Terry Francona has two favorite expressions, each of which applies to the red-hot Boston Red Sox.

One is that things are never as bad as they seem or as good as they seem.

The other, which the Sox manager invokes even more frequently, is that if you manage like a fan, you’ll wind up being a fan – in other words, fired.

Just as the Red Sox were not as bad as their 2-10 start suggested, they may not be quite as good as their subsequent 8-1 surge indicates. But the second version of this team seems much closer to the truth.

The Sox head to Baltimore for a three-game series that opens Tuesday night. West Coast trips have been a killer for this team in the past, but Boston not only cleaned up with a 5-1 showing, it dominated the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels in remarkable fashion.

The Red Sox settled for a split in Oakland, then swept four straight from the Angels. In the last nine games, starting with three straight home wins over Toronto, Boston starting pitchers have a 0.88 ERA.

In those nine, the Red Sox have outscored their opponents 46-16. They outscored the Angels 20-5, winning the last two games by shutout.

Red Sox starters have gone at least five innings and allowed fewer than three runs in all nine games. That matches a franchise record set in 1946, when Boston won 104 games.

When the Red Sox were skidding to the worst record in baseball, Francona tinkered with the lineup but avoided radical changes.

That prudence is paying dividends now. Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey have rediscovered their form and complete an intimidating rotation.

Matsuzaka has allowed no runs and two hits in 15 innings over his last two starts – one-hit, quality starts back to back. No pitcher in baseball has been better.

The outcry to trade or release Dice-K has fallen silent. Actually, the Red Sox would have a better chance to trade him now that he’s shown he can pitch so well.

But what team wants to give up a pitcher who has been practically unhittable?

That’s what Francona had in mind when he said instant reactions to a slump can cause more harm than good. He took a similar approach to Jonathan Papelbon, ignoring cries to install a new closer when his incumbent struggled in spring training.

Papelbon has responded by going 5-for-5 in save opportunities. His ERA is 2.16, and he has 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings.

Lackey allowed one run and 10 hits in his last 14 innings. Having pitched well in a loss to the A’s, and shut out the Angels, he faces another AL West opponent in his next start.

Seattle comes ot Fenway Park this weekend. First comes the series at Baltimore, where the starters will be Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

Boston’s biggest challenge could be Tuesday night when the Sox face left-hander Zach Britton (3-1), one of baseball’s most promising rookies.

One significant adjustment in the season’s first three weeks has been the emergence of Jason Varitek as co-starting catcher. The Red Sox are 6-2 in his starts.

Beckett and Matsuzaka have flourished under his guidance. Initially, Francona did not want to match specific pitchers with catchers, and long-term for the season, there is still Varitek’s age (39) and current batting average (.074) to consider.

But the results have been so good that the team captain figures to share time with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, especially seeing time when Beckett and Dice-K are on the mount.

The Red Sox are relying more on pitching and hitting. Their .239 team average ranks 11th in the American League; Baltimore is 12th at .230.

With a wondrous April, Jed Lowrie has taken over at shortstop. It was not a move Francona foresaw in spring training, but Lowrie’s .431 average has made it impossible not to play him.

Carl Crawford is showing signs of life as well. Locked in a horrible slump for nearly three weeks, Crawford hit his first home run Sunday.

His .171 average is up from a low of .127.

Just as Boston entered the season hyped as baseball’s best team, Baltimore was considered one of its most improved. Armed with good young pitching, the Orioles got off to a 6-1 start, but have lost 11 of their last 13.

The AL East standings read like this: New York, Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto and Baltimore, in order. Life has returned to normal, just as Francona figured it would while others were calling for an overhaul

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — John Lackey kept the line moving — a variation on one of Boston manager Terry Francona’s favorite expressions regarding his potent batting order. Only this time, it has to do with the Red Sox’s starting rotation.

Lackey beat his former team again with eight superb innings, Carl Crawford hit his first home run in a Boston uniform, and the Red Sox completed a pitching-dominated four-game sweep of the Angels on Sunday with a 7-0 victory that extended their winning streak to five.

The Red Sox extended their streak to nine consecutive games in which their starting pitcher has gone at least five innings and allowed fewer than three runs. The rotation, which has a 0.88 ERA during this stretch, tied the longest such streak in franchise history, set in 1946.

