2008 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Boston Red Sox (3) Terry Francona 95–67, .586, GB: 2 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1) Mike Scioscia 100–62, .617, GA: 21
Dates	October 1 – 6
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Chip Caray,Buck Martinez andCraig Sager (Games 1–3) Chip Caray,Ron Darling,Buck Martinez andCraig Sager (Game 4)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andDave Campbell
Umpires	Tim Welke Bill Miller Kerwin Danley Ed Rapuano Tim Tschida Marty Foster
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Tampa Bay Rays (3) Joe Maddon 97–65, .599, GA: 2 Chicago White Sox (1) Ozzie Guillén 89–74, .546, GA: 1
Dates	October 2 – 6
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Don Orsillo,Harold Reynolds andMarc Fein
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Gary Thorne andChris Singleton
Umpires	Joe West C. B. Bucknor Ron Kulpa Jeff Kellogg Gary Darling Eric Cooper
← 2007 ALDS 2009 →

The2008American League Division Series (ALDS), the first round of the 2008American League playoffs inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2008 postseason, consisted of twobest-of-five series to determine the two participants in the2008 American League Championship Series. They were:

• (1)Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Western Division champions, 100–62) vs. (4)Boston Red Sox (Wild Card qualifier, 95–67): Red Sox win series, 3–1.
• (2)Tampa Bay Rays (Eastern Division champions, 97–65) vs. (3)Chicago White Sox (Central Division champions, 89–74): Rays win series, 3–1.

Since the Twins and the White Sox completed the regular season with identical records (88–74), the two teams played against each other in aone-game playoff. The White Sox defeated the Twins, 1–0, and thus became the AL Central champions.

The Rays defeated the Red Sox in the ALCS, and went on to lose the2008 World Series to the National League championPhiladelphia Phillies.

Boston won the series, 3–1.

Tampa Bay won the series, 3–1.

In a re-match oflast year's ALDS, startersJon Lester andJohn Lackey were sharp early on, each tossing a couple of scoreless innings. TheAngels finally got on the board in the third, whenTorii Hunter singled homeGarret Anderson to put the Angels up 1–0. Lackey held theRed Sox scoreless until the sixth, when newly acquired left fielderJason Bay hit a two-run homer to put the Sox up 2–1. It would stay 2–1 until the ninth. The Sox got a couple of insurance runs, withJacoby Ellsbury andDavid Ortiz each singling home a run.Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his fifth career postseason save. This marked the Angels' 10th consecutive playoff game loss to the Red Sox (dating back to Game 5 of the1986 American League Championship Series), as well as their eighth consecutive playoff game loss overall (dating back to Game 2 of the2005 ALCS).

The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead in the first thanks to a three-run homer by Jason Bay. The Angels scored one run in the first off an effective but inefficientDaisuke Matsuzaka and continued to chip away at Boston's lead throughout the game. In total, the Angels recorded 11 hits with 10 of them being singles. In the eighth inningMark Teixeira tied the game with asacrifice fly offJonathan Papelbon who had to enter the game prematurely due toJustin Masterson giving up a leadofftriple. The game entered the ninth inning tied at five but that deadlock was broken after a double byDavid Ortiz and a two-run home run to center byJ. D. Drew off Angels closerFrancisco Rodríguez. Rodríguez was charged with the loss and although Papelbon had a blown save he also recorded the win. Boston, leading the series two games to none, headed back toFenway Park. With their eleventh consecutive playoff win over the Angels, the Red Sox broke the record for consecutive playoff wins over another team, which had been set against them by theOakland Athletics who beat the Red Sox in 10 consecutive playoff games from 1988 to 2003.

The Angels got to an early lead whenJuan Rivera drew abases loadedwalk to scoreChone Figgins from third. A fielding miscue by the Angels in the second inning caused afly ball hit byJacoby Ellsbury to drop betweenTorii Hunter andHowie Kendrick in shallowcenter field, scoring three runs (Jed Lowrie,Jason Varitek, andCoco Crisp) and giving the Red Sox a two-run lead. The next inning,Mike Napoli tied the score with a two-run home run over theGreen Monster that completely left the ballpark. In the fifth inning, Napoli hit another home run over the Monster, giving the Angels a one-run lead. Ellsbury andKevin Youkilis hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at four apiece. The score remained deadlocked until the top of the 12th inning, when Napoli scored from second on anErick Aybar single. The Angels' win ended an 11-game postseason losing streak against the Red Sox that dated back to1986, and a nine-game overall postseason skid that dated back to2005.

