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Rodriguez homers twice but Rivera can't close the deal

Apr 21, 2007 - 4:41 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez continued his hot hitting, but Mariano Rivera continued his struggles against the Boston Red Sox.

Rodriguez bashed two more home runs, but Rivera could not stop a five-run eighth inning as the New York Yankees dropped a 7-6 decision to the Red Sox in the first of a three-game series in what is considered by many as the greatest rivalry in all sports.

Rodriguez helped the Yankees to a 6-2 lead with a solo home run in the fourth and a three-run shot in the fifth against Curt Schilling, trying him with Mike Schmidt in 1976 as the fastest player to 12 home runs (15 games) in major league history.

"He's remarkable," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I've run out of words and superlatives to describe what he's into right now. I'm happy for him, especially coming here where he had such a turbulent time, to do what he did tonight."

But one day after rallying from a 6-2 deficit with two outs and nobody on base in the ninth against Cleveland, this time it was the New York bullpen that imploded.

"It's frustrating," Rodriguez said. "A lead's never safe in this ball park, we know that. We know a five-run lead is like a two-run lead."

On a night when the Red Sox were wearing green uniforms in honor of the late Red Auerbach, the architect of the Boston Celtics' 16 world championships, David Ortiz started the decisive rally with a double against Mike Myers. Manny Ramirez drew a walk against Luis Vizcaino and both runners moved up on a groundout before Mike Lowell singled home Ortiz.

That brought on Rivera (0-2), who was seeking his first save of the season. But Jason Varitek singled in Ramirez with a base it to right-center and Coco Crisp grounded a triple down the first base line that rattled around in the corner, allowing both Lowell and Varitek to score to tie the game.

With the infield in, Alex Cora fisted a soft liner over Derek Jeter at shortstop, plating Crisp for a 7-6 lead and handing Rivera his second straight blown save.

"It was a big at-bat for me," Crisp said. "I started out slow and gradually got better throughout the night. That tied up the game for us. The biggest hit of the night was obviously Cora's to put us ahead but Varitek had a great night and so did J.D. (Drew)."

"I'm not disappointed (with Rivera)," Torre said. "I'm disappointed with the result. Andy (Pettitte) pitched a great game and got us where we wanted to be. We scored some runs off Schilling. We put ourselves in a good position. You never have enough runs in this ball park, we know that. With a four-run lead going into the eighth inning, we should win the game."

Cora had the game-winning hit in the ninth inning Thursday against Toronto.

Of Rivera's 57 career blown saves, 11 have come against the Red Sox. The last time he blew consecutive saves was against Boston in the 2005 season.

"Games like this hurt, definitely," Rivera said. "You try to search and find out what's happening. It hurts but you have to move on. It is the same against the Red Sox or anybody. You have to be able to do the job and close games and I haven't done it yet."

With Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon unavailable due to a rest day, Boston manager Terry Francona turned to Japanese lefthander Hideki Okijima, who worked around a one-out walk to Bobby Abreu for his first save. He retired Rodriguez on a soft liner to second base for the second out of the frame.

"I wasn't expecting to face them this soon," Okajima said through a translator. "I was very happy that it's happened already. When we scored runs in the bottom of the eighth, when we tied, I started playing catch and we (got the lead), that's when I was told I was going to go."

"It's important to close a game," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "The way we won, not having Pap available or not wanting to Pap to be available is good for our staff, good for our team. To win a game like that against that team is very helpful. It'll help down the road."

Kyle Snyder (1-0) got two outs in the eighth for the win.

Pettitte, three years removed from the rivalry while pitching for the Houston Astros, allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

He surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to Jason Varitek - his first of the year - in the fourth before departing with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh. Scott Proctor escaped that mess.

Schilling (2-2), who entered 11-1 in his last 16 starts at Fenway, surrendered five runs and seven hits in seven innings.

New York catcher Jorge Posada was forced to leave the game after four innings with a bruised left thumb. X-Rays were negative and Posada is considered day-to-day.

"It's been a strange week, Torre said. "Things that you certainly can't predict. It's tough and it's something we have to bounce back from."