Two down, one to go. That’s the only thing going through the minds of the Los Angeles Angels. Two games into their ALDS series against the Boston Red Sox, the Angels are up two wins to zero, and can clinch a ride to the League Championship Series with a third win on Sunday afternoon. However, as has been said time and time again, the hardest game to win is the last one, and you can be sure that the Red Sox will not go down without a fight.

Fate is working both for and against the Angels in this series. It is working for them in the fact that since the Divisional Series’ were introduced in 1995, only four teams have ever come back to win a series after being down 2-0. Two of those were the 1995 Seattle Mariners who beat the New York Yankees, and the other was the 2001 Yankees, who took down the Oakland Athletics. However, fate is working against the 2009 Angels, because those other two teams that came back from 2-0 down were the 1999 and 2003 versions of the Boston Red Sox.

Granted, neither of those Red Sox teams advanced past the ALCS, both losing to the Yankees, but the Sox did go on to win the World Series in both 2004 and 2007, after some strong play on the field, and if you think the 2009 Red Sox are any weaker, think again. Throughout the regular season, the Sox had their share of troubles, but it’s not hard to argue that they put themselves into cruise control early, knowing that they were not going to catch the Yankees in the East, nor would they have to. After a brief scare at the hands of the Rangers in August, the Red Sox took back what was rightfully theirs and were unthreatened down the stretch.

Starting Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox welcome the Angels into Fenway Park for what you can be sure will be a pair of games. The Sox being swept in this series is about as likely as the Pittsburgh Pirates competing in the next 10 years. It’s just not happening. Clear your Monday night schedule, Game 4 goes at 8:37pm.