BOSTON -- The Angels were held without a home run or a double while losing at home in the first two games of their American League Division Series matchup with the Red Sox, and prior to Game 3 they were confronted will all kinds of questions about their sudden lack of sock.

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Their only extra-base hit in Anaheim was a ninth-inning triple by leadoff man Chone Figgins.

And while they banged out four extra-base hits, including two homers by Mike Napoli, in a 12-inning, season-saving, 5-4 victory at Fenway Park on Sunday night, to a man they suggested that people focusing on their power production are missing the point.

"This is not a team built around the home run," said manager Mike Scioscia. "We like to put pressure on teams with a lot of baserunners, and even though we haven't taken advantage of all the baserunners we've gotten ... we did when it mattered most."

That, of course, was a reference to previously hitless -- in the whole series, not just the game -- Erick Aybar's bloop single in the top of the 12th inning that scored Napoli from second base.

Contrast that to the Red Sox leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th. The one soft single by Aybar has turned the series into a series.

Get 'em over, get 'em ... in?
Until Erick Aybar's clutch hit in the 12th inning of Game 3, the Angels' inability to convert baserunners into runs was their undoing. The Angels have batted just .205 (7-for-34) in the series with runners in scoring position. Here is the number of stranded baserunners for each hitter through three games.
Player
Gm 1
Gm 2
Gm 3
Total
Chone Figgins
1
0
2
3
Garret Anderson
0
3
2
5
Mark Teixeira
1
0
5
6
Vlad Guerrero
2
0
1
3
Torii Hunter
2
4
6
12
Howie Kendrick
6
6
0
12
Erick Aybar
1
5
1
7
Mike Napoli
0
0
3
3
Juan Rivera
DNP
4
1
5
Kendry Morales
0
2
0
2
Jeff Mathis
DNP
0
0
0
Gary Matthews
0
0
2
2
Totals
13
24
23
60

"They got the big hits tonight," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "We didn't. We had our chances, but they did a better job with theirs when it really mattered."

Finally, the Angels came through with a big hit with runners in scoring position. They're still just 7-for-35 in such situations for the series, but the Angels are banking on the premise that if you build up enough pressure, eventually something's going to break.

The Halos are hoping to break out with a flurry of runs in Game 4 on Monday, when they'll try to solve Jon Lester, who held them without an earned run over seven innings in Game 1.

"You know, Lester threw a terrific game in Game 1 and we'll have to do a little better job of pressuring him early and getting some guys on," Scioscia said. "Situational hitting is going to be important."

"We've had a lot of guys on base," said Figgins. "And we were a good-hitting team with runners in scoring position during the season, so you figure that sooner or later we'll get back to that."

The Angels, who went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, stranded 16 runners on Sunday, pushing their total to an eye-popping 36 for the series.

"But that right there tells you how close we are," said Angels outfielder Torii Hunter. "That's a lot of guys on base, and we have a lot of good hitters in here, man. We keep putting guys on, we'll be fine."

The Red Sox went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday, leaving 11 on base.

"One big hit and we win the game," lamented Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis. "They got the big hit, they won the game."

Scioscia said the same pressure principles -- get enough hits of any kind and you'll eventually cash in -- apply to Boston's offense, but the Red Sox only had seven hits to the Halos' 16 on Sunday.

"They're a clutch team," Scioscia said. "You can't give them too many chances, either. ... But if we keep creating the kind of chances we're getting, I like our chances of breaking out as an offense."