Manny Delcarmen pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 3 on Sunday night.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Anyone who has followed the Red Sox this season has not been surprised by the use of Justin Masterson over Manny Delcarmen as the prime right-handed set-up man out of the bullpen in the first two games on the ALDS.

Manager Terry Francona warned that it should not be taken for granted that Delcarmen’s contributions would be more limited.

“That can change in a hurry,” the manager said. “With the way their lineup is set up, it’s hard not to go to Masterson in certain situations”

The Angels have five right-handed hitters in a row near the bottom of their lineup. Masterson is outstanding against righties. He held them to a .196 average during the regular season.

Francona said no one should be surprised that the Sox have called on Masterson to fill such a crucial postseason role.

“We were pretty open about the fact that this is how we envisoned this working,” he pointed out. “We tried to go slow, tried to allow him a route where this could be. We sent him back to Triple-A and let him do it. It’s worked out really well.”

Delcarmen is good, too. He held righties to a .218 average. Masterson, though, has been excellent since being taken out of the starting rotation and coming out of the bullpen.

Francona praised Masterson, but warned not to write off Delcarmen, who has yet to pitch in the series.

“Manny Delcarmen, before this is all said and done, will have pitched very meaningful innings,” Francona said. “I’ll be willing to guarantee that.”

Last night, he did. After Josh Beckett labored through five innings — nine hits, four walks, four runs — the Sox called on Delcarmen to start the sixth with a 2-2 tie. Delcarmen retired the first five batters he faced, holding the 2-2 tie into the seventh.

After hitting Mike Napoli (who had homered twice off Beckett) with two outs in the seventh and then allowing a single to right to Howie Kendrick, Francona lifted him in favor of Hideki Okajima. Okajima retired Erick Aybar on a grounder to third, keeping the score at 4-4.

And Delcarmen, after pitching 1 2/3 “meaningful innings,” had made his first contribution of the series.

As Ellsbury goes …

When the Angels came into Fenway Park and swept the Red Sox in three games in July, the Sox were struggling badly.

The team not only wasn’t playing well but the Sox were dealing with assorted injuries and the Manny Ramirez soap opera was at its height. The Angels spanked the Sox by a combined 22-9 count in the series.

One player who was in the doldrums was Jacoby Ellsbury. He was wrapping up a month where he hit just .247. Without a spark at the top of their lineup, the Sox simply are not the same team.

“He’s an exciting player. He was not playing at this level when we played them earlier in the season,” said Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.

Ellsbury went on to end the season in fine fashion, hitting in 18 straight games with a .370 average. He’s off to a strong start in the playoffs as well.

“It seems like whatever he’s come up, whatever the situation is, he’s getting on base and getting in scoring position,” said Scioscia. “I think as we scouted them and looked at film and evaluated them before this series, he’s had as much of an impact as anybody over there as to why they’re playing well down the stretch and why they’re playing well in this series.”

He made history last night when his pop fly to short center field, which dropped in the middle of three Los Angeles of Anaheim fielders, cleared the bases and became the first three-run postseason single in baseball’s postseason history. He also doubled leading off the sixth inning and rode home on Kevin Youkilis’ double to center field, tying the score at 4-4. Ellsbury also walked leading off the seventh.

Revamped lineup

The Red Sox lineup changed again last night, with Coco Crisp in and J.D. Drew out. One reason for the change cited by Francona was that Crisp was 5-for-17 lifetime against Angels starter Joe Saunders while Drew has not started against a lefty since August. Crisp walked and grounded out in two at-bats against Saunders before the lefty was lifted from the game.

pkenyon@projo.com / kmcnamar@projo.com