BOSTON — Fenway Park ushers stood miserably in disbelief. Security guards around the storied ballpark didn't have to worry about keeping the peace, because there was no peace to be had as Red Sox fans quietly left. An elevator attendant yelled at an Angels fans to stop cheering.

There were tears outside the Red Sox clubhouse, and inside, too.

The way the game, the series and the season ended could have never been imagined. Not with the lead and with two outs, and especially not with the Red Sox' dominating closer on the mound.

But that's exactly what happened.

The Sox' Jonathan Papelbon surrendered three runs on three hits and two walks (one intentional) in the top of the ninth inning as the Angels did what most thought would be impossible and defeated the Red Sox at home in Game Three, 7-6.

"It's certainly an unexpected conclusion to the series and the season," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "We got outplayed in this series. We didn't play our best baseball and we didn't play all that well over these last three games. (The Angels) certainly did. They deserve it. They outplayed us. They deserve to move on. You have to be a really good team and play really well in the playoffs. We didn't play well in this series."

The Red Sox entered Sunday's game with a 13-3 record when facing elimination. They have been in this type of situation before — too many times, actually. But time and again they always found a way to avoid a possible disaster and turn it into something magnificent.

Most recently, Boston came back from a 0-3 deficit in the ALCS against the Yankees in 2004 en route to their first World Series title in 86 years. The Sox erased a 1-3 deficit to the Indians in the 2007 ALCS en route to a World Series title.

Then there's the flip side.

"You always find your mind going back to postseasons past and the last game — always," said Epstein. "I still think about '03 [loss to the Yankees in Game Seven], I still think about 2005 [swept by the White Sox], I still think about last year [Game Seven loss to the Rays in ALCS] and I'll think about this. You don't find yourself, too often, thinking about a Tuesday game against Seattle in April. These are the ones you think about. Just like when you win series and they stay in your memory bank, so do these. It's part of life. It's part of reality. It's part of baseball and the postseason — it can end quickly."

It certainly did.

After a loss in Game One, the Red Sox players weren't concerned. After another loss in Game Two, they were confident they could stave off elimination and remain a factor in this ALDS, especially returning home for Games Three and hopefully a Game Four, forcing a Game Five back in Anaheim.

It didn't happen that way.

"You've got to give credit to who deserves credit. Everybody knows we have a pretty good team, but on the other side they have a great team, too," said Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez. "Somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. Unfortunately, we were on the losing side. Other than that, we're wishing the Angels the best the rest of the postseason. They have a pretty good shot at winning it all. They did the right things against us."

The Red Sox needed a clean game. They needed to produce effectively in every aspect of the game in order to stave off elimination. The were able to accomplish that early in Game Three, but it ended not so well.

The bats, which were non-existent in the first two games of this series, improved in a timely manner on Sunday. Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who went 1-for-8 in Anaheim, came up big in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run double to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Victor Martinez followed with a RBI single as the Sox gained a three-run advantage.

The Angels responded in the top of the fourth when Kendry Morales crushed a solo homer off Buchholz.

Boston countered in the home half of the inning when Drew launched his two-run homer off the camera platform in dead center field for a 5-1 lead.

With the offense doing its job, it was time for the pitching and defense to do their part.

Buchholz was lifted in the sixth inning with no outs and the bases loaded in favor of the hard-throwing Daniel Bard. The rookie reliever induced the Angels' Juan Rivera to ground into a 5-4-3 double play, but the Angels pushed across their second run of the game. Bard then ended the inning by getting Maicer Izturis to pop to short.

With Boston holding a 5-2 lead, Bard also worked the seventh and retired the side in order.

The Angels threatened in the top of the eighth when Sox reliever Billy Wagner surrendered two runs on one hit as Los Angeles cut its deficit to one run. Francona decided Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon needed to record the final four outs, which he was not able to accomplish.

The fans at Fenway Park actually booed Papelbon, whose saw his postseason scoreless streak end at 26 1/3 innings.

When the Red Sox failed to scored in the bottom of the ninth, it was the Angels who were celebrating in the middle of Fenway Park.

"I think we thought we had a better team than this," said Bay. "Ultimately it's the wins and losses that count. I guess you can say in those three games we really didn't do a lot to warrant winning. They were obviously the better team. We didn't score any runs the first couple of games, and couldn't hold them today. It's disappointing just given the position we were in, we felt like we had a good shot, a good team. To lose three straight and have the last one slip away like that, it's disappointing and it hurts."

As they do every season, the Red Sox had one goal.

"I think we were a team capable of winning the World Series," said Epstein. "Had we come out and played better, we'd be playing right now."

They didn't, and they're not.

jmcdonal@projo.com