BOSTON -- Tim Wakefield unassumingly packed up his belongings in his corner of the clubhouse after Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Angels. His team had been swept, and Wakefield therefore missed the chance to appear in his 10th postseason. The disc that has been pinching on a nerve in his back left him in too much pain to pitch in the first round. And after Sunday, there will be no second round. So Wakefield will have surgery soon, and he expects to be back next year.

"Absolutely, there's no doubt of me retiring," he said. "They know I want to come back, and I think I'm in their plans."

The Red Sox hold a $4 million team option on the 43-year-old knuckleballer. Wakefield said he's been told once he has surgery, he will likely to be able to walk out of the hospital that day. He joked he'll probably be able to walk out better than he walked in.

Wakefield said he's been battling the disc problem for the past two months; the pressure on the nerve has led to a decrease in strength in his legs. It left him with an obvious limp, and didn't allow him to field his position. Fielding bunts and covering first base or home plate were all but impossible.

"I've been battling this for two months," he said. "My emotions have been like a roller coaster. I feel good one day and the next day I don't feel too good. I try to pitch with it, and some days it feels great and some days it doesn't. It's very frustrating."

He'll have to wait to get an open slot for surgery, but expects it will be soon.

Wakefield, who has been with Boston for the past 15 seasons and has the most career starts in Red Sox history, sees no reason the Sox won't bring him back for another year.

"I did make the All-Star team this year, why wouldn't they bring me back?" he said. "I just have to get this fixed and get healthy."

Breakthrough

Two Sox veterans snapped postseason droughts that dated back to last year. Mike Lowell snapped an 0-for-16 slump in the fourth inning with a single, and David Ortiz broke an 0-for-14 rut when he singled with two outs in the eighth. Ortiz was the last Sox starter to get a hit in the series … The Red Sox avoided tying a dubious postseason record. Entering Sunday's game they had four hits or fewer in three straight postseason games (including Game 7 of last year's American League Championship Series). Only the 1906 White Sox have gone four games with so few hits … According to Doug Kern of ESPN Stats & Information, the Angels improved to 5-1 over the past three seasons when playing at 9 a.m. Pacific time or earlier. Their lone loss was against the Red Sox on Patriots Day 2007 … Thanks to Mark Simon of ESPN who points out the Angels became the first team to win a postseason game by rallying from a two-run deficit with no one on base and one out from defeat.

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