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Red Sox stun Orioles with six-run ninth

May 14, 2007 - 12:41 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox might have lost Josh Beckett for a couple of starts, but they eased the pain with a stunning come-from-behind victory.

The Red Sox rallied for six runs in the ninth inning to jolt the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5, on Sunday in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Sunday marked the biggest ninth-inning comeback by the Red Sox since April 10, 1998 when trailing 7-2 they beat Seattle 9-7 on Mo Vaughn's walk-off grand slam.

"We had games like that in the past where we've shown we can win in different ways," said Boston catcher Jason Varitek, who has a two-run double in the uprising. "To be a part of something like that is fun and it's very exciting for us. To be down five runs and win, that's a big win."

Bidding to join Babe Ruth as one of four Boston pitchers to win their first eight starts in a season, Beckett was forced from the game after four innings with a recurring skin irritation on his right middle finger.

Beckett, who has been on the disabled list five times in his career due to problems with the same finger, most of them related to blisters, seemed certain to take the loss until the late drama.

Held to three hits by Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie through 8 1/3 innings, the Red Sox battled back against Baltimore's bullpen, beating closer Chris Ray (3-3) for the second time this season.

The Orioles did their part by walking three batters and committing two errors in the decisive frame.

The winning runs came on a two-out groundout to first by Julio Lugo and Boston trailing, 5-4. Kevin Millar fielded the ball and flipped to Ray, who dropped the ball while racing Lugo to the ball.

As the ball rolled into foul territory, Varitek and Eric Hinske and scored to provide one of the unlikeliest victories of the season.

"That's a game we should have won, period," Millar said. "It's a game we should have won, end of story. There's no rhyme or reason why we should have lost that game. That game was in our hands.

"I really feel terrible for Guthrie. He pitched an incredible chance for us to win."

Lugo was credited with a hit on the play while the deciding run scored on the error.

"I'm just trying to get a hit there," Lugo said. "Everyone thinks grand slam in their backyard but in that situation, all I'm trying to do is get a hit."

Guthrie was two outs away from his first complete game before he was inexplicably pulled from the game by manager Sam Perlozzo after catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped Coco Crisp's one-out pop fly in front of the plate. Guthrie had thrown only 91 pitches.

"We had talked the inning before he went back out and I think he was getting a little tired," Perlozzo said. "We gave him the opportunity to go back out there. Pretty much he said, 'If somebody gets on, you can come out and get me.' That really wasn't the way we wanted it to happen with a guy getting on. We should have made the play and didn't."

David Ortiz hammered an RBI double off reliever Danys Baez to score Crisp and Willy Mo Pena followed with a single to move Ortiz to third.

Perlozzo brought in Ray, who walked J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis to force in a cut, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Varitek then ripped a double to right-center, plating two runs to make it 5-4.

"It's amazing, Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Here of all places, a dropped pop-up and the next thing you know, combination of some magic here, some really good players that don't quit. And you just want a chance to get the tying run to the plate and then all of sudden the way it was unfolding, we've got ... a chance to win it."

Despite Ray's control issues, the Orioles intentionally walked Hinske to load the bases for Alex Cora, who hit a high chopper to second base. With no chance of a double player, Brian Roberts threw home to force Youkilis on a questionable call at the plate.

That brought up Lugo, who also hit a chopper but forced a quick throw with his speed down the line.

"I kind of feel like I beat myself," Ray said. "I wasn't making my pitches. They essentially got one hit off me and scored five runs. I just feel I didn't have my stuff and beat myself out there."

J.C. Romero (1-0), the fifth reliever for the Red Sox, worked 1 1/3 innings for the victory, allowing one hit and no runs.

The Red Sox had victimized Ray and the Orioles on April 26, when Pena slammed a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning for a 5-2 victory.

After allowing two runs in the first inning, Beckett was overpowering, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced. He struck out seven and walked two.

"He was throwing the ball about as good as you can throw it," Francona said. "The good side of that is, because it was a tear, not a blister, it shouldn't get worse. We have to let it heal for a couple of days, dry up and let it heal."

Beckett has been plagued by the finger ailment, described by Boston's medical staff as an an avulsion, or tearing away of the skin, throughout his seven-year career.

The problem also landed Beckett on the DL twice in 2004, including the final time on July 6, 2004, with what was called a "skin tear" when he was a member of the Florida Marlins. He did not return until July 30.

"My skin broke and it just ripped more and more each pitch," Beckett said. "It is not a blister. My skin just tore. There is nothing there. It's not like I got a blister under my callous. It's just one of those deals where you have to wait and see."

Guthrie, was hardly dominant but just as effective as Becektt. A converted reliever, Guthrie shut down the Red Sox in just his third start of the season.

Guthrie did not have a strikeout until the seventh inning and recorded 16 of his 24 outs via ground balls as the Orioles beat the Red Sox for just the fifth time in the last 23 games dating to the start of the 2006 season.

"I'm human," Guthrie said. "Of course I'll think if we make the catch (Hernandez's error) it makes it a lot tougher to score six runs with two outs. At the same time it's not anybody's fault. It didn't work out and they made the run."