Tony DeMarco

It took 12 innings spread over five hours and 19 minutes for the Los Angeles Angels to finally find a way to beat the Boston Red Sox in a postseason game.

But this may end up being more than one must-win. Because by the time it ended in the early-morning mist at Fenway Park, the Angels looked like the Angels again. You know:

• The team that had the best record in the American League; the only one in the majors to win 100 games.
• The road warriors who went 50-31 on the road — the same record as they posted at Angel Stadium.
• The team that can slug when it needs to, but manufactures runs with anyone.

Shortstop Erick Aybar broke an 0-for-13 series skid with a bloop single off Javier Lopez that scored Mike Napoli with what turned out to be the winning run when Jered Weaver nailed down the final three outs.

And when third baseman Chone Figgins robbed Alex Cora of a hit for the last out in a 5-4 Angels win, it marked the end of an exasperating streak of 11 consecutive postseason losses to the Red Sox — the last a crushing 7-5 heartbreaker in extra innings.

You can say the Red Sox had one to play with. And yes, they still have a chance to close it out Monday night in their home park with their best pitcher of late — Jon Lester — on the mound.

But look around the rest of the diamond, and signs of vulnerability in the defending World Series champions are easy to identify.

• Game 3 starter Josh Beckett's velocity was in its usual range after suffering a mild oblique injury, but his command sure wasn't. He dodged his way around trouble through five grind-it-out innings, giving up four runs when it could have been more.

You can blame part of his problems on an extra-long layoff, but even before his latest brush with injury, Beckett hasn't been close to resembling the dominant force he was in the 2007 postseason.

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Exhibits A and B from Game 3: Napoli's two blasts over the Monster off Beckett — which broke another Angels' negative trend: 19 of their first 20 hits in the series were singles.

• J.D. Drew didn't look troubled by back problems when he launched a Frankie Rodriguez pitch deep into the seats to win Game 2, but couldn't make the start in Game 3. Instead, he was overmatched by Scot Shields in a late pinch-hit appearance.

The assumption is that Drew will be back in the lineup Monday against right-hander John Lackey. But if it comes to it, another cross-country flight back to Anaheim for a potential Game 5 can't be a good thing for him, can it?

• Mike Lowell, playing with a torn labrum in his hip that will require postseason surgery, continues to limp around the hot corner, his range greatly diminished.

To counteract the speed and bunting ability of Figgins, Lowell has been playing about 10-15 feet in front of the bag. Sound strategy perhaps, but it also is born out of necessity.

On a ground ball to second base in the eighth inning, Lowell barely jogged two-thirds of the way down the line — and he remains hitless in the series. Manager Terry Francona's loyalty to one of his gamers is admirable, but only to a point.

• And David Ortiz is swinging with a less-than-100-percent wrist. It's all more than the Red Sox's offense could handle in Game 3. Really, they should have been shut out in their home park — and how often does that happen? A three-run single? That's what it says on Jacoby Ellsbury's line, but the bloop that fell in was an inexcusable gaffe by Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter.

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Kevin Youkilis drove in Ellsbury with the fourth run off snake-bit Angels starter Joe Saunders, but Ellsbury shouldn't have reached base, as Garret Anderson couldn't hang onto a catchable drive on the warning track.

Hunter was at it again in the top of the ninth. Over-aggressive to a fault, he was thrown out by 10-15 feet at second base, trying to stretch a hard smash down the left-field line into a leadoff double — ruining a potential go-ahead rally prior to Jonathan Papelbon entering the game. And we know how Papelbon has dominated Angels hitters.

So what should have been a comfortable win turned into an excruciatingly tedious battle. But by winning it, the Angels did more than stave off elimination. They changed the series mind-set.