RED SOX'S FLEX LINEUP WORKS.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

BOSTON - The Angels tried to do it their way, running all over Fenway, stealing and maneuvering and trying to find some way to manufacture runs and a desperately needed playoff victory.

Boston uses a very different approach, and safe to say, its way is winning.

The Red Sox went to their power game when it was most needed Friday, and Manny Ramirez responded with the kind of shot they sing songs about in NewEngland.

All those stolen bases by the Angels, all those runners put in motion and that choreographed player movement by manager Mike Scioscia went for naught when Ramirez launched a three-run, ninth-inning homer off closer Francisco Rodriguez that should be landing sometime soon in the New Mexico desert.

The dramatic walk-off blast cleared the Green Monster in left field and disappeared into the darkness, pretty much taking the Angels' playoff hopes with it.

The Red Sox now lead the best-of-five American League Division Series 2-0. The series heads to Anaheim for Game 3 on Sunday, and the Angels will be frantically trying to avoid their second playoff sweep to the Red Sox in four years.

"This can be done," Scioscia said.

Mathematically, of course it is possible.

Realistically, the Angels' playoff expectations left Fenway with Ramirez's blast.

The Angels tried to play their game. Stole five bases. Played hit and run. Used all that situational hitting. Went to Rodriguez early. Tried to play smart, tried very hard to pitch around David Ortiz.

It was Ortiz' two-run homer that sparked the Red Sox's 4-0 victory in the series opener, and the Angels weren't about to take any chances with him Friday. They walked Ortiz four times, twice intentionally, each time bringing up the dangerous Ramirez.

The first time, aided by a teenager in the second row who swiped the ball out of catcher Jeff Mathis' glove on a foul ball, Ramirez walked. But this time, with two outs and two on, the insult proved one too many.

"He made them pay," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "That's the way you play the game."

Ramirez's swing exploded on Rodriguez's second pitch, in one of those never-a-moment's-doubt shots that screamed out of the ballpark.

Ramirez, who had struggled with an oblique injury in September, stood at home plate and took in the flight path. He raised both arms overhead and then began his triumphant jog around the bases.

"I haven't felt right all year long," Ramirez said. "When you don't feel right and still get hits, that's when you know you're a bad man."

The Angels were simply left feeing bad, and worse, hurting. The lone serious threat in their lineup, Vladimir Guerrero, was hit on the left shoulder by a Manny Delcarmen fastball in the seventh inning. Guerrero left the game the next inning with a bruise that made it difficult to raise his arm. Scioscia said he expects Guerrero to play Sunday, but real expectations are getting hard to come by with the Angels.

Compared to the Angels', the Red Sox's lineup is loaded. Too many weapons, too many ways to beat you, too deep a bullpen. The Angels are looking one-dimensional by comparison.

And now they're down 0-2 and about to face Curt Schilling in Game 3, and, if necessary, Josh Beckett in Game 4.

"Naturally, it's not a desirable position," Scioscia said. "The series is not wrapped up until you win three games.

"One thing about our club, when we get into our game, we can turn around quickly."

The Angels tried to utilize their game in the second inning. A Daisuke Matsuzaka walk to Casey Kotchman and a line single off the glove of diving second baseman Dustin Pedroia by Kendry Morales opened the inning.

Matsuzaka struck out Howie Kendrick, but then a typical Angels' baserunning play kept the rally alive. With runners on the corners, one out on and a full count, Scioscia sent Morales on the next Matsuzaka pitch. When Jeff Mathis bounced to third, it avoided the double play and Kotchman scored. Chone Figgins then doubled in Morales and Orlando Cabrera doubled in Figgins to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.

For a moment, Angels baseball was working.

Matsuzaka left after 42/3innings having already thrown 96 pitches. Angels starter Kelvim Escobar, likewise, only lasted five innings, and the game became a battle of two of baseball's finest bullpens.

Scot Shields, whose erratic second half cost him the setup role, pitched himself in and out of trouble in the seventh. It began with a two-out walk to Ortiz. Then Ramirez walked, and suddenly there were flashbacks of the Shields who became unreliable in the late summer.

Scioscia stayed with Shields, even though he was throwing his second inning, and he was rewarded when Mike Lowell flied out to center.

With the score tied 3-3, the Angels tried to squeeze out another run in the eighth. With two outs, Francona brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon. Kendrick hit a routine bouncer to Lowell at third, but his throw went in the dirt and for an error when Kevin Youkilis couldn't field it.

Scioscia pinch-hit Juan Rivera after Kendrick stole second, and he walked. Kendrick stole third. Scioscia pinch-ran Reggie Willits and he stole second.

The Angels were trying so hard to manufacture the go-ahead run. But Figgins was called out on strikes, and that was that.

All the little ball in the world, wasn't going to bring down Ramirez and the Red Sox.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Vladimir Guerrero tosses his bat after being hit by a pitch from Boston's Hideki Okajima.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

(2) The Angels' Chone Figgins is congratulated by teammate Garrett Anderson after scoring in the second inning of Friday's game at Fenway Park.

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press