enlarge The Associated Press

Jon Lester will face a familiar foe when the Red Sox open the AL division series against the Angels on Wednesday or Thursday. This is the fourth time in six years the teams have met in the postseason.

enlarge The Associated Press

Victor Martinez has given the Red Sox offense a boost since coming over from Cleveland in a trade on July 31. He hit a combined .303 with 23 home runs and 108 RBI.

SOX VS. ANGELS

GAME 1: 6:07 p.m. Wednesday or 9:37 p.m. Thursday; Red Sox (Lester 15-8) at Angels (Lackey 11-8)

GAME 2: 9:37 p.m. Friday; Red Sox (Beckett 17-6) at Angels (Weaver 16-8)

GAME 3: Sunday; Angels (Kazmir 10-9) at Red Sox (Buchholz (7-4)

GAME 4: Oct. 12, if nec.; Angels (Saunders 15-7) at Red Sox (Lester 15-8)

GAME 5: Oct. 14, if nec.; Red Sox (TBA) at Angels (TBA)

Hello, old friends.

For the third straight year and fourth time in six years, the Boston Red Sox meet the Los Angeles Angels in the American League division series. The annual October Clash of the Coasts begins in Anaheim, by virtue of the fact the Red Sox got into the playoffs as the wild-card winner.

The Red Sox have dominated the postseason history of these two teams, winning 13 of 17 October games and all four playoff series.

This decade, the numbers are even more one-sided, with the Sox winning nine of 10 games and sweeping the Angels twice.

Don't be fooled by history. These Angels are a much better hitting team than those eliminated by the Sox in 2004, '07 and '08. In fact, they were the best-hitting team in the major leagues this season, finishing with a .285 batting average.

This isn't the typical Mike Scioscia-managed team. It is not a team that will have to bunt and move runners. As late as August, Scioscia filled out a lineup card that featured nine hitters batting .300 or better.

Still, it is an aggressive team on the base paths, and that could be a major issue for Boston. Only Tampa Bay and Texas stole more bases than the Angels this season.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, allowed the most stolen bases in the AL (151) and threw out the fewest potential base stealers (23). Victor Martinez (10.5 percent of attempted runners caught) has been slightly more effective than Jason Varitek (8.5 percent) this season.

But this isn't just about catchers. Boston pitchers need to do a better job keeping runners in check, and they will be tested from the start at Anaheim.

The Red Sox had a better offense than most expected, with the most home runs in a season since 2004. Five players, including Martinez, who hit the bulk of his homers with Cleveland, hit 20 or more home runs this year, giving Boston a formidable heart of the order.

The Angels will be going with two left-handed starters in the series, sending Ervin Santana to the bullpen. It looks as though both lefties, Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders, will pitch at Fenway Park, bucking the conventional wisdom that the proximity of the Green Monster is a deterrent for managers planning their rotation.

Is it safe to say the Sox have gotten into the heads of the players from Anaheim? Absolutely. While they will spend the coming days saying history means nothing to this team, you'd better believe the pressure is squarely on the Angels as the series begins.

In fact, Los Angeles made it clear it is mindful of its postseason record against Boston when it acquired Kazmir from Tampa Bay on Aug. 28. He is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA against the Sox this season, and has a 3.05 lifetime ERA at Fenway Park.

He will not be daunted by the wall over his right shoulder. That is one of the main reasons the Angels were willing to take on his contract, which will pay him a minimum of $22.5 million after this season.

Kazmir, who pitched brilliantly in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series at Fenway last season, won't be enough to make the postseason history of these teams go away quietly. The Angels will have to do that with their bats.

Vladimir Guerrero, once as feared a hitter as any to play the game, is a shell of the player he once was. He now struggles to get around on an inside fastball.

He hasn't hit a home run in 17 playoff games since a tying grand slam late in Game 3 of the 2004 division series at Fenway Park, but he remains a fixture in the cleanup spot. He has just 15 homers this season, and his on-base percentage plus slugging percentage (OPS) is some .160 lower than last year.

In the end, the Angels' success in 2009 has been based on its offense. Guerrero will have to rebound if this offense can carry that into the postseason.

If he can't, this will be another short series – and another chapter in Boston's domination of the guys from the other coast.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.