Scouts arrive to talk strategy.

Byline: Bill Ballou

COLUMN: RED SOX NOTES

BOSTON - The consultants arrive in force today as the Red Sox get ready for the Angels.

In baseball, consultants are called things like "advance scouts" and Boston's will meet with manager Terry Francona and his coaching staff this afternoon at Fenway Park to talk strategy about the upcoming Angels series, which starts Wednesday.

"There's a lot of hours that go into this," he said. "Again, it doesn't mean you're gonna win, doesn't mean you're gonna lose, but it gives you a comfort level going in that you've covered everything, and as a staff, we need to be prepared."

The decision to open the division series Wednesday and not Thursday did not create very much stress at all, according to Francona.

"It wasn't something, to me, that was probably gonna make a difference," he said. "It's the same for both teams regardless of where you play. It's not something we lost a lot of sleep over."

Speedster finishes on high note

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3 for 4 with a double and finished the season with a .353 average. He will be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award next season if he is in the major leagues, which seems certain.

Yesterday, though, Ellsbury ran the Sox out of a potential winning rally in the ninth when he took too wide a turn around first after hitting a single to right.

Ellsbury was out in a rundown on the play and instead of having men at first and third with nobody out, Boston had a man on third with one out and could not get him in.

"He just got a little too excited going around first," Francona said. "The aggressiveness, we like."

Health is the key

The game was literally one of those "at least no one got hurt" events with nothing at all riding on the outcome, and the Sox are about as healthy going into the playoffs as they could possibly be.

"We're definitely going in the right direction," Francona said. "We made a huge effort, during some pretty trying times, to not panic."

Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Hideki Okajima, all of whom missed some time in September recovering from either injury or fatigue, all appear to be 100 percent healthy or close to it. David Ortiz, who dealt with nagging injuries throughout the regular season, is swinging the bat better now than at any previous point in the year.

Playoff roster up in air

Boston went with a fairly standard starting lineup to open the game, then there was liberal substitution. Ramirez batted second and Ellsbury was in right as part of that starting nine.

The Sox have until 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning to finalize their roster for the division series, and Francona did not drop any hints as to what "bubble" players might make it or not, or whether Boston would carry 10 or 11 pitchers.

Wives bring food

The wives of Okajima and Daisuke Matsuzaka sent up trays of Japanese delicacies to the press box before the game, and broadcaster Joe Castiglione provided cake in honor of his 25th anniversary doing Red Sox games.

Lester gets work in relief

Jon Lester worked two perfect innings of relief behind starter Julian Tavarez. It was the first relief appearance of Lester's major league career, but in terms of what that might mean for Lester's immediate future, Francona said, "Don't read too much into it."

Diamond Dust

The Red Sox will have an optional workout here tomorrow starting around lunchtime. Players are not obligated, or even encouraged, to attend, Francona said. ... Manny Delcarmen pitched one scoreless relief inning and finished the year with 9-1/3 shutout innings. He had an 0.98 ERA for his final 18 games of the year. ... The Fenway Park sellout streak has reached 388 with yesterday's gate of 36,364.

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX