--OF Jacoby Ellsbury set a major league postseason record after blooping a three-run single to center field in the second inning of Game 3. The looping single with the bases loaded dropped in between Torii Hunter, Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar and cleared the bases -- which marks the first-ever three-run single in postseason history, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Ellsbury finished Game 3 with a 2-for-5 performance and is hitting .429 during the division series.
--RHP Josh Beckett gave up postseason career-high nine hits in five innings in the Game 3 loss Sunday night. The five innings marked the shortest postseason start in Beckett's decorated playoff career. Beckett also surrendered a pair of home runs to Angels C Mike Napoli, which snapped Boston's stretch of 50 straight innings in the division series without allowing a home run. The last home run allowed by Sox pitching in a division series prior to Sunday night was a Paul Konerko blast off RHP Tim Wakefield during Game 3 of the 2005 ALDS. Beckett said after the game that his right oblique felt fine and health wasn't a factor in the subpar start. --RHP Jonathan Papelbon pitched two more scoreless innings in Sunday night's Game 3 loss and extended postseason scoreless inning streak to 19 2/3 innings in 12 games -- the second-most career playoff innings without allowing a run in postseason history. Joe Niekro holds the major league postseason record with 20 consecutive scoreless innings. Papelbon has already pitched five dominant, scoreless innings with a win and a save in the series.
--LHP Jon Lester will once again attempt to be the stopper in Monday night's Game 4 of the division series at Fenway Park. The 24-year-old lefty is 11-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 17 starts at Fenway this season, and he has acted as the team's ace nearly every time the Red Sox have needed a victory this season. "I think you've just got that extra edge," said Lester of pitching in the playoffs. "That little extra intensity of the game. I guess that puts you on your toes a little bit more."
--3B Mike Lowell went 0-for-4 in Sunday night's Game 3 loss and continues to admirably battle through pain in his right hip to play during the postseason. Lowell is 0-for-8 in the division series and is clearly experiencing difficulty moving side to side from his third base position, but he continues to endure what he deemed "the worst pain" he's ever played through in his career. Lowell played in 113 games this season while working through injuries to his thumb, oblique and hip, and he seems a shadow of the player who hit .353 with two homers and 15 RBIs in 14 starts at third base last postseason.
BY THE NUMBERS: 11 -- Consecutive postseason wins for the Red Sox over the Angels before Sunday's loss. The streak is a baseball record for a head-to-head matchup in the postseason.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Right from the very first pitch of the game he was out of the stretch. They made him work." -- Manager Terry Francona, on RHP Josh Beckett, who suffered a rare postseason defeat in Game 3.