“Sure, there’s definitely a sense of not wanting to be the guy to stop the streak,” Lackey said. “It’s a pretty good run, but it’s not unexpected. We’ve got some guys here with some pretty good track records.”

Lackey (2-2) scattered six hits, struck out six and stranded eight baserunners, becoming the third straight Boston starter to hold the Angels scoreless. The right-hander’s solid outing came on the heels of Daisuke Matsuzaka’s eight innings of one-hit ball in Saturday night’s 5-0 victory.

Josh Beckett allowed two runs and just three hits over eight innings in the series opener before the Red Sox won 4-2 in 11. The next night, Jon Lester gave up four hits in six scoreless innings of a 4-3 win, helping Boston’s rotation carve out a minuscule 0.60 ERA in the series. The only blemish was Torii Hunter’s two-run homer off Beckett.

“I think it obviously helps to see somebody do it. You just try to follow it and not screw it up,” Lester said after Sunday’s game. “We’re just executing pitches right now. That’s the main thing. We’re very confident. We just have to stay healthy. We’ve been in this position before with a good rotation and weren’t able to stay healthy, which didn’t get us anywhere. So if everyone keeps taking their turn everything should take care of itself.”

Lackey, who spent his first eight big league seasons with the Halos and won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie, is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts against them. Two of those wins have come at Angel Stadium, where Lackey is 51-32 with a 3.93 ERA in 114 starts, including a 4-2 victory for the Red Sox last July 27.

“I’ve won a few games in this stadium for sure,” said Lackey, who left Anaheim to sign a five-year, $82.5 million free-agent contract with the Red Sox in December 2009. “This is a great place to pitch, especially with that ocean air coming through here a little bit. So you’ve got to hit it pretty good. It’s nice to come back here and see some guys you know. But, really, if you look at their lineup today, there’s not too many guys that I played with for an extended period of time.”

Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox, who have won 13 of 14 games against the Angels since Los Angeles swept them in the 2009 AL division series. The sweep dropped the Halos’ record to 12-10.

“We’ve squeaked out about as many wins as you could expect from having so many issues on the offensive side right now,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Do we need more offense? Yes. Are we lucky to be where we are? No. I don’t think it’s luck. I mean, it’s not luck when you guys like Jered Weaver and Dan Haren pitching as well as they are.”

Neither Haren nor Weaver pitched Sunday, however. Matt Palmer (1-1) allowed four runs and six hits in five-plus innings.

Crawford, who signed a seven-year, $142 million deal with the Red Sox in December after setting career highs with 19 homers and 90 RBIs last season for Tampa Bay, made it 6-0 in the sixth with a drive to right-center on a full count against Hisanori Takahashi after Kevin Youkilis chased Palmer with a leadoff single. Crawford’s homer came in his 81st at-bat with the Red Sox.

“It just felt good to hit the ball hard and have it leave the yard,” Crawford said. “I was just glad I got the first one out of the way and was able to do something good to help the team. I’ve been feeling a little bit better, but I’m not out of the woods yet. I’m still in a grind mode.”

A light but steady rain pelted Angel Stadium all morning, but the only part of the infield that was covered was the mound, and the first pitch was delayed 5 minutes. The Angels have been rained out at home only 15 times in franchise history and 10 times since moving down to Anaheim. The last rainout was June 16, 1995, against the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox have never been rained out in Southern California.

Lackey, who came in with a 9.82 ERA in his first three starts, had already missed a turn in the rotation when Boston’s scheduled home game against Tampa Bay on April 13 was rained out. He didn’t like it, and he’s used that disappointment to fuel his competitive fire.

“That’s the first time I’ve pitched in the rain here, I think,” Lackey said with a grin. “It was pretty crazy to warm up in the rain. But I’ve played in Boston for more than a year now, so I’ve gotten used to throwing in the rain.”

Notes: This was Boston’s first four-game sweep at Anaheim since June 1980. The Red Sox swept a four-game set from the Angels last May at Fenway Park, outscoring them 36-16. … Angels 2B Maicer Izturis was a late scratch because of a sore left hamstring.

(Sports Network) – The Boston Red Sox have the brooms ready for the LA Angels of Anaheim this afternoon, when they shoot for a four-game sweep of the hosting Halos from the Big A.

