Big Papi was a little scared.

“I saw that big old needle coming at my knee,” he said, “and I was a little afraid.”

Now it’s the ludicrously-named Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who are weak in the knees and quaking after a cortisone shot in David Ortiz’s right knee has the Red Sox slugger swinging as powerfully and freely as he has all season.

He gave the Red Sox a shot in the arm last night, blasting a two-run homer deep into the right-field seats in the third inning for a 3-0 lead, providing the overpowering Josh Beckett with more than enough runs to give Boston a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five ALDS.

“It’s not easy to play through pain,” said Ortiz, who has been bothered all season by soreness in his knee that caused his homer production to plummet from 54 last year to 35. His RBI total also dropped, from 137 to 117, following a career-high 148 in 2005.

His batting average, however, went up considerably, from .287 to .332. He led the majors in on-base percentage (.445) and was the American League leader in extra base hits (88, including 52 doubles) and walks (111).

“People are used to seeing you come through in every at-bat,” he said. “But this is not an easy game to play. It’s not a Nintendo game, where you can hit a homer whenever you want.”

At times — many times, in fact — Ortiz has made it seem that way.

He had three game-winning, walk-off hits in the 2004 postseason, when the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years — a two-run, 10th-inning homer to complete a three-game sweep of the Angels in the ALDS; a 12th-inning homer to beat the Yankees in Game Four of the ALCS; and a 14th-inning single the following night in Game Five.

In the 14 games the Sox played on their way to the championship three years ago, Ortiz batted .400 (22-for-55), with 5 homers and 19 RBI.

In his five seasons with the Sox, Ortiz has come through in the clutch countless times, including 19 walk-off hits — eight of them homers. But he can’t come through every time.

“I think a lot of people have been hard on David this year,” said Kevin Youkilis, who had a first-inning homer off Angels ace John Lackey. “David hasn’t had as many home runs, but his batting average is so high. I think people have not really looked at David and said: ‘Wow, this guy has done an amazing job.’ ”

Big Papi continues to amaze in the biggest games.

“For David to come out there and have a big hit,” said Youkilis, “is always good. Because, when David’s confidence is high, this team succeeds.”

Ortiz knows that it’s not only Red Sox fans, but also his teammates, who look to him for leadership.

“I know this team counts on myself a lot,” he said. “I take a lot of responsibility for whatever is happening around here.

“I think I get prepared to play the game, and I’m the kind of guy that I try to give everything I have. People here in Boston, they kind of watch everything you do pretty close. There’s a lot of young people watching you, following you around.

“A lot of people come up to me and they tell me how good, you know, I try to do things — how much fun they have watching me on and off the field — and that kind of gets you thinking.

“Nobody’s perfect. We’re all human. We make mistakes. But, when you know there’s a lot of people watching you, you want to make sure whatever you do is good, and they can take it as an example.”

If last night was an example, then with Ortiz feeling good, the Red Sox’s chances of winning another World Series are looking very good, indeed.

“The cortisone shot the other day has made a big difference in my knee,” he said. “It’s feeling way better than it was. It was really sore before I got it. But the pain has been going, thank God.”

Big Papi, Youkilis, and Manny Ramirez all have been hurting lately. Ramirez missed most of September because of a strained oblique muscle, and Youkilis was sore and out of the lineup for more than a week after being hit in the wrist by a pitch.

But they all were in the lineup last night.

“When Manny’s going well,” Youkilis said, “and David has that success, it’s an unbelievable lineup, from one through nine.”

Ortiz said it was important that the Sox get off to a good start against Lackey, and in the short series.

“Everybody knows that Lackey’s a good pitcher,” he said. “He’s coming off a good year. He has good stuff. When you’re facing pitching like that, you’ve got to make sure that, whenever you get a good pitch, you’ve got to do something with it, otherwise you may not get to see it again.”

Ortiz followed Youkilis’ first-inning homer with an opposite-field single, but, after Ramirez also singled, both were left on base. After Youkilis hit a one-out double in the third, Ortiz touched all the bases with his roundtripper to right. He drew a two-out, bases-empty walk in the fifth, then flied to center in the eighth.

There’s no question that it helps Big Papi to have Manny hitting behind him again.

“I think the pitchers this year, they were very careful, especially with my history,” Ortiz said.

“A lot of things were bothering me through the season — a lot of injuries,” he said. “Every hitter has their good times, their bad times. Seems like, at this point during the season, I kind of pick things up, put a lot of things together.”

The bad times are behind Big Papi. He’s feeling good again. The best is yet to come.

jdonalds@projo.com