BOSTON –— It’s not official, but it might as well be: unless things change drastically, the Red Sox will open the American League Division Series next Wednesday (or Thursday) at home against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Angels’ loss yesterday to Texas, coupled with the Red Sox’ 11-6 win over the Oakland A’s and the Cleveland Indians’ pounding of the Seattle Mariners in the first game of a doubleheader at Safeco Field all combined to set in motion the likelihood of such a matchup.

Any combination of two Red Sox wins and Yankees losses cements the division title. At the same time, the Angels are virtually guaranteed to finish with the worst record among the three division winners.

Before the late Cleveland-Seattle game, the Angels were four games behind the Indians in the loss column. If the Indians didn’t win the nightcap, they would need to win only once in their last four games to consign the Angels to the third-best record among division winners.

That creates a situation where it doesn’t matter who finishes with the best record — at least as far determining first-round matchups. If the Indians finish with the best record, they would play the wild-card entry (the Yankees); if the Sox finish with the best record, they can’t play the Yankees because a team is prohibited from playing a club within its own division in the Division Series.

Instead, they would play the lowest-seeded division winner — the Angels.

The teams aren’t postseason strangers, of course. In addition to an epic seven-game ALCS won by the Red Sox in 1986, the teams met in the ALDS in 2004, with the Sox sweeping the Angels in three games.

That series, unlike this one, opened in Anaheim.

Internally, the Red Sox were of two minds regarding their first-round opponent. While some believed that Cleveland represented the tougher matchup, those same people thought the Sox might be better served by knocking off the Indians and hoping that the Angels could do the same to the Yankees.

The Angels have eliminated the Yankees twice (2002, 2006) in the ALDS the last two times they met in the postseason, and this year the Angels throttled the Yanks in regular-season play, going 6-3 head-to-head. The Angels, in fact, have won the season series in each of the last three seasons and are the only team to hold a winning record against the Yankees since Joe Torre became manager.

Home field may not always seem like a big advantage in the baseball postseason. Since 1969, when division play began, home teams have won just 54 percent of all home games.

But with the Angels, there might be an exception. The Sox were 6-4 against the Angels this regular season, beating them 5 of 7 at Fenway while dropping 2 of 3 in Anaheim.

“For whatever reason,” said a Red Sox official, “they’re a lot tougher for us to beat there [in Anaheim] than [at Fenway].

In a five-game ALDS, in which the Sox would be home for Games One and Two and, if necessary, Game Five, the Angels could be at another disadvantage — their projected number-one starter, John Lackey, struggled twice this season at Fenway.

Lackey made two regular-season starts at Fenway this season and lasted a total of 9 2/3 innings, allowing 20 hits and compiling an 8.38 ERA. Lackey didn’t face the Sox in their three-game set at Angel Stadium in August, but he has a 3.31 ERA at home this season.

Thanks to their aggressive approach on the bases (they went into yesterday second in the A.L. in stolen bases), they almost resemble a 1980s National League-style team. Sometimes their over-aggressiveness can cost them, though — they also lead the league in being caught stealing.

The Angels boast little firepower behind Vladimir Guerrero (they’re second to last in the A.L. in homers and eighth in total bases) and aren’t always patient at the plate (ranking ninth in walks).

But the Angels aren’t easily dismissed. They feature two front-line starters (Lackey and Kelvim Escobar, who have combined for 35 wins) and a top-notch closer (Francisco Rodriguez). Mike Scioscia is considered one of the best in-game managers in either league.

They’ve been to the postseason four times in the last six years and, barring some really strange developments, are heading to Fenway next week.

smcadam@projo.com