ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- It wasn't vintage Pedro Martinez , but it was good enough for the Boston Red Sox .

Martinez rebounded from a poor final month of the regular season with seven effective innings and Orlando Cabrera delivered a key three-run double as the Red Sox took a commanding two games to none lead in their American League Division Series with an 8-3 triumph over the Anaheim Angels .

A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Martinez (1-0) struggled down the stretch this season, going 0-4 with a 7.72 ERA in his last four starts. But he righted the ship in this one to put Boston one win away from advancing to the AL Championship Series for the second straight year.

"I wanted to do good (down the stretch), I just couldn't do it," said Martinez, who improved his lifetime Division Series record to 4-0 and his career postseason mark to 5-1. "But thank God, I turned it around and now I feel like I can pitch better."

"His command tonight was very, very good," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "His command the last few outings weren't as good as tonight. ... I thought he used all (of his pitches) tonight very efficiently, very effectively."

The Dominican righthander allowed three runs and six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. After yielding a two-run single by Vladimir Guerrero in the fifth inning that gave Anaheim a 3-1 lead, Martinez retired the next seven batters before turning things over to the Boston bullpen.

"I feel great right now," Martinez said. "My arm feels great, I feel strong. I feel like I can click whenever I want, and I just thank God for the way I am feeling and I just hope to continue to do that."

"This was probably the best stuff he has had against us all year," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think Pedro is terrific when maybe the situation gets a little hot. He gets an extra gear. He did it tonight, he changed speeds well."

Mike Timlin and Mike Myers each recorded an out in the eighth before closer Keith Foulke came on to toss 1 1/3 perfect innings for his first save of the postseason.

Manny Ramirez , who drew a bases-loaded walk in the second to drive in Boston's first run, snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh with a sacrifice fly against Francisco Rodriguez (0-1). The AL Most Valuable Player candidate sparked a ninth-inning rally against Brendan Donnelly by swatting a one-out double and scoring on Trot Nixon 's single to make it 5-3.

"Everybody was patient at the plate tonight," Ramirez said. "I saw some pitches and hit a slider that was inside. Trot went up there and just kept battling and Cabrera came through with the hit."

After the Red Sox loaded the bases in both the first and second innings against Angels starter Bartolo Colon and came away with just one run, Cabrera cashed in during the ninth, ripping a two-base hit into the left-center field gap to give Boston an 8-3 cushion.

"Manny gets a one-armed double, (David) Ortiz walks and Trot gets the key hit to keep it going," Boston's Jason Varitek said. "That allows the intentional walk that allows us to set the table for Cabrera to get the big hit. We just kept it going."

"Cabrera's hit was it," Scioscia said. "It's a two-out hit, the runners are going and it found the gap. We were hoping to go with Frankie in the seventh and eighth, then go to Percy (closer Troy Percival ) in the ninth. Our bullpen has gotten it done all year long, but we couldn't hold the lead tonight."

The Angels look to stave off elimination at Fenway Park on Friday when Kelvim Escobar faces Bronson Arroyo .

Colon, who surrendered three runs and seven hits in six innings, had trouble at the start, allowing Johnny Damon and Mark Bellhorn to open the game with back-to-back singles. After Ramirez struck out, Ortiz walked to load the bases. But Colon retired Nixon and Kevin Millar to escape unscathed.

With two outs in the second, Bill Mueller and Damon singled and Bellhorn walked. But the Red Sox again could not break open the game, scoring just once on the walk to Ramirez before catcher Jose Molina picked off Bellhorn at second to end the inning.

"The momentum changed when we picked him off," Molina said. "That was a big play at the time. It changed the game and got us out of the inning."

"You have to stay away from leaving guys in scoring position in the playoffs," Ortiz said. "We left too many on early in the game. Later on, we scored, but if we score early, we put them away."

Despite allowing an abundance of runners early, Colon was pleased with his performance.

"I felt pretty good about the way I threw," Colon said through an interpreter. "The first two innings took a lot out of me, but I recovered."

Anaheim drew even against Martinez in the bottom of the inning when Troy Glaus drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on Jeff DaVanon 's single and scored on a base hit by rookie Dallas McPherson .

Martinez minimized the damage by fielding Molina's bunt and getting DaVanon at third before David Eckstein flied out and Chone Figgins struck out.

The Angels, who reached the postseason by winning their first AL West Division title in 18 years, moved ahead in the fifth. Molina and Eckstein led off with singles and, after Figgins failed to execute a bunt, Darin Erstad was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Guerrero followed with his first career postseason hit, a single to right-center that plated two. With a chance to pad the lead, Garret Anderson scorched a shot that first baseman Millar snagged before doubling off Guerrero to end the frame.

"One turning point is the ball that Garret hit," Scioscia said. "That's a ball that's in there, we pick up a little run there, could be a different situation for everybody."

Colon was unable to preserve the 3-1 lead as Millar kept alive the sixth with a two-out single and Varitek belted his seventh career postseason homer.

"I got myself out the first two at-bats swinging at some pitches out of the zone," Varitek said. "When I came up again, I was trying to hit it to center field. He gave me one I could turn on and I got a hold of it."

"Not only was it high, it was right down the pipe, right where he's looking for it to be, right in his wheelhouse," Colon said.

Ortiz led off the sixth with an infield single, but Colon appeared to be on his way to a scoreless inning by inducing a double-play grounder by Nixon.

"I felt just as strong in the sixth as I did at the start," Colon said. "After we got the double play, I thought I'd get out of the inning."

Rodriguez came on to start the seventh and allowed an infield single to Mueller, but pinch runner Dave Roberts was erased on Damon's grounder. Damon stole second and Bellhorn walked before both advanced on a wild pitch.

Ramirez then lifted a 3-2 offering to center field, scoring Damon to give the Red Sox a 4-3 edge.

Considered one of the best in baseball, Anaheim's bullpen allowed five runs, five hits and four walks with three wild pitches in three innings. In the first two games of the Division Series, Angels relievers have yielded seven runs, 11 hits and seven walks while uncorking four wild pitches in 8 2/3 frames.

"You know they feel good when they get to their bullpen, like we do," Francona said. "And again, we did some damage and not only did we get the lead, but we tacked on a little bit. ... This bullpen has been somewhat invincible and we scored some runs tonight. That's huge."

"The bullpen is why we're here," McPherson said. "You can't fault them. They've been here all year and done the job. We just didn't do the job as a team. We didn't do the little things we needed to to win."