ANGELS GET RUN OUT OF BOSTON RED SOX DOMINATE, BEAT L.A. AGAIN BOSTON 7, ANGELS 2.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA 

Staff Writer

BOSTON -- The other Boston Marathon took place in the first inning Monday, when the Red Sox sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs.

As the real marathon was passing through a block from Fenway Park, the Angels were being run out of town in a 7-2 defeat to the Red Sox that completed a thoroughly unforgettable series.

The highlight of four days in New England ended up being Sunday's rainout. At least the Angels didn't have a chance to embarrass themselves that day.

The offense was hopeless and the pitching wasn't much better, aside from some brief stretches. The Angels were outscored 25-3 in three Fenway Park defeats.

"A few key hits here and there and a few plays on defense and maybe it's a different story," said Gary Matthews Jr., who had one hit in 12 at-bats in the series and made a costly error Saturday. "I'm not going to hang my head.

"I've played the game long enough to know things turn around. It can turn around real quickly. When it does, it's all love. It's easy to get down on yourself and feel bad because you're getting your tail kicked but I've been around long enough to know that's how this game goes."

The Angels received a scare in the first inning when Vladimir Guerrero left the game after being hit on the right wrist by a Josh Beckett pitch one batter after Orlando Cabrera hit a home run.

X-rays on Guerrero's wrist were negative.

"With any player it's scary, but that ball hit him about as firm as you can be hit and you know hopefully it will be something that won't keep him out of the lineup," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We'll see how he feels (today). He'll be day to day and won't miss too much time."

Home-plate umpire Rick Reed issued an immediate warning to both benches, costing the Angels a chance to retaliate.

"If your horse gets hit, you hate to be in a situation where you can't throw in on somebody else or knock somebody down," Matthews said. "You never want to see anybody get hurt, but hey, one of our big boys goes down ,somebody over there has to go down. That's just how this game is. And I'm not saying throwing at somebody's head or hurting somebody."

The biggest added benefit to Sunday's postponed game is that it was rescheduled as part of a Fenway Park day-night doubleheader Aug. 17. The Angels presumably will be playing better by then. Their play can't get much worse than what they have showed of late.

After the start of the game was moved from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern time because of a relentless East Coast rain storm, there was another 15-minute delay on top of that. When it finally began, there was a sign of hope with Cabrera's home run.

It was the Angels' first home run in eight games, a span of 65innings. The run also snapped the 14-inning scoreless streak by Red Sox pitching.

Until Howie Kendrick's home run in the ninth inning, though, there was little else to see. Ervin Santana, who continues to have trouble pitching on the road, gave up four first-inning doubles and was hurt by a Kendrick throwing error.

Santana gave up two runs in his lone home start this season and has allowed 11 earned runs in two road starts. He entered this season with a 6.46 career ERA on the road.

The Angels tried to change things up by having Santana warm up in the bullpen during the top of the first and enter the game from the bullpen in the bottom of the inning. The effort to simulate a home start did not work.

"It's frustrating to see a guy struggle; he's a very talented pitcher," Scioscia said of Santana. "He had a tough start today. I think you have to balance the patience you need to allow a guy to pitch a little longer or pitch out of some stuff depending on what the game needs."

Things got so bad that the biggest reaction on the Boston telecast being shown in the press box came when a fan was hit in the back by a pizza thrown by another paying customer.

The fan who was hit by the pizza had just gotten in the way of Garret Anderson, who was trying to catch a foul popup down the left-field line. He was given fan-of-the-game honors.

The Angels certainly could have been nominated, since they looked like spectators all weekend.

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