G20: Red Sox 5, Angels 0

Red Sox - 011 021 000 - 5 11  0
Angels  - 000 000 000 - 0  2  0

After allowing only one hit to the Blue Jays in seven innings last Monday, Matsuzaka (8-1-0-3-9, 115) showed similar dominance over the Angels. The new economical Dice has faced only three or four batters in 14 of his last 15 innings; he has retired the side in order in 10 of the 15 innings.

The Red Sox have won four straight games and seven of their last eight -- the starting pitchers have a 1.01 ERA in those eight games -- and are now tied for third place in the AL East.

The lone hit was a second-inning infield single by Alberto Callaspo, who lined the ball right back at Matsuzaka's head. Dice got his glove up in time and deflected the ball to Jed Lowrie at shortstop. Lowrie tried to make a play at first base (and it was fairly close), but Callaspo beat it out.

Carl Crawford and Jason Varitek hit back-to-back doubles in the sixth inning. For Varitek, it was only his second hit of the season (he's now 2-for-27). Crawford also singled in the second, driving in Boston's first run against Santana (7-9-5-1-9, 104). Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run opposite-field dong, Lowrie had two hits, and Jacoby Ellsbury singled twice, stole two bases, and scored two runs.

Daisuke Matsuzaka / Ervin Santana

Last Friday night, the Red Sox rallied with a three-run eighth inning against the Blue Jays, but lost 7-6, dropping their record to a dismal 2-10. For the week since then, here are the records of the AL East teams:

Red Sox    6  1 (outscored opponents 34-16)
Yankees    3  1
Rays       4  3
Orioles    2  4
Blue Jays  2  4

Boston picked up 1.5 games in the standings and is now 3.5 GB the Yankees. All four of the non-first place teams in the division are within one game of each other, so there should be a fair amount of shifting around in the next week. After the Angels series, the Red Sox head to Baltimore.

AL East: Rays/Blue Jays at 1 PM and Yankees/Orioles at 7 PM.