Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia grimaces after throwing out Cleveland DH Travis Hafner at first base in the eighth inning last night.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

BOSTON — In many departments, it is debatable whether the Red Sox are as strong this year as they were when they swept to the World Series title last fall. Manager Terry Francona feels, though, there is at least one area where his team is better this time around — the bullpen.

Francona said before last night’s game that his team would mix and match personnel for the rest of this week, now that a playoff berth has been clinched. The team has a plan on how to use its starting pitchers, he said, although he has not yet told the pitchers and won’t discuss it.

He was happy to discuss the state of the bullpen.

No one has been overused, so everyone should be primed and ready for the playoffs. The addition of Justin Masterson gives the team more options than it had last year, when pitchers such as Julian Tavarez, Bryan Corey and Kyle Snyder were working out of the pen.

“You’ve got a young kid that can pitch huge innings and control the running game,” Francona said. “The size, the gravity of the situation isn’t too big for him, which is tremendous.

“He’s been terrific,” he said. “Certainly, with his style, he’ going to be tough on righties. When he’s rested and he has that extra velocity, he can face the lefties also. He’s been a big addition to our bullpen.”

Francona says Hideki Okajima, who did an excellent job as the prime setup man last season, is back in form after some midseason struggles. Manny Delcarmen is a year more mature, as is Javy Lopez. And Jonathan Papelbon is, well, Jonathan Papelbon.

“For as screwy and carefree as Pap is, when you give him the ball, that’s a nice feeling,” Francona said. “I don’t ever tell Pap anything. It’s not because I can’t; I don’t need to. He knows what he needs to do and he tries to go do it.”

Angels, Rays seek best A.L. record

The Angels (97-60) and Rays (95-62) remain in a race for best overall record in the American League, an achievement that carries the right to choose which Division Series to play in. One starts next Wednesday and plays out over eight days. The other begins next Thursday and concludes in six days.

While that is certainly a goal, the Angels focus now is getting healthy. They’ve been dealing with assorted health issues for the last few weeks.

Starting pitcher Joe Saunders, a likely Game Three starter, is hoping to pass a kidney stone any day now. He is scheduled to pitch the regular-season finale Sunday against Texas. Saunders is only one Angel who’s coping with injuries. Vladimir Guerrero has a sore knee, infielders Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar are recovering from hamstring injuries, and Chone Figgins was nursing a sore elbow after getting hit by a pitch.

Extra bases

The Angels’ Guerrero is hitting .301 with 25 homers. If his average remains above .300, he’ll join Lou Gehrig as the only players in major-league history to hit .300 or above and stroke 25 or more homers in 11 consecutive seasons. … Dustin Pedroia continues to put his name in more prominent positions in the Sox record book. He had a first-inning double, his 54th, giving him sole possession of second place in that department. He had his 210th hit in the seventh, tying him for fifth on that list. And he stole his 20th base in that inning. With Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp, that gives Boston three players with at least 20 steals. The last time that happened was in 1914 when Tris Speaker, Hal Janvrin and Duffy Lewis did it. For good measure, Dustin Pedroia made a diving stop to rob Travis Hafner of a hit in the eighth, drawing MVP chants from the crowd.

kmcnamar@projo.com / pkenyon@projo.com