=== Red Sox head to Beantown with 2-0 lead ===

Anaheim, CA (My Sportsbook) - Manny Ramirez knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, Pedro Martinez pitched seven strong innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Anaheim Angels, 8-3, to take a two-game lead in their American League Division Series.

The series shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Friday afternoon.

Martinez (1-0), who was making his first postseason appearance since Boston's devastating Game 7 loss to the Yankees in last year's ALCS, yielded three runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts. He had lost his final four starts of the regular season.

"We're thrilled," Boston manager Terry Francona said of Martinez's performance. "I thought he competed his heart out. The furthest thing from my mind before the game was worrying about his performance."

Jason Varitek belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning that tied the game for the Red Sox, who rallied behind Curt Schilling for a 9-3 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday.

"They've taken it to us, but we haven't got into our game like we can," Angels coach Mike Scioscia said. "If that happens, we'll be able to turn this series around."

Trot Nixon had an RBI single and Orlando Cabrera stroked a three-run double off Brendan Donnelly in the ninth to give Boston four insurance runs.

Vladimir Guerrero stroked a two-run single for the Angels, who are appearing in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2002 World Series.

Bartolo Colon, who won 13 of his final 17 decisions during the regular season, got the start for Anaheim. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks, fanning three.

Colon was replaced by Francisco Rodriguez (0-1) to start the seventh, and Ramirez gave the Red Sox their 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly to deep center field, which scored Johnny Damon.

Rodriguez escaped trouble in the eighth after a wild pitch put Boston baserunners at second and third, but Donnelly couldn't keep the Red Sox off the board in the ninth.

Nixon's RBI single, which scored Ramirez, came with one out and Cabrera cleared the bases with his two-out double to make it 8-3.

"They got to one of the best bullpens in baseball," Scioscia said. "You have to tip your cap to them."

Keith Foulke pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the save for Boston.

"We showed up today to win," Francona said. "We feel good getting to their bullpen. Not only did we get the lead, but we tacked runs on after that."

Colon worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but couldn't do the same in the second when he walked Ramirez with two outs to force home the game's first run and hand Boston a 1-0 lead.

The Angels escaped further damage, however, when catcher Jose Molina gunned down a cheating Mark Bellhorn at second base with a snap throw from behind the plate during David Ortiz's at bat.

Anaheim got the run back in the bottom of the second, pulling even at 1-1 on Dallas McPherson's bloop RBI single into shallow left field with no outs.

The Angels then grabbed a 3-1 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Molina's leadoff bloop single dropped into shallow left, and David Eckstein followed with a base hit to center field. Both runners scored on Guerrero's single to right field with one out -- the veteran's first-career postseason hit.

Boston got those runs back, however, when Varitek belted a two-run homer over the right field wall in the sixth, scoring Kevin Millar to make it 3-3.