ANAHEIM, Calif. — A misplay in the infield went a long way in impacting the 11-3 beating the Red Sox absorbed from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Friday night, but another in the outfield likely will be talked about longer.

Alex Cora’s critical two-out error on a chopper in the fifth inning opened the way for a four-run inning for the Angles. Cora failed to field a roller by Torii Hunter with runners at second and third, and before the Sox could recover, the Angels had turned a 4-3 edge into a comfortable 8-3 advantage.

Cora, who charged the ball, blamed himself for not attacking it more directly. Instead, he tried to glove the ball off to the side and had it kick off the heel of his glove. Hunter beat the throw to first and the Angels’ big inning was underway.

“[Starter Clay Buchholz] was battling,” said Cora, “and that play changed the whole game. If we get out of that inning down by a run or two, the way we were swinging the bats, who knows?”

“We couldn’t get the last out,” manager Terry Francona lamented, “and they spread it out on us and it turned into an ugly game.”

Instead, the error sent the Sox spiraling into a downturn. The Angels added three more runs off the Boston bullpen an inning later and beat the Sox for the third straight time this season.

Still, it was another defensive adventure by Manny Ramirez that will be remembered most. With a runner on third and one out, Ramirez came charging in to try to snare a blooper by Maicer Izturis. The ball sneaked past Ramirez, who, on his hands and knees, turned and went after the ball.

Somehow, Ramirez rolled onto the ball and had to reach underneath himself to grab the ball and throw it into the infield. By that time, Chone Figgins had scored from third and Izturis had legged out a triple.

“I just missed it,” said Ramirez, who was shown laughing heartily after the play. “I got a bad jump.”

Asked what he found comical, Ramirez said: “It was like I was swimming in a swamp [in attempting to retrieve the ball] . . . I think I made the bloopers for life.”

Buchholz lost his second straight start after rejoining the rotation and once again, it was a poor first inning that helped seal his fate. He needed 37 pitches to get through a three-run first when the Angels sent eight men to the plate.

smcadam@projo.com