YES. WE. CAN.

(AP Photo)

By Chuck Richter – Angelswin.com Executive Editor

Can we do it? YES. WE. CAN!

On Sunday night the Angels won what was a grind of a game. Put on hold were celebrations in the streets of beantown and in the clubhouse. The Angels sent Red Sox fans home looking like they were baptized in lemon juice and have put the pressure squarely on Boston.

Tonight, the Angels have a chance behind John Lackey who nearly pitched his first no hitter of his career in Boston earlier this season. John and the Halos offense will attempt to hold down the Red Sox and force a deciding game 5 at home in Anaheim. John opposes Jon Lester who threw a gem in game 1. The Angels go into game 4 after getting a good look at Jon, hoping to send Lester to the showers early.

In game 1, the Angels middle of the order was on base against Lester and hit him well (8 hts, 1 walk), but it was the Figgins (0-5), game 3 star Napoli (0-4), Kendrick (0-4) Mathews (0-3) and Aybar (0-4) who did not get on base at all, thus resulting in 1 run.

That needs to change, but the good news is that Figgins, Napoli and Kendrick (2 hits last night) have all started hitting. Perhaps Aybar’s bat will wake up after driving in what was the winning run in the 12th inning last night.

Game 4 starts in less than 10 minutes and the result of tonight’s game cannot squash what has been a fantastic season in ’08. But with that said, Arte’s Angels want to fly back with a purpose in mind after tonight’s game, not looking back on the highlights of the season or plans for the offseason, they want to come back winners and give a little deja vu to the viewers and fans, a vision of what once took place in 2002 when the Angels had their backs up against the wall vs. the Giants in the World Series going into game 6, only to win the next two games.

See, for us Angels fans, this series against the Red Sox is of that magnitude, they’re the team to beat, they’re the team that has owned us in postseason, they’re the team that we need to put under our feet as we march forward for the ring, and do away with any talk of a curse or superiority that Boston has over us.

If the Angels silence the crowd in Boston tonight and if the chowds listen closely, they’ll hear a sound that resonates with Angels fans in October, all the way from Anaheim. The sound they’ll hear is:

YES. WE. CAN.

Game 4 lineups:

Los Angeles Angels

3B Chone Figgins
LF Garret Anderson
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Vladimir Guerrero
CF Torii Hunter
C Mike Napoli
RF Juan Rivera
2B Howie Kendrick
SS Erick Aybar

RHP John Lackey

Boston Red Sox

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Dustin Pedroia
DH David Ortiz
3B Kevin Youkilis
RF J.D. Drew
LF Jason Bay
1B Mark Kotsay
SS Jed Lowrie
C Jason Varitek

LHP Jon Lester

Angels fans, join us in the Gameday Chat Room for tonight’s contest here:
http://angelswin.com/chat.htm