Oh Torii, you had me at, "Show some balls."

Sure, it was only one game, but there was a lot to love about last night's 5-0 victory. John Lackey pitching 7 1/3 strong and giving up only 4 singles, Hunter's monumental 3-run HR into the rockpile and subsequent helmet-slamming in the dugout (so cool), Chone Figgins flashing leather at 3rd base, Darren Oliver's rock steady 1 2/3 of relief, and Bobby Abreu working the count to the tune of 4 walks. It was the first shutout in Angels postseason history and the first postseason shutout suffered by the Red Socked in 14 years. Even the tales of Bostonian food poisoning were flavored in karmic redress, at least to those of us who remember guys like Casey Kotchman suffering the same fate prior to Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS. Ironically, Kotch is now in the opposing dugout, so maybe it's all his fault.

In the interests of fairness, I should note that Boston was screwed on two fairly obvious calls at first base. However, neither call had an impact on the final outcome and it wasn't like the Halos weren't screwed themselves by a phantom catcher's interference call and a Mike Lowell whiff at 3rd base on the back end of a 5-2-5 double play. Incidentally, the name of the umpire manning 1st base ... Bucknor, pronounced, you guessed it, BUCKNER.