Red Sox starter Jon Lester said that he was "absolutely" surprised to hear fans booing Jonathan Papelbon after the Red Sox closer allowed the first runs of his postseason career as the Sox got eliminated, 7-6, in Game 3 of the ALDS by the Angels. Papelbon entered the game with a 5-2 lead and two outs in the eighth. He allowed both inherited runners to score, and then after retiring the Angels (via a pickoff throw) in the eighth, allowed three more runs in the ninth to end his record-setting run of 26 scoreless postseason innings to start his career.
 
"I think [the booing] surprised everybody," said Lester. "I don’t think he deserves for [the fans] to do that. Obviously, it wasn’t everybody. You could tell that. But the few people that did [boo him], I personally think it was uncalled for. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. Hopefully we can come back next year and do better."
 
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Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein gave credit to the Angels following his team's shocking 7-6 loss on Sunday at Fenway Park that eliminated them from the postseason. "I think we got outplayed in this series. We didn't play our baseball. We didn't play all that well, all things told, over these last three games and they certainly did. They deserve it. They outplayed us fair and square and they deserve to move on. You have to be a really good team and play really well to move on in the playoffs. We didn't play well in this series." For more, visit the Full Count blog.