Red Sox rough up Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Curt Schilling has pitched a lot better in big games than he did Tuesday.

But he had a large margin for error early on, so everything worked out for the Boston Red Sox.

Schilling worked effectively into the seventh inning, Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar homered during a seven-run burst in the fourth and the Red Sox beat the Anaheim Angels 9-3 to open the American League playoffs.

Schilling said he felt “incredibly strong” in the bullpen before the game and had good velocity, but struggled otherwise.

“I knew I wasn’t as sharp as I have been,” he said. “Looking back, I made some mistakes today. I left some pitches over the plate. (But) solo home runs don’t beat you.”

Each team hit two homers, but Boston’s produced five runs and Anaheim’s only two.

The Red Sox had an 8-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings.

“All you can ask from (Schilling) is to go out there and give us a chance to win,” said Millar, whose two-run homer triggered Boston’s big inning. “We swung the bats enough to give him a lead, and he held it.”

Schilling gave up nine hits and three runs, two earned, and allowed at least one base runner in every inning. He walked two and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings.

Schilling, 37, entered with a 5-1 record and a 1.66 ERA in 11 previous postseason appearances.

Darin Erstad and Troy Glaus homered for Anaheim.

Pedro Martinez will pitch against Anaheim’s Bartolo Colon in Game 2 tonight before the best-of-5 series moves to Boston.

“We’re up 1-0. Tomorrow’s starters will determine momentum going into the game,” Schilling said. “This is a tough place to win. But we’ve got Pedro going. I’m pretty excited about that.”

The Angels are in a familiar place, having lost series openers to the New York Yankees, Minnesota and San Francisco two years ago before rebounding to beat all three and win the World Series.