The game remained scoreless for the first four and a half innings thanks to sharp pitching from bothJohn Lackey andJon Lester. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Boston got its first run whenJacoby Ellsbury grounded out to second base, scoringMark Kotsay from third base.Howie Kendrick bobbled the ball and was unable to try for a double play, which would have ended the inning.Dustin Pedroia then hit a double off the left field wall to scoreJason Varitek from second. In the eighth inning, a passed ball allowedMark Teixeira andVladimir Guerrero to advance on second and third, and they subsequently scored on a single byTorii Hunter to tie the game. In the top of the ninth inning, the Angels threatened with a leadoff double by pinch hitterKendry Morales followed by a sacrifice bunt, but whenErick Aybar failed to make contact on asuicide squeeze attempt, the runner was tagged out. In the bottom of the ninth inning,Jed Lowrie won the game with a walk-off single, scoringJason Bay from second base.

Curiously, the last team to win their division by at least 20 games, the1999 Cleveland Indians, also lost to Boston in theALDS.

2008 ALDS(3–1):Boston Red Sox overLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Rays went up 1–0 in the second on rookie Evan Longoria's leadoff home run in his first postseason at-bat off Javier Vazquez, but starter James Shields allowed consecutive leadoff singles in the third beforeDeWayne Wise's two-out three-run home run put the White Sox up 3−1. In the bottom of the inning, however,Jason Bartlett hit a leadoff single and scored onAkinori Iwamura's triple. AfterB. J. Upton struck out,Willy Aybar's sacrifice fly tied the game before Longoria's home run put Tampa up 4–3. The Rays added to their lead on Longoria's one-out single with two on off Vazquez, who was then relieved byClayton Richard and allowed an RBI single toCarl Crawford.Paul Konerko's leadoff home run in the ninth offDan Wheeler made it 6–4 Tampa, but Wheeler retired the next three batters to end the game and give the Rays a 1–0 series lead as they won their first postseason game in franchise history. Longoria became only the second ever player to homer in his first two career post-season at-bats, the other beingGary Gaetti in1987.

In Game 2, the White Sox loaded the bases offScott Kazmir in the first on a walk, hit-by-pitch, and single whenJim Thome's one-out single followed byAlexei Ramírez's sacrifice fly scored a run each. However, Kazmir and the Rays' bullpen would shut them out for the rest of the game. The White Sox left 12 runners on base and were 3 for 12 with them in scoring position. In the second,Willy Aybar hit a leadoff single offMark Buehrle, moved to third on Ramirez's throwing error to first onRocco Baldelli's line out and scored onDioner Navarro's single. In the fifth,Jason Bartlett singled with one out, thenAkinori Iwamura's home run put the Rays up 3−2. They added insurance in the eighth whenB. J. Upton hit a leadoff triple and scored onCarl Crawford's single to knock Buehrle out of the game. Crawford stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Baldelli's single offOctavio Dotel. Baldelli then scored on Navarro's double offMatt Thornton to put the Rays up 6−2.Chad Bradford pitched a scoreless ninth as the Rays took a 2−0 series lead heading to Chicago.

The Rays got on the board first whenAkinori Iwamura singled with two outs in the second inning to scoreDioner Navarro. Chicago evened the score in the bottom of the third inning whenDeWayne Wise scored on a single byA. J. Pierzynski after stealing second base. Chicago took the lead in the bottom of the fourth whenAlexei Ramírez hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and one out. Then DeWayne Wise doubled to scorePaul Konerko andKen Griffey Jr. In the sixth inning, the White Sox added an insurance run whenJuan Uribe drove inBrian Anderson with two outs. The Rays finally chased starterJohn Danks after a two-run homer byB. J. Upton and a single byCarlos Peña. Neither bullpen allowed any runs;Bobby Jenks recorded thesave.

The Rays established an early lead after home runs byB. J. Upton in the first and third innings, and never gave up the lead. The Rays added two more runs in the fourth on consecutive hits byCliff Floyd andDioner Navarro, and added two more runs on RBI singles byCarlos Peña in the fifth and seventh innings. The White Sox scored on home runs byPaul Konerko (fourth inning) andJermaine Dye (sixth inning), both off Rays starterAndy Sonnanstine who allowed three hits in5+2⁄3 innings.

2008 ALDS(3–1):Tampa Bay Rays overChicago White Sox

• BOS vs. LAA at Baseball-Reference
• TBR vs. CHW at Baseball-Reference

• 2008 Major League Baseball season
• American League Division Series
• Tampa Bay Rays postseason
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