Boston has won four straight, seven of eight games and improved to 4-1 on a nine-game road trip with Saturday’s 5-0 blanking of the Angels behind eight scoreless innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K allowed just one hit and struck out nine batters to even his mark at 2-2.

“He threw strikes, changed speeds and that was fun to watch,” said Boston manager Terry Francona. “He’s given up only two hits in a bunch of innings and I hope he can build off this.”

Daniel Bard allowed a hit, but struck out a pair of Angels in the ninth inning to preserve the shutout. Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer, while Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Jason Varitek each drove in a run in the win.

The Red Sox will visit Baltimore for three games on the trek and will hand today’s pitching duties over to former Anaheim ace John Lackey. Lackey departed the City of Angels for New England last season and spent seven years with the Angels. Lackey, who went 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA for Boston in 2010, is only 1-2 in three starts this season to go with a 9.82 earned run average.

Lackey suffered a tough-luck loss at Oakland on Tuesday, when he fired six innings of one-run ball in a 5-0 loss. His lone win this season came on April 8 versus the despised New York Yankees in his only home start at Fenway Park. The right-hander handled his former Angel teammates quite well last season, going 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three starts.

Anaheim entered this series with Boston having won two straight and seven of eight games. Unfortunately, the offense hasn’t come alive in this set and registered just two hits on Saturday.

Alberto Callaspo and Erick Aybar supplied the hits for the Angels, who couldn’t seem to solve Matsuzaka.

“Fastball, changeup, breaking ball, splitter … everything worked for him,” Angels shortstop Erick Aybar said. “He threw a lot of strikes. That’s the best I’ve seen him pitch.”

The Angels, 0-3 on a seven-game homestand, saw starter Ervin Santana fall to 0-3 on the season after he surrendered all five runs and nine hits in seven innings. Santana had nine K’s in defeat.

Taking the mound for the Halos in Sunday’s series finale will be right-hander Matt Palmer. Palmer is 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA in just two starts this season and defeated Texas the last time out in Tuesday’s 15-4 drubbing. Palmer held the Rangers to a run and three hits over six innings.

Palmer is 1-0 with a 7.30 earned run average in three career games (1 start) against the Red Sox.

Boston has won 12 of its last 13 meetings with the Angels.

The Sports Network

ANAHEIM – Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed one hit and struck out nine over eight innings, Kevin Youkilis homered and the Boston Red Sox beat the Angels 5-0 on Saturday night at Angel Stadium for their fourth consecutive victory.

Matsuzaka (2-2) allowed only four baserunners, none of which advanced past second base. The only hit off the right-hander came with one out in the second – a vicious line drive back to the box by Alberto Callaspo that deflected off Matsuzaka’s glove as he tried to protect his face and caromed to shortstop Jed Lowrie. Callaspo just beat Lowrie’s throw to first.

Matsuzaka, who came within one strikeout of matching his career high, was coming off a 9-1 victory Monday that ended a career-worst stretch of seven consecutive winless starts. He came in with a career 5.88 ERA against the Angels, including the postseason.

The Angels’ only other hit was an infield single to deep shortstop by Erick Aybar against Daniel Bard leading off the ninth, but the right-hander came back to strike out Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter before retiring Vernon Wells on a grounder to second.

The Red Sox extended their streak to eight consecutive games in which their starting pitcher has gone at least five innings and allowed fewer than three runs. The rotation, which has a 1.01 ERA during this stretch, is one game away from tying the longest such streak in franchise history, set in 1946.

Ervin Santana (0-3) gave up five runs and nine hits

in seven innings, raising his ERA to 5.51. It’s the first time in the right-hander’s seven-year career that he’s gone winless in his first five starts of a season. Last season he was 17-10, and in 2008 he started out 6-0 in seven starts.

With second baseman Howie Kendrick, catcher Jeff Mathis and center fielder Peter Bourjos all getting rested, Angels manager Mike Scioscia’s shuffled his lineup and had Hank Conger, Mark Trumbo and Reggie Willits filling out the bottom three spots in the batting order. The trio were a combined 0 for 8 with six strikeouts.

