Now they need hits.
The four the Red Sox managed in each of their two losses probably won't be enough in Game 3 today. And they'll probably need more than one run - their total in those two games - to avoid a sweep.
The passionate fans at Fenway Park will shout for their players but can't swing the bats for them. The team with five 20-home run hitters faces two options: start hitting or start packing their bags.
"I don't think the panic button or any more undue pressure is really going to be that beneficial," said Jason Bay, who hit 36 homers this season but has just one hit in the postseason. "Guys know where we're at."
Boston is in a much different place than it was in its last three division series against the Angels - sweeps in 2004 and 2007 when the Red Sox won two World Series titles and a 3-1 series win last year.
Now the Angels have a chance for the first postseason sweep in team history.
"We're not concerned with any of that," manager Mike Scioscia said. "No one has a handle on a series until you win that third game and you clinch it."
The Red Sox bounced back from another two-game deficit last year when they forced a seventh game after losing three of the first four to the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL championship series.
Then the Rays led 7-0 after 6½ innings of Game 5 behind Scott Kazmir. But he left after six innings and the Red Sox rallied for an 8-7 win at Fenway.
Kazmir, a left-hander traded to the Angels on Aug. 28, will be back on that mound today, trying to eliminate the Red Sox for the second straight year in a stadium where he is 2-0 with 3.27 ERA.
"I like the atmosphere," he said. "I really just get amped up for games like that where you have a crowd just all over you and just kind of just being in a territory that you're really not comfortable in."
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz must avoid getting too amped up for his first postseason start.
The 25-year-old right-hander went 2-9 last year and was called up to Boston on July 21 this season. He was 7-4 with a 4.21 ERA and struggled in his last two starts.
"I know the nerves are going to be there in the first and second inning," he said. "After the first pitch and first couple of batters I'll try to take it back to where I was in the middle of the season. Just rely on (my) fastball to get ahead and (keep) going from there."
But a strong performance by Buchholz won't be enough without support, just as good outings by Boston starters Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the first two games didn't keep the Angels from winning 5-0 and 4-1 behind superior pitching by John Lackey and Jered Weaver.
"It's not all on (Buchholz's) shoulders," Bay said. "Offensively, we can help him out a little bit."
The heart of Boston's lineup has struggled with Victor Martinez going 1-for-7, Kevin Youkilis 1-for-8 and David Ortiz 0-for-8 with four strikeouts.
"There is no big picture for us," Youkilis said. "We have to go out and win a ballgame or we're going home."
For the Angels, Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer in the opener. In Game 2, Maicer Izturis drove in the go-ahead run and Erick Aybar followed with a two-run triple.
The Angels arrived in Boston on Saturday night after working out at home. The Red Sox left on their cross-country flight right after Game 2.
Today's game starts at 11:07 a.m.
"We'll show up (and) do what we always do on early games," said Boston manager Terry Francona, who missed the Game 1 introductions with suspected food poisoning, "have 12 pieces of bacon, a Red Bull and go get 'em."
Pavano hopes to help Twins avoid sweep by Yankees
MINNEAPOLIS - Carl Pavano called those four injury-riddled, tension-filled seasons in New York a "black period" in his career.
Considering the size of his contract and his complete lack of production, Pavano in pinstripes became one of the biggest free-agent busts in baseball history.
The right-hander has started to correct that wrong turn this year with a decent performance for Cleveland and Minnesota, finding himself in the playoffs with an opportunity to further frustrate the Yankees - if he can win Game 3 for the Twins today.
"I can't ask for much more than that," said Pavano, who was acquired by Minnesota in August. "When I look back on it obviously things could have been a lot different, but it didn't work out that way. But I feel like I am getting back to where I was before all those problems."
Down 2-0 in the best-of-five division series after a devastating 11-inning defeat at Yankee Stadium on Friday, the Twins are in yet another must-win situation after spending the stretch drive in that pressurized mode.
They knew about Pavano's huge struggles to stay healthy and the trouble he had finding friends in the clubhouse during all that time spent on the disabled list. In two months, though, Pavano has had no problem fitting in with the Twins.
"We're just a Minnesota-nice group, and we like the hell out of the guy," manager Ron Gardenhire said, chuckling at the trashing Pavano took in the city tabloids and by the New York fans through the duration of the $39.95 million, four-year deal.
Pavano won only nine games and made just 26 starts in that stretch.
This season, he went 14-12 over 33 starts combined for the Indians and Twins.
The Yankees won't have their rabid home crowd to boo Pavano. They must instead put up with the tricky roof and boisterous fans at the Metrodome, needing to win once to avoid going back to the Bronx for an elimination game. It's an intimidating environment, one that the Twins have thrived on for years.
Not so much lately in October. They're on a seven-game postseason losing streak, including two losses each in 2003 and 2004 to the Yankees in the first round.
, though that's not part of the thought process. Plus, only a handful of current players were on those teams.
"We're just living for the day," Gardenhire said.
The Twins finished the regular season 17-4, including that thrilling tiebreaker game victory over Detroit, and made up a seven-game deficit to the Tigers over the final three weeks.
"Our backs have been against the wall here for a while," said catcher Joe Mauer, who's a bit banged up from playing so much down the stretch. He said there's no question he'll be behind the plate on Sunday.
The Yankees were plenty loose while they took batting practice in the afternoon, laughing and smiling as they worked out at the Metrodome. They're wary, however, of letting up against a Twins team that put 21 runners on base Friday night and has been playing with desperation since early September.
"You don't really want to let them get their foot in the door," Girardi said.
