Sky high for Angels

BALTIMORE -- It came to this: After traveling 41,442 miles, facing 25,592 pitches, and enduring more ups and downs than their Delta charter, the Red Sox yesterday happily ended the 2004 regular season where they began it in the visiting clubhouse at Camden Yards.

Six months after they dressed for the 43-degree chill of their season opener against the Orioles amid all the promise of spring, the Sox dropped their final game of the regular schedule to the O's, 3-2, then waited 70 minutes in the same clubhouse to learn where they would start their second season -- the one that matters most.

Nearly a dozen players sat together on couches watching broadcasts of the decisive game between the Twins and Indians. A few sat on chairs by their lockers watching football. Others, like Manny Ramirez, milled about, anxious to move on in the quest for the franchise's first championship in 86 years.

"Let's go," Ramirez said, pressing Kevin Millar to join him on the idling bus.

"I need some space before the playoffs," Millar replied playfully. "Let me breathe a little bit."

Their charter awaited, with the pilot prepared to monitor scores from the cockpit as they headed west in case they needed to change course in midflight for Minneapolis or Anaheim, Calif.

"This could turn out to be one of those Airplane 2 movies," traveling secretary Jack McCormick said.

Then the Indians ended the suspense by breaking open a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning for a 5-2 victory at the Metrodome that finally settled the American League playoff situation. The Sox would travel to Anaheim to begin the best-of-five Division Series, while the Twins hiked to the Bronx.

"Now we don't have to circle in the air," Millar said. "We're ready to go."

Off went the wild-card Sox for Game 1 against the Angels, winners of the West, tomorrow at 4 p.m. The teams play Game 2 Wednesday at 10 p.m., and return to Boston for Game 3 Friday at 4 p.m. If necessary, the Sox and Angels would play Game 4 Saturday at Fenway Park at a time to be determined.

The Sox flew west on wings of optimism after finishing the season with 98 wins, the most since the 1978 team won 99. Never mind that the Sox finished second to the Yankees in the East for a seventh consecutive year. Or that they believe to a man they will field a better team this postseason than they did last year, when they fell five outs shy of advancing to the World Series.

"I'm proud of what we accomplished to this point," said Terry Francona, the first-year manager who guided the Sox through a thicket of injuries and controversy to win three more games than last year's club. "Now the grind is over. The slate gets wiped clean and we go see how good we can be."

Or, as Ramirez, the league's home run champion, so aptly put it: "We're ready to rock 'n' roll. This is what you live for. This is what it's all about."

The previous 162 games were one gargantuan tuneup, an evolution from the uncertainty of spring training through several months of adversity to a thrilling 42-18 finish that vaulted the Sox into the postseason. Along the way, they overcame an epidemic of injuries to key players and a blockbuster trade involving Nomar Garciaparra before they ultimately curbed the defensive shortcomings that threatened to ruin them.

The Sox also squeezed all they could out of Derek Lowe, who began the season comfortably ensconced as the No. 3 starter and ended it losing his spot in the rotation. Lowe, who will pitch out of the bullpen in the playoffs, most likely made his final start in a Sox uniform as he went two innings against the Orioles to tune up for his relief role. He surrendered a run on three hits and a walk.

"You never want to lose your last game," said Lowe, who finished at 14-12 with a 5.42 ERA and will be a free agent after the World Series. "But we played well all weekend. That's the important thing."

Actually, the finale unfolded for the Sox as if it were a spring training game. With Francona trying to protect his starters from injury but give the 42,104 paying customers at least a glimpse of the Sox regulars, he fielded an unusual lineup in which Jason Varitek batted leadoff for the first time in his career and Johnny Damon filled the seventh slot for the first time since 1997 with the Royals. Orlando Cabrera made one trip to the plate before he tossed his batting gloves to the crowd and called it a day. And the rest of the regulars were close behind Cabrera as Francona emptied his bench faster than some of the ballpark vendors emptied their trays.

Preserving his regular pitchers, Francona even received two innings of scoreless relief from first baseman David McCarty, who fanned Rafael Palmeiro, Larry Bigbie, and David Newhan in the process.

The Sox finished with the third-best record in baseball behind the Cardinals and Yankees, and with plenty of confidence. They have Curt Schilling going in Game 1 and Pedro Martinez in Game 2.

"We expect to win the whole thing or this team definitely is not going to be happy," Damon said. "Guys felt a lot of heartache last year, how close we were and how tough it was to get there. That [Game 7] is something we're never going to forget, but we have guys here who can do it, like Schilling. We're deeper with our pitching staff. We're just not looking toward Pedro for wins. This is a team that can do it."

Ramirez said the key is to remain relaxed and focused, an art he mastered long ago.

"We've got some unfinished business," he said.