Boston took a 2-0 lead with Carl Crawford’s RBI single in the second inning and a run-scoring single by Adrian Gonzalez in the third. It was only the fourth RBI for Crawford in his first 75 at-bats with the Red Sox, who signed the four-time All-Star to a seven-year, $142 million free-agent contract in December after he drove in a career-high 90 runs last season for Tampa Bay.

Youkilis, who fouled a ball off his left shin Thursday night and sat out Friday’s 4-3 victory, made it 4-0 in the fifth with a two-out opposite-field homer to right-center after a leadoff single by Jacoby Ellsbury.

Jason Varitek, who came in 1 for 17 lifetime against Santana, drove in Boston’s fifth run with a double in the sixth after striking out and grounding out his first two times up. The hit snapped an 0-for-19 drought overall for the Red Sox catcher, who started in the ninth spot in the order for the first time since April 11, 2009, at Anaheim.

 

The way Jon Lester started out, it looked as though he would get deep into the game.

He only lasted six innings because of a high pitch count, and had to sweat it out before Jonathan Papelbon saved another one for him.

Lester scattered four hits without allowing a run, and the Boston Red Sox overcame some shaky relief by Matt Albers and Bobby Jenks to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Friday night. The Red Sox improved to 8-5 following a season-opening six-game losing streak, making manager Terry Francona’s 52nd birthday a happy one.

“I had good fastball command early, but it got away from me a little bit,” said Lester, who struck out his first four batters. “I nit picked a little bit and got into some deep counts, and there were a lot of foul balls. I just didn’t get that early contact that I needed. So unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go real deep in the game and I just had to grind it out.”

Lester (2-1) struck out eight, walked two and departed with a 4-0 lead after throwing 111 pitches. Boston’s starters have allowed no more than two earned runs in any of the last seven games, with a 1.19 ERA during that stretch.

“I remember back about the middle of that homestand, somebody asked me: ‘What’s the best way to get it going?’” Francona said. “And I said, ‘A time or two through the rotation and have them give us a chance every night.’ And that’s exactly what’s happened.”

Dan Haren (4-1) allowed four runs, two earned, in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked three en route to his first loss in 13 starts since Aug. 20 at Minnesota.

“I don’t want to lose, obviously, but the chances were that I wasn’t going to go 34-0. So it was probably going to happen at some point,” Haren said. “It was kind of a weird game. A couple of balls found holes, so it’s not like it was flying everywhere.”

Albers, activated from the 15-day disabled list Thursday after missing 11 games with a strained muscle in his back, made his first appearance since April 5 for the Red Sox and gave up an RBI single to Jeff Mathis in the seventh.

Jenks surrendered an RBI single in the eighth to Bobby Abreu that ended an 0-for-15 drought. Abreu got to second on a wild pitch and came all the way home on a passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many attempts.

“As far as consistency, I think Mariano Rivera’s No. 1 on that list, but Pap has shown over the years that he’s going to be every bit as good as him,” Angels left fielder Vernon Wells said. “When he comes into the game, you know you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, 3 for 16 lifetime against Haren, got the night after fouling a pitch off his left shin in the first inning of Thursday night’s series opener. Francona said Youkilis would be back in the lineup Saturday night to face Ervin Santana.

Saltalamacchia doubled with one out in the third, as nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter had trouble making the catch against the wall in right-center. Saltalamacchia advanced to third after Hunter caught Marco Scutaro’s flyball near the right-field line, and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the game’s first run with a double.

Manager Mike Scioscia went to the mound and got into a very animated conversation with Haren before the three-time All-Star struck out Pedroia to end the inning.

“Mike was a little frustrated, as everyone was,” Haren said. “We thought some calls weren’t going our way, so we kind of talked it out and he made sure I stayed focused.”

The Red Sox capitalized on a tough error charged to center fielder Peter Bourjos to score a pair of unearned runs and increase their lead to 3-0. After a two-out walk to Jed Lowrie and a double by J.D. Drew, slumping Carl Crawford followed with a lazy flyball to short right-center. Bourjos, Hunter and second baseman Howie Kendrick all converged on it, but no one took charge, and Buorjos made a last-second lunge at it before the ball hit off his glove.

Drew delivered Boston’s fourth run with an RBI single in the sixth. The Angels have lost 11 of the last 12 meetings since sweeping Boston in the 2009 AL division series.

