Especially Friday night against Boston ace Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-3), who was 9-0 on the road in the regular season. The right-hander with the unusual delivery is known for stretching the strike zone with his pitches.

"He has to throw you a strike, and being patient and letting him work a little bit is going to be huge for us," infielder Howie Kendrick said. "Sometimes you have to talk to yourself. I have to be patient and try to make him give me something over the plate that I can handle."

Matsuzaka lost 7-5 on July 28 in his only appearance against Los Angeles this season, leaving the Angels more familiar with him on tape than in person.

"If you don't know a guy, you got to swing at strikes," Mark Teixeira said.

The Angels counter with Ervin Santana (16-7), who didn't face the Red Sox in the regular season, when Los Angeles won eight of nine matchups. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA in four career starts against them.

"He's throwing the ball well and he's confident," said catcher Mike Napoli, who will be replaced by Jeff Mathis on Friday since Santana had a 14-4 record and 2.88 ERA when they teamed during the regular season.

The Angels have built a reputation for manufacturing runs with their scrappy baserunning, but reckless abandon on the basepaths cost them in Game 1.

Trailing 2-1 in the eighth, Hunter blooped a single over first baseman Kevin Youkilis and Vladimir Guerrero took off trying to advance from first to third.

With his back to the infield, Youkilis in one hurried motion grabbed the ball, got up and threw a dart to Mike Lowell, well ahead of Guerrero, who had ignored the stop sign from third-base coach Dino Ebel.

"My philosophy is to get rid of the ball as soon as possible," Youkilis said. "It probably would have been easier if I'd caught the ball in the first place and gotten us out of the inning earlier."

Youkilis said he didn't hear teammates, including second baseman Dustin Pedroia, yelling at him to throw to third.

"The throw was perfect, a huge play for us," Pedroia said. "All his momentum was on his back foot. He's got a great arm, a very athletic play."