Rodriguez, who had a record 62 saves during the regular season, allowed J.D. Drew's ninth-inning homer to lose Game 2 and almost took another loss Sunday. The Red Sox loaded the bases against the Angels' closer in the 10th, but he got Jed Lowrie on a routine fly to right to end the threat.

Winner of a major league-best 100 games in the regular season, Los Angeles was in danger of the shortest possible stay in the playoffs against the wild-card Red Sox. After losing the first two at home, the AL West champions came to Boston needing to beat Beckett, who has been virtually unbeatable in October.

The air was crisp, the baseball was not.

The Angels misplayed a popup into three runs -- the first three-run single in postseason history. Beckett failed to cover the bag on a grounder to first. Third baseman Mike Lowell, playing with a sore hip, two-hopped a throw to first that Kevin Youkilis dug out to avoid an error. Hunter was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double leading off the ninth.

Beckett needed 30 pitches to get through the first half-inning, which took 22 minutes. Meanwhile, the Angels left the bases loaded in the first and fourth -- stranding eight in the first four innings.

Beckett gave up Figgins' leadoff double and then, after a pair of strikeouts, handed out two walks and a single. Napoli grounded out to end the inning but came back in the third with a two-run shot off the light stanchion to tie it 3-all and then again with a solo shot in the fifth that made it 4-3.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis doubled in the bottom half to tie it and spare Beckett the loss.

In all, Beckett was charged with four runs on nine hits and four walks, striking out six in five innings. The fiery right-hander saw his postseason ERA balloon to 2.09 from 1.73, which had been the third-best in baseball history (minimum 40 innings).