Notes

Haren had allowed only one unearned run over his previous 22 starts since June 28, 2010, when he pitched for Arizona. … Lester has not allowed a home run in 26 innings over his last four starts, after giving up three in Boston’s season opener at Texas. … Lester increased his career strikeouts total to 742, and needs two more to overtake LHP Lefty Grove for 15th place on the franchise list. The only lefties in Red Sox history with more strikeouts than Grove and Lester are Bruce Hurst (1,043) and Dutch Leonard (771). … This was the second straight start in which Lester had a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts, after not doing so in 15 straight outings since July 24, 2010. … DH David Ortiz batted cleanup for the first time this season and was 0 for 4. … The Red Sox are 5-4 on Francona’s birthday since he took the job, including a doubleheader sweep in 2009

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jon Lester scattered four hits over six scoreless innings, and the Boston Red Sox overcame a shaky performance by their bullpen to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Friday night.

The Red Sox improved to 8-5 following a season-opening six-game losing streak, making manager Terry Francona’s 52nd birthday a happy one.

The Angels have lost 11 of the last 12 meetings since sweeping Boston in the 2009 AL division series.

Lester (2-1) struck out eight, walked two and departed with a 4-0 lead after throwing 111 pitches. Boston’s starters have allowed no more than two earned runs in any of the last seven games, with a 1.19 ERA during that stretch.

Dan Haren (4-1) allowed four runs, two earned, in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked three en route to his first loss in 13 starts since Aug. 20 at Minnesota.

Matt Albers, activated from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday after missing 11 games with a strained muscle in his back, made his first appearance since April 5 for the Red Sox and gave up an RBI single to Jeff Mathis in the seventh.

Bobby Jenks surrendered an RBI single in the eighth to Bobby Abreu that ended an 0-for-15 drought. Abreu got to second on a wild pitch and came all the way home on a passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in as many attempts.

Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, 3 for 16 lifetime against Haren, got the night after fouling a pitch off his left shin in the first inning of Thursday night’s series opener. Francona said Youkilis would be back in the lineup Saturday night to face Ervin Santana.

Saltalamacchia doubled with one out in the third, as nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter had trouble making the catch against the wall in right-center. Saltalamacchia advanced to third after Hunter caught Marco Scutaro’s flyball near the right field line, and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the game’s first run with a double.

The Red Sox capitalized on a tough error charged to center fielder Peter Bourjos to score a pair of unearned runs and increase their lead to 3-0. After a two-out walk to Jed Lowrie and a double by J.D. Drew, slumping Carl Crawford followed with a lazy flyball to short right-center. Bourjos, Hunter and second baseman Howie Kendrick all converged on it, but no one took charge, and Buorjos made a last-second lunge at it before the ball hit off his glove.

Drew delivered Boston’s fourth run with an RBI single in the sixth.

Lester struck out his first four batters before giving up a single to Vernon Wells and a walk to Alberto Callaspo. Manager Mike Scioscia started the runners on a 3-2 pitch to Mark Trumbo with one out, and Trumbo’s hard grounder to Dustin Pedroia gave the Gold Glove second baseman enough time to apply the tag on the sliding Callaspo and throw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.

Lester escaped another jam in the bottom half when Abreu flied out with runners at second and third.

Notes: Haren had allowed only one unearned run over his previous 22 starts since June 28, 2010, when he pitched for Arizona. … Lester has not allowed a home run in 26 innings over his last four starts, after giving up three in Boston’s season opener at Texas. … Lester increased his career strikeouts total to 742, and needs two more to overtake LHP Lefty Grove for 15th place on the franchise list. The only lefties in Red Sox history with more strikeouts than Grove and Lester are Bruce Hurst (1,043) and Dutch Leonard (771). … This was the second straight start in which Lester had a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts, after not doing so in 15 straight outings since July 24, 2010. … An MRI on the left shoulder of Boston Triple-A OF Ryan Kalish revealed a significant sprain, one day after his attempted diving catch at Pawtucket. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks. … DH David Ortiz batted cleanup for the first time this season and was 0 for 4. … The Red Sox are 5-4 on Francona’s birthday since he took the job, including a doubleheader sweep in 2009.