ANAHEIM, Calif. -- This is not the way it was supposed to start for the Los Angeles Angels of Depressed, Misfiring and Rally Monkeyed-Out Anaheim.

Not this October.

Vladimir Guerrero's gaffe short-circuits a rally and helps put the Angels in an all-too-familiar hole. (US Presswire)

Um, make that, not Vladimir Guerrero's Octobers.

Chalk up one more huge swing-and-miss for October Vladdy. That it came on the basepaths in Boston's 4-1 victory against the Angels in Game 1 of this divisional series was only a brush stroke, not the whole portrait.

Guerrero, standing on first base, badly misread Torii Hunter's looping single in the eighth inning with one out and the Angels trailing 2-1, nearly stopped before he even reached second base ... and then, in a scene nearly as gruesome as found in any slasher movie, decided to set sail for third.

He was out by ... oh, 10 Mississippis.

"I saw the ball drop and I thought it was further than it was," Guerrero said through translator Jose Mota, a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Angels. "I tried to make it to third base and I couldn't do it. It wasn't there."

Angels third-base coach Dino Ebel was frantically extending both arms heavenward in the universal "Stop! Stop! Oh my goodness, please STOP!" sign.

"I did not have a chance to look at the third-base coach," Guerrero said. "If I had seen it, I would have stopped."

Over on third, Boston's Mike Lowell showed incredible restraint in opting not to go make himself a sandwich as a way of killing time after fielding first baseman Kevin Youklis' throw while awaiting Guerrero's arrival.

"It was kind of weird," Lowell said. "I was hoping (Youklis) would catch the ball. Then I saw Vladdy take off, and I didn’t think he'd go to third. I was standing there."

With time not only to have a pizza delivered, but to eat it before making the tag.

"I guess we got rewarded," Lowell said wryly. "Because you shouldn't get a hit on a blooper like that."

Tell that to the Angels, whose fearsome lineup was reduced to praying for a bloop hit. They were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position against Boston starter Jon Lester in the first five innings.

They've now lost eight consecutive playoff games. They've now lost 10 consecutive postseason games to Boston, dating back to 1986 and the harrowing Dave Henderson/Donnie Moore game.

The team that finished with baseball's best record (100-62) lost home-field advantage nearly before you could say "Jason Bay", and the worst part might have been that it's getting harder and harder to watch the marquee free agent they signed before the 2004 season.

The guy whose presence was supposed to prevent October nights like these. With Guerrero, since 2004, they've lost three of four postseason series.

He has been marvelous in so many regular-season games and earned the AL's Most Valuable Player Award in '04, but Guerrero so far mostly has been an utter disaster in the postseason. He came into this one batting .183 (11-for-60) with only one extra-base hit (a home run) and seven RBI in 16 games.

In the 2005 American League Championship Series against the White Sox, he batted .050 (1-for-20) and was such a quick and easy out that he saw only 47 pitches in 20 at-bats.

As Boston was brushing aside the Angels in the first round last year, Guerrero batted .200 (2-for-10) with no extra-base hits.

And now this doozy.

"One thing that's happened in the playoffs in recent years with Vladdy was, a lot of times, he's been the lone soldier, the only guy, and he'd step up and try to be Superman," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We have a deeper club now. We have a club where you can't try to contain one guy and think you're going to have success."

No small part of that is Mark Teixeira, the slugging first baseman whom the Angels acquired in late July, a bold statement that made clear L.A. would swing for the fences this October in an effort to win their second World Series title in seven seasons.

But if the Angels don't turn this around quickly, they're soon going to be staring at a difficult winter that includes making decisions on whether to re-sign closer Francisco Rodriguez and outfielder Garret Anderson, among others, and whether to pick up Guerrero's $15 million option for 2009.

The Angels can buy out the contract for $3 million, and while nobody's suggesting that's going to happen, if the Angels fall short again this October, that decision might play out for them.

At 32, Guerrero has chronically sore knees. He has had back issues. Guerrero is a great player but, so far, there is a disconnect in October.

When great players step to the plate and their team is trailing by a run, there normally is tremendous anticipation. In October, with Guerrero, you don't have that feeling.

What he did in that eighth inning Wednesday to reach base was smash a hard single into left (12 of his 13 career postseason hits now are singles). Scioscia said he did not pinch-run for Guerrero because, in the Angels manager's estimation, the outfielder has been running well lately.

Then Hunter dropped that ball onto the grass between a backpedaling Youklis and charging right fielder J.D. Drew, and the Angels should have had something going

Guerrero, though, almost came to a complete stop several steps in front of second while looking back to see where the ball was. Then he awkwardly started again, rounded second ... and ran right into more October trouble.

"The scope of the game changed, because it would have been first and third with one out," Lowell said.

On first base, Hunter animatedly hollered in frustration.

In the dugout, Guerrero paced like a man who wanted to be anyplace else, and slammed his batting helmet against the bench.

"I was very upset with myself," Guerrero said through Mota. "It had nothing to do with the third-base coach."

And on a sweltering, 81-degree night, the Angels melted -- again -- right there.

"You've got to give Lester credit," said frustrated Angels starter John Lackey, who was mostly superb himself but for the one mistake pitch Bay chopped for a two-run homer. "He pitched very well. But we've got to find a way to score some runs. It's frustrating when one pitch can lose a game for you."