BOSTON — In drips and drabs, the Boston Red Sox’ postseason plans are becoming clearer.

Last night for instance, it was announced that Curt Schilling, who was scheduled to start today’s regular-season finale against Minnesota at Fenway Park, has been scratched from that outing.

The Sox said the reason he’s not going to take his regular turn is not health-related, which seemed a clear indication that Schilling will be following ace Josh Beckett in the starting rotation for the best-of-five American League Division Series playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

That would put Schilling in line to pitch Game Two, which will be Friday at Fenway at a time to be determined. The veteran right-hander, a noted big-game pitcher who, on one healthy ankle, helped pitch the Sox to the World Series crown in 2004, will be working on nine-days’ rest.

Had he pitched today, even an abbreviated outing, Schilling would have been going Friday on four-days’ rest, a normal period between starts in a five-man rotation.

But at this stage of his career, Schilling may benefit from the extra rest as opposed to throwing even a three-inning tuneup today. His final regular-season outing, last Tuesday, came on eight days’ rest, and Schilling tossed six masterful innings, permitting only one run on six hits in a 7-3 win.

Why the club has made it such a huge secret as to which pitchers will be starting which games in the postseason — Daisuke Matsuzaka will be pitching Game Three, in Anaheim — is a bit of a mystery, but it is in keeping with the organization’s philosophy to keep everything close to the vest.

There also are other factors, such as whether the series will be the “long” one, with an extra day built in if the team that finishes with the top record in the American League so chooses a Wednesday-Friday start to the series as opposed to Thursday-Friday. Cleveland and Boston were tied for the best record, at 95-65, heading into last night’s action.

So there is no definitive news as to how many pitchers the Red Sox will carry in the first-round matchup. Will it be 11? Willl it be 10? If it’s 10, who will be handed the extra position-player spot?

Questions, questions.

One thing is definite, though. The Angels, who stand in the way of the Sox for their first trip to the A.L. Championship Series since 2004, are not your typical A.L. team.

No A.L. team puts more pressure on the defense than the Angels, who take their cue from aggressive manager Mike Scioscia. Stealing bases is part of the Angels’ attack. They lead the league in stolen bases with 139.

Their willingness to run places a burden on the Red Sox’ battery, often forcing the pitchers to use the slide-step, instead of their normally higher leg kick motion out of the stretch position, more often than they would prefer.

While the slide-step may freeze the runner from getting a good jump, and while it may get the pitch to the plate quicker, there’s more of a chance of hanging pitches or leaving them over the plate because of the sudden change in mechanics.

And once the woud-be basestealer takes off, the pressure will shift to the Sox’ catcher, Jason Varitek (unless Tim Wakefield starts, which likely would shift the onus onto Doug Mirabelli). Varitek has thrown out only 22.4 percent (17 of 76) of opposing basestealers.

In the nine games the teams played this season — Boston went 6-3 against the Angels — Los Angeles swiped 11 bases in 12 attempts.

The aggressiveness on the basepaths, though, doesn’t begin and end with stolen bases. It includes hit-and-run plays, taking the extra base on base hits, suicide squeeze bunts. It also includes making sure that plays are made crisply on defense because a little bobble or hesitation could lead to a run, and in the postseason, runs tend to be at a premium.

Of course, the Angels’ offensive game plan, which also features the power of Vladimir Guerrero and the consistent run-production of Garret Anderson, is no secret to the Red Sox. Nor will Boston’s personnel or philosophy be a surprise to the Angels.

“We know very well what they can do. They know what we can do,” said Boston manager Terry Francona yesterday.

“We know how they play the game, and we’ll have to prepare for that, because if the ball doesn’t end up where it’s supposed to, there could be some havoc. If it does, you’re prepared and you’re able to slow the game down. It’s different styles of baseball, for sure,” he said.

Not totally different. At least not this year. The Red Sox, featuring Julio Lugo (31 stolen bases), Coco Crisp (28) and Jacoby Ellsbury (9 in 32 games), can steal bases, too. Indeed, Boston went 6-for-7 in stolen-base attempts against the Angels this season.

But it is the Angels who have turned offensive aggressiveness on the basepaths into an art form. And the pressure will be on the Red Sox in the A.L. Division Series.

skrasner@projo.com