A look at the best-of-five American League division series between the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox:

Schedule: (All times Eastern) Game 1, Wednesday, at Boston (6:37 p.m.); Game 2, Friday, at Boston (8:37 p.m.); Game 3, Sunday, at Anaheim (3:07 p.m.); x-Game 4, Monday, at Anaheim (9:37 p.m.); x-Game 5, Wednesday, at Boston (8:37 p.m.). (All games on TBS).

x-if necessary.

Season Series: Boston won 6-4.

Projected Lineups

Angels: 3B Chone Figgins (.330, 3 HR, 58 RBIs, 41 SB, sixth in AL in batting, third in steals), SS Orlando Cabrera (.301, 8, 86, 20 SB), RF/DH Vladimir Guerrero (.324, 27, 125, used at DH recently due to sore arm), LF Garret Anderson (.297, 16, 80), CF Gary Matthews Jr. (.252, 18, 72, sore knee may limit him), 1B Casey Kotchman (.296, 11, 68), 2B Howie Kendrick (.322, 5, 39), RF/DH Juan Rivera .279, 2, 8), C Mike Napoli (.247, 10, 34).

Red Sox: 2B Dustin Pedroia (.317, 8 HR, 50 RBIs), 1B Kevin Youkilis (.288, 16, 83), DH David Ortiz (.332, 35, 117, 52 doubles, .445 OBP), LF Manny Ramirez (.296, 20, 88), RF J.D. Drew (.270, 11, 64), 3B Mike Lowell (.324, 21, 120), C Jason Varitek (.255, 17, 68), CF Coco Crisp (.268, 6, 60, 28 SB), SS Julio Lugo (.237, 8, 73, 33).

Projected Rotations

Red Sox: RH Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27 ERA), RH Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40, 201 strikeouts), RH Curt Schilling (9-8, 3.87).

Angels: RH John Lackey (19-9, 3.01 ERA), RH Kelvim Escobar (18-7, 3.40), RHP Jered Weaver (13-7, 3.91).

Relievers

Angels: RH Francisco Rodriguez (5-2, 2.81, 40/46 saves), RH Scot Shields (4-5, 3.86), RH Justin Speier (4-5, 3.86), RH Dustin Moseley (4-3, 4.40), RH Chris Bootcheck (3-3, 4.79), LH Darren Oliver (3-1, 3.91), LH Joe Saunders (8-5, 4.44, started all 18 games he appeared in).

Red Sox: RH Jonathan Papelbon (1-3, 1.85 ERA, 37/40 saves), LH Hideki Okajima (3-2, 2.22, 5/7), RH Eric Gagne (4-2, 3.81, 16/20 with Texas and Boston), RH Manny Delcarmen (0-0, 2.05), RH Tim Wakefield (17-12, 4.76, 0 relief appearances this season), LH Jon Lester (4-0, 4.57, 1 relief app.), LH Javier Lopez (2-1, 3.10), RH Mike Timlin (2-1, 3.42).

Matchups

The Red Sox beat the Angels in the 1986 ALCS when they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the last three games, keyed by Dave Henderson’s home run off Donnie Moore in Game 5. Boston clinched the series with an 8-1 victory behind Roger Clemens, then lost the World Series in seven games to the New York Mets. … The Red Sox also beat the Angels in the 2004 AL division series, then won the World Series in a four-game sweep over St. Louis.. … Boston was 6-4 against Los Angeles this season, with Beckett going 1-0 and Schilling 2-1. Matsuzaka has never pitched against the Angels. … Ortiz hit .361 with four homers and 16 RBIs and Drew hit a team-best .382 in those 10 games. … Gagne is pitching better after struggling while making the transition from closer to setup role since Boston acquired him at the trading deadline. He got his first loss for the Red Sox on Aug. 17 when he allowed three runs in the ninth inning to give the Angels a 7-5 win. … Depending on various players’ ailments, manager Mike Scioscia could do the same sort of lineup juggling he did for much of the season, with Figgins possibly moving from 3B to the outfield, and Maicer Izturis taking over at 3B. OF Reggie Willits also could fit into the mix. … Figgins and Guerrero were sidelined when the Red Sox swept three from Los Angeles in Boston in April. But the Angels won four of the final seven meetings.

