The worst fears of so many came so true tonight. At the pivotal moment in a tied game, the Los Angeles Angels chose to run, betting that the Red Sox couldn’t stop them.

They were right.

Now, the Angels will chase the Red Sox all the way back to Fenway Park, leading this best-of-five series 2-0, with a chance to go for the kill on Sunday afternoon.

The Red Sox have been unable to stop opposing baserunners all season, allowing the most stolen bases in the league by a wide margin. The speedy Angels are notoriously aggressive, always looking for the steal and the chance to take the extra base.

That chance came in the seventh inning. With the Angels and the Sox locked up 1-1 and one out, pinch runner Howie Kendrick took off for second base. Sox catcher Victor Martinez uncorked his throw, which ran slightly low and forced second baseman Dustin Pedroia to stab forward at the ball, and then sweep his arm back in order to make the tag. He couldn’t do both in time, and Kendrick slid in safely, clapping his hands together at his success.

Two batters later, Maicer Izturis bounced a ball just past pitcher Josh Beckett’s glove, then past Pedroia’s outstretched body as well, as it bounced into center to give the Angels a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish.

The steal and clutch base hit were classic Angels baseball, a team playing to its personality and its strengths, said Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

"We’re one of those teams that needs to push that end of it, and we have the talent to do it, and these guys did a good job with it and it showed up tonight," Scioscia said. "I think both teams were aggressive on the basepaths. That’s a big part of our offense. Along with the situational hitting tonight, you know, we were able to scratch across four runs."

Izturis would steal second himself on a high throw from Martinez, and soon became the first of two insurance runs as Beckett dealt out two pitches he later regretted. He hit Mike Napoli with a curveball, then served up a fastball that Erick Aybar hit for a long triple into center to give Los Angeles the 4-1 lead.

"If it wasn’t for those two pitches the game could have a different view and the guys aren’t trying to fight back from a three-run deficit, it should have been one run," said Beckett. "We need to regroup and we know what we need to do now."

With the way the Angels’ pitchers have manhandled Sox hitters, 2-1 might have been enough.

For the second straight night, an Angel starting pitcher walked slowly off the mound to frenzied applause, tipping his cap to an appreciative crowd.

Thursday, it was John Lackey getting the applause. Friday night, Jered Weaver darted through the Red Sox lineup like a fighter plane, his curveballs and sliders and cutters veering left and right and up and down unpredictably and artfully, at speeds ranging from 68 to 94 mph.

"I thought he did a real good job of attacking both sides of the plate, never letting anyone get comfortable on one side. He’s got a little deception to him, which makes picking up the ball tough," said left fielder Jason Bay, who drew one of two walks against Weaver.

"Weaver wasn’t letting us drive the ball. He was trying to stay off the plate, using all his pitches, throwing them anytime," echoed David Ortiz, who was 0-for-4.

Only Jacoby Ellsbury really solved him, and he only briefly. Ellsbury led off the fourth inning by slamming a first-pitch changeup over Torii Hunter’s head in centerfield, and raced into third with a triple. Victor Martinez then knocked Ellsbury home with a solid line drive single to center field, giving Boston a 1-0 lead. They were Boston’s only two hits off Weaver all night.

"You obviously want to go out there and try to locate, first and foremost. I was able to do that for the most part tonight. Hopefully these two will carry us into Boston with some positive [momentum]," Weaver said.

The Angels came right back against Beckett, unprepared to let Boston have the edge for even one inning. Bobby Abreu, who has done it all for Los Angeles, singled into left to lead off the inning. Then Thursday’s hero, Torii Hunter, stepped to the plate, and pounced on Beckett’s fourth pitch, sending a liner screaming down the third-base line toward left field.

Third baseman Mike Lowell wouldn’t let it get there. Lowell ripped the ball out of the air, seeming to hang horizontally for several seconds as he speared Hunter’s rocket. Finally, he landed, and instead of having runners on the corners -- or possibly a 1-1 tie, the Angels had only Abreu at first with one out.

While the Sox snuffed that threat, the Angels’ attacking style created more opportunities. Vladimir Guerrero stepped into the box next. On Beckett’s second pitch to Guerrero, Abreu tried to steal second, and Guerrero bounced a ball right to where Pedroia normally stands.

But with Abreu running for second, Pedroia had veered off to cover the bag, and Guerrero’s ball bounced lazily into right field as Abreu cruised into third. He would score on Kendry Morales’ sacrifice fly to tie the game up at 1-1. The play was not even a hit-and-run, Scioscia said.

"That was a run-and-hit. Straight steal. Bobby got a good jump, at that point he was on his own running that pitch. Got a great jump. And Vlad got a pitch that he could hit behind him, and it worked very nicely," Scioscia said.

The Sox did finally nab an Angel base runner, with Martinez gunning down Abreu on a pitchout by Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth inning. But with the damage already done, that late-game bright-spot was poor consolation.

Boston put two men on in the ninth inning, but Lowell lined out to center to end the game.

The Sox now return to Fenway, a place where they play so well, fighting for their baseball life. But they’ve been there before, and Sox manager Terry Francona has guided his team through tougher scenarios than this.

"I’d rather not be down 0-2, because the team we’re playing is really good. If you put yourself in a position where you make a mistake, it can really cost you. But until they tell us to go home, we’ll take our team and keep going. That’s how we feel," Francona said.

dbarbari@projo.com