Josh Beckett turned in one of the most outstanding postseason starts in Red Sox history last night against the Angels, in the process giving Boston a 1-0 lead in the ALDS.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — If the aura of confidence had an aroma, then the Boston Red Sox smelled like a giant bouquet of roses last night.

The Red Sox had just defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4-0, in the Game One of the ALDS at Fenway Park, and the players in the Boston clubhouse were feeling very good about themselves.

Starter Josh Beckett tossed an absolute gem, hurling a complete-game four-hitter. Kevin Youkilis hit a solo homer and David Ortiz added a two-run shot, while Mike Lowell added a RBI-single to give Boston everything it needed to take the early lead in this five-game set.

“Everything was right on key,” said Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew. “It couldn’t have played out any better. It was kind of the way you anticipate things happening with some timely hitting and great pitching. It all worked out well.”

It worked out a lot better than that.

All the Red Sox players were loose and jovial after the victory in a game that the club worked its game plan to perfection.

“The first win is usually the hardest,” said Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp. “To get that one out of the way is key. You want to jump to a head start. It’s going to make it a little easier on us [in Game Two] and we’ll try to win another ballgame.”

The perfect example of the type of night the Red Sox were enjoying was a defensive play by outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the top of the ninth inning. Boston manager Terry Francona inserted the rookie sparkplug in place of Manny Ramirez in left field for defensive purposes, and it didn’t take long for the plan to work.

Angels lead-off man Chone Figgins lifted a shallow fly ball toward the line and the speedy Ellsbury made a dramatic diving catch on a ball that Ramirez may or may not have gotten to. But Ellsbury did get there, and two outs later the Red Sox had the win in hand.

“It’s always important to win the first game,” said Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo. “But it’s only one game and we have to finish up the series. Anybody can win one. We’ll just have to see what happens from here on.”

Boston pieced everything together nicely, including timely hitting and solid defense. Beckett did the rest.

After he surrendered a lead-off single to Figgins that ricocheted off Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s glove and into center field in the top of the first inning, Beckett retired the next 19 batters he faced before losing a seven-pitch battle with Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who singled to left field with one out in the seventh inning.

Anaheim’s Howie Kendrick collected a one-out single in the eighth, and Guerrero added a two-out single in the ninth. But other than those four hits, the Angels could not muster any offensive threat against Beckett.

“It was one of those dominating performances that you don’t see too often,” said Drew. “After the first hitter, he was virtually unhittable. He threw the ball great and he had a great night.”

On the other side, Angels’ starter John Lackey hasn’t had the best of luck at Fenway Park this season, and his skid continued last night.

His last time here (Aug. 17) he allowed a season-high 11 hits in a season-low four innings, so the Red Sox made sure to jump on him early last night thanks in part to Youkilis’ solo homer into the Monster Seats in the bottom of the first inning.

Youkilis kept things moving in the third with a one-out double before Ortiz smashed a two-run homer into the right-field seats. Ramirez followed with a walk, reached second on a wild pitch before Lowell provided an RBI single for a 4-0 Boston advantage.

Lackey exited after six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

With that four-run cushion, Beckett did the rest and as a result, Boston takes a 1-0 lead in this five-game series, with Game Two tomorrow night at Fenway Park.

“It is a short series, and you want to accumulate wins as fast as you can,” said Drew. “I don’t think in any series you play you take wins for granted. This is a building block, and hopefully we can carry into the next game.”

jmcdonal@projo.com