In what would seem to be a rite of fall, the Red Sox open their quest for back-to-back World Series titles tonight at Anaheim against the Angels. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.Playing the Angels in the postseason can only be considered a sign of good fortune for the Red Sox. The two teams have met in 1986, 2004 and 2007, and the Red Sox have won all three times – and only the ’86 American League Championship Series had any drama at all.So it would appear as if the Angels are to the Red Sox what the Red Sox generally are to the Yankees. The Angels are Sisyphus; the Red Sox the rock.But recent history hasn’t been kind to the rock. The Red Sox finally rolled it all the way to the top of the hill in 2004; the Indianapolis Colts finally conquered it in 2007; and I have a feeling that by the middle of next week, there may be a great, big stone boulder perched precariously at the top of Anaheim Hills.This isn’t to knock the Red Sox. Personally, I think squeezing 95 wins out of this crew represents one of Terry Francona’s finer jobs. I know all about how well they’re paid, but a lot of that high-priced talent was either injured, or, in Manny Ramirez’ case, traded.The Red Sox made their push to the postseason with a rookie shortstop (Jed Lowrie), and a rebuilt outfield that – on some days – had Mark Kotsay in right due to J.D. Drew’s injury trouble.They also got hot in the second half with Mike Lowell (last year’s World Series MVP) on the shelf half the time, and with all the uncertainty over Josh Beckett’s health.Oddly enough, what saved them in the second half is what killed them earlier in the season: their bullpen. Trading Craig Hansen the heck out of town helped, of course. Perhaps it steadied Manny Delcarmen, who had a decent finish to the season. But Hideki Okajima straightened himself out, they found a reliable setup guy in Justin Masterson, and the team got 40 saves out of Jonathan Papelbon again.Sadly, however, your bullpen can’t be much help if your starters get lit up early, and with more uncertainty over Beckett, this could be an issue.But the real problem is the patchwork lineup that Francona has had to trot out there – the one with David Ortiz basically swinging with one arm, and that doesn’t include Lowell, Drew or Julio Lugo.To say it has holes is the same as saying Wall Street is in a little bit of difficulty. It has crevices.And lineups with holes always seem to get exposed at the worst possible moments ? like when the bases are loaded, there are two outs, and you’re a run behind.And that always seemed to be when Lowrie came to bat during September, when pitchers finally figured him out. Don’t get me wrong. I like him. But you had to figure that at some point, he was going to start looking like a rookie.Baseball is such an easy game to understand on one level, but it also has an element of minutiae about it, too. And one of my big theories, when it comes to offense, is that the best teams are the ones whose hitters are the most difficult outs.Notice I didn’t say “with the best averages” or “with the most home runs.” No. The team with the most difficult outs usually wins, especially in close games.Example: Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are tough outs. Even if they’re struggling, they tax the pitcher as much as they can. Facing them is always a grind. And even if one or the other makes an out, the mental stress of it all could wear a pitcher down to the point where he makes a mistake on the next hitter. And that stress level multiplies in the late innings of close games, where every pitch is crucial.In 2004, and again last year, the Red Sox had a lineup full of tough outs. This year, unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Jason Varitek has been an automatic out for much of the season, Lowrie has been having a horrible time, and there are games when the entire bottom of the order disappears.This will hurt them against the Angels, whose lineup has far fewer soft spots. And for that reason, and despite the fact tha