By The Associated Press

Big Picture

Red Sox: Lowell posted career highs in batting average and RBIs and picked up the slack when Ramirez missed a month late in the season and Drew slumped most of the year. … The Red Sox had the best record in baseball most of the season, opening up an 111/2-game lead in the AL East by May 27. The New York Yankees cut the lead to 11/2 games in the last two weeks before the Red Sox won four out of five games to secure home-field advantage through the World Series. … Pitching has been Boston’s strong point, led by Beckett, who posted his first 20-win season. … Schilling has pitched effectively after coming off the disabled list and reinventing himself because of a loss of velocity. … Matsuzaka finished strong after going 1-4 with a 9.57 ERA in five starts from mid-August to mid-September. … Ramirez missed a month with a strained oblique muscle in his left side but went 6-for-14 after returning for the final week. … Drew hit .393 in the last three weeks. … Papelbon rebounded from last year’s shoulder injury that ended his season on Sept. 1 to save 37 games in 40 opportunities. … Pedroia is a top contender for AL Rookie of the Year.

Angels: Back in playoffs for third time in last four years and fifth time since they won the World Series as a wild card in 2002. … The Angels were in strong contention for the league’s best record this season – and home-field advantage through the AL playoffs – until they lost three in a row to last-place Texas last week. Los Angeles finished 94-68, two games behind both Boston and Cleveland in the race for the best record. That could cost the Angels since they were a major league-best 54-27 at home and 40-41 on the road. … The Angels essentially are the same team that finished second to Oakland in the West and didn’t make the playoffs a year ago. The keys to their success this year included solid pitching, some emerging youngsters filling in when players were injured, Guerrero having his usual productive season at the plate despite some nagging injuries, and a healthy Anderson coming on strong after the All-Star break. … GM Bill Stoneman, a former major league pitcher who has built the Angels around pitching, drew some criticism when he failed to acquire a big bat during the offseason to give Guerrero protection. But Stoneman insisted the Angels would be better than last year and he was right. … Lackey was the staff ace, and Escobar also had a fine year. Although 2005 Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon was ailing and ineffective most of the season and finished with a 6-8 record and 6.34 ERA, and Ervin Santana was inconsistent, the rest of the team’s pitching staff picked up the slack. … Rodriguez again ranked among the best closers in the majors. … Hitting seems particularly contagious for the Angels, with former Los Angeles coach Joe Maddon, now the Tampa Bay manager, saying they had a “swarming” offense that could put up runs in a hurry.

—

Watch For

– Big Three. Can Ortiz, Ramirez and Drew all hit at the same time? Drew slumped after signing a five-year, $70 million contract as a free agent. Ramirez was well off his usual production, even before being sidelined. Ortiz slumped at times while nursing a sore right knee that has required intermittent cortisone shots and days off.

– Big Schill. Schilling is known as a big-game pitcher, and for good reason. He is 8-2 with a 2.06 ERA in four different playoff appearances. He was co-MVP of the 2001 World Series with Arizona and then helped Boston win the ’04 Series with his famous “bloody sock.” But the new Schilling is throwing in the high 80s instead of the low 90s, trying to induce hitters to get themselves out more.

– Fast Runners. Led by Lugo’s 33 stolen bases and Crisp’s 28, the Red Sox stole 96 bases with an 80 percent success rate that is the team’s best since at least 1920. Lugo is only the third Red Sox player with more than 31 steals since 1935.

– Flying Angels: They’re among baseball’s busiest teams on the basepaths. They had more steals (139) than homers (123), and always seem to be trying to go from first to third on singles, whether they make it or not.

– Vlad Launching a 9-iron. Guerrero is able to get the barrel of the bat on the ball almost anywhere it’s thrown, at times lifting pitches that are practically in the dirt up and over the fence.

– Big Game John. Lackey, scheduled to start the first and fourth games, likes to pitch in important games. In 2002, he became the first rookie since 1909 to win a World Series Game 7.

AP-ES-10-01-07 1913EDT