BOSTON – As he joined the raucous celebration already underway in the visitor's clubhouse at Fenway Park Sunday, Bobby Abreu was quickly engulfed by a half-dozen champagne-drenched teammates.

"The Man. The Man," outfielder Torii Hunter exclaimed as he pounded Abreu on the back.

Abreu's wide smile told the story for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Thanks to clutch, ninth-inning hits by Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels rallied for three runs off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to stun the Sox, 7-6, and sweep Boston out of the playoffs. It was the 48th comeback win of the season for the Angels.

"Amazing," said Abreu. "This team never gives up. At any time we can score runs. It looks like we're facing the top closer in the game there in the ninth inning, but we never surrender."

In his first year with the Angels, Abreu doesn't know the pain his teammates felt after playoff losses to Boston in 2008, ‘07 and ‘04. But he certainly did his part to rid the Angels of the Red Sox this October. He hit .556 in the three games with four runs scored.

"Big game player," said Angels general manager Tony Reagins. "He just thrives in the special moment."

For the longest time, it seemed like the Angels would let a golden chance at a sweep of the Sox slip away. The Angels continually had hitters reach base against Boston starter Clay Buchholz, but they failed to deliver the clutch hits they executed in the first two games of the series back in Anaheim. When Buchholz left the mound in the sixth inning, Boston held a commanding 5-1 lead.

"I thought all through the game we really pressured them well on the offensive side," said L.A. manager Mike Scioscia. "Buchholz made some terrific pitches to get out of some jams early. With runners in scoring position, he really stepped up and made some pitches."

In fact, the Angels were a woeful 1-of-10 with runners in scoring position as the game rolled into the eighth inning. But that's when the tide turned.

Billy Wagner got into trouble in the eighth when Abreu led off with a double off Kevin Youkilis' glove that ricocheted out of play. Guerrero walked and a ground out moved both runners into scoring position. The Red Sox countered by bringing Papelbon into the game, but Juan Rivera lined the first pitch he saw into right field to score Abreu and Guerrero and slice the Sox' lead to 5-4.

Boston grabbed one run back in the bottom of the inning on a single by David Ortiz, a stolen base by pinch-runner Joey Gathright and a single by Mike Lowell. That set up a memorable top of the ninth.

Papelbon retired the first two hitters he faced — and got two strikes on each of the next three batters — but couldn't put the Angels away. Erick Aybar hit a two-strike pitch to center for a single. Chone Figgins worked a full-count walk. Abreu fell into a 1-and-2 hole, but Papelbon couldn't deliver the knockout pitch and Abreu lined a double off the Green Monster that scored Aybar, cutting the lead to 6-5.

Abreu clapped his hands as he ran to first base.

"I was so excited, especially in that situation," he said. "You need a hit. You need to keep the rally going. You need to stand up in that situation and show if you're a good hitter. That's what the good hitters want. That's what happened."

Figgins held up at third on the play. The Red Sox chose to intentionally walk Hunter to load the bases, bringing up Guerrero. Although he's one of the franchise's all-time great power hitters, Guerrero had met only failure in recent postseasons. In his previous four playoff series, the slugger had managed just one RBI in 17 games.

But this time the 35-year old needed just one pitch, as he lined a Papelbon fastball up the middle to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Guerrero called the hit one of the biggest of his career.

"It's so exciting," Hunter. "The guy in front of me and the guy behind me got it done. I was pumped up no matter what. If they pitch to me, I was ready. At the same time it was smart to walk me to get the force out at any base but Vladdy came through. That's one of the biggest hits of his career. (Angel fans) have been waiting for him to do it and he did it."

kmcnamar@projo.com