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

Schedule: (All Hawaii times)

Game 1, Wednesday, at Anaheim, Calif. (4:07 p.m.);

Game 2, Friday, at Anaheim, Calif. (3:37 p.m.);

Game 3, Sunday, at Boston (TBA);

x-Game 4, Monday, Oct. 6, at Boston (TBA);

x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Anaheim, Calif. (TBA). (All games on TBS).

x-if necessary.

Season Series: Los Angeles won 8-1.

Projected Lineups

Red Sox:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury (.280, 9 HRs, 47 RBIs, 50 SB, 18-game hitting streak to end season)

2B Dustin Pedroia (.326, 17, 83, 213 H, 118 R, 54 2B, 20 SB)

DH David Ortiz (.264, 23, 89)

1B Kevin Youkilis (.312, 29, 115)

RF J.D. Drew (.280, 19, 64)

LF Jason Bay (.293, 9, 37 in 49 games with Red Sox after July 31 trade from Pittsburgh; .286, 31, 101 overall)

3B Mike Lowell (.274, 17, 73)

SS Jed Lowrie (.258, 2, 46)

C Jason Varitek (.220, 13, 43)

Angels:

3B Chone Figgins (.276, 1, 22, 34 SB)

LF-DH Garret Anderson (.293, 15, 84)

1B Mark Teixeira (.358, 13, 43 in 54 games with Angels after July 29 trade from Atlanta; .308, 33, 121 overall)

RF-DH Vladimir Guerrero (.303, 27, 91)

CF Torii Hunter (.278, 21, 78)

2B Howie Kendrick (.306, 3, 37)

DH-OF Juan Rivera (.246, 12, 45) or Gary Matthews Jr. (.242, 8, 46)

C Mike Napoli (.273, 20, 49) or Jeff Mathis (.194, 9, 42)

SS Erick Aybar (.277, 3, 39)

Projected Rotations

Red Sox:

LH Jon Lester (16-6, 3.21 ERA)

RH Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-3, 2.90)

RH Josh Beckett (12-10, 4.03)

Angels:

RH John Lackey (12-5, 3.75 in 24 starts)

RH Ervin Santana (16-7, 3.49)

LH Joe Saunders (17-7, 3.41)

Relievers

Red Sox:

RH Jonathan Papelbon (5-4, 2.34, 40/45 saves)

LH Hideki Okajima (3-2, 2.61)

RH Manny Delcarmen (1-2, 3.27)

RH Tim Wakefield (10-11, 4.13, 0 relief appearances this season)

LH Javier Lopez (2-0, 2.43)

Paul Byrd (11-12, 4.60)

Mike Timlin (4-4, 5.66)

Justin Masterson (6-5, 3.16)

Angels:

RH Francisco Rodriguez (2-3, 2.24, major league-record 62/69 saves

RH Scot Shields (6-4, 2.70)

RH Jose Arredondo (10-2, 1.62)

LH Darren Oliver (7-1, 2.88)

RH Jered Weaver (11-10, 4.33 in 30 starts)

RH Jon Garland (14-8, 4.90 in 32 starts)

RH Kevin Jepsen (0-1, 4.32 in 9 appearances).

Matchups

Boston won the first meeting this season, then manager Terry Francona's team lost the next eight. ... 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 also swept the Angels in the 2004 and 2007 AL division series, going on to win the World Series both times. ... The Red Sox were outscored 22-9 when they were swept in a three-game series by the Angels at Fenway Park, the last time the teams met. The next day, the July 31 trade deadline, Boston traded disgruntled slugger Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers and obtained Bay from Pittsburgh in a three-team deal. ... Beckett had his second-worst outing of the season July 30 against Los Angeles when he allowed eight runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 9-2 loss. Matsuzaka also lost in that series. ... The Angels hit .305 and averaged 6.8 runs in the nine regular-season meetings, while the Red Sox batted .252 and averaged 3.7 runs. Los Angeles' ERA was 3.60, Boston's was 6.23. ... Lackey and Saunders each went 2-0 against the Red Sox this season. Santana didn't have a decision against them. Ortiz is 10-for-30 with two home runs lifetime against Lackey. ... Rodriguez went 5-for-5 in save tries vs. Boston.

Big Picture

Red Sox: Beckett, a proven star in the postseason, was pushed back to Game 3 after hurting a muscle in his side during his regular bullpen session Friday. ... The Red Sox could be missing Lowell, with a sore left hip, and Drew, who had a strained lower back but played Sunday. Lowell was the World Series MVP last year when Boston won its second championship in four years by sweeping Colorado. ... If Lowell can't play, Youkilis would move to third base and Sean Casey or Mark Kotsay would play first. ... Boston (95-67) earned the wild-card berth and finished 2 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East after winning the division last year. ... Papelbon has been solid again as the closer. The rest of the bullpen has struggled at times but was strong late in the season. ... Beckett is 6-2 with a 1.73 ERA in the postseason, with three complete games in 10 starts. He has 82 strikeouts in 72 2-3 innings and an opponents' batting average of .159. ... Wakefield, a knuckleballer, once again moves to the bullpen in the short series. He is 1-1 with an 8.25 ERA in the bullpen during the postseason during his career. ... Red Sox once again sold out every game this season, and set a major league record for consecutive home sellouts.

Angels: AL West champs for the fourth time in five years, which hasn't necessarily boded well for their postseason chances. The only time the Angels made it to the World Series was as a wild card in 2002, when they beat San Francisco for their lone title. ... This year, the Angels head into the playoffs looking like the team to beat. They were the first team to clinch a division crown, wrapping it up on Sept. 10 and finishing with a franchise-best 100-62 record that was tops in the majors. ... Their lineup is scary stuff for opposing pitchers, especially since they added Teixeira and Hunter to the middle of the card. Figgins and Kendrick, sidelined by injuries at various times, both are back and add depth to the offense. The speedy Figgins is a dangerous leadoff man. ... Lackey, who won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie, heads one of baseball's best rotations. Saunders emerged this year and Santana is back in the groove after an inconsistent 2007. Lackey will start Game 1 and is penciled in to go again in Game 4, if necessary. ... Even the Angels' bench is impressive, with Rivera and Reggie Willits good enough to start in the outfield for some teams. The depth gives aggressive manager Mike Scioscia many options. He's moved guys around the lineup and shuffled several players in and out of the DH spot.

Watch For

— Boston Medical Group. Will Beckett be healthy enough to pitch Game 3? Drew and Lowell planned to travel with the team to California and test their injuries right up until the deadline for submitting the playoff roster. Lowell appeared in only 12 games the last six weeks and Drew played just two games in September.

— Kool-Rod. The seemingly unflappable Rodriguez was a sensation as an untested rookie in the 2002 postseason, so he knows what it's like to perform under intense pressure on baseball's biggest stage.

— Power Outage. Youkilis provided unexpected punch in the cleanup spot after Ramirez was traded, but the Red Sox could have trouble hitting homers, especially if Lowell and Drew don't play. They can compensate, however, with tough at-bats and pure speed. Ellsbury, Pedroia and Coco Crisp were the first Boston trio to steal at least 20 bases apiece since 1914. Ellsbury's total was the third-highest in team history behind Tommy Harper (54) and Tris Speaker (52).

— Down and Dirty Angels. They're a typical Scioscia team that stays busy on the basepaths, always dusting off their uniforms after hitting the dirt to stretch a hit or take